"not as

alone. And yet the difficulty, to use no stronger word, of reconciling this theory when applied to man, with all that we know of his physical and moral nature, and all that we have hitherto believed respecting his early history, is at least one among the many difficulties which may well call for the most jealous and critical analysis of every step in Mr Darwin's argument. He himself, indeed, seems to feel no difficulty in the matter-lineal descent from some early fish or reptile-" some ancient prototype furnished with a floating apparatus or swimming-bladder"-Mr Darwin regards as the noblest claim of ancestry. "When I view all beings," he says, special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings who lived long before the first bed of the Silurian system was deposited, they seem to me to be ennobled." I am afraid that the honour of this parentage, as regards our own species, will not be universally appreciated. The question, however, is not whether it be "ennobling" or the reverse, but whether it can be proved or rendered in any degree probable. Yet, in judging of the sufficiency of evidence, it is well to recollect the full weight of the conclusion which that evidence must be strong enough to bear; nor, in this point of view, do I think it wholly unphilosophical to bear in mind the innate beliefs and instincts of mankind.

It is not, however, my duty or my desire, in this place and on this occasion, to enter more deeply into the specific argument on the "origin of species;" I would rather indicate wherein the discussion, and the argument which has raised that discussion, has most directly tended to the advance of science. In this respect, it is not too much to say that the whole book is full of the most curious and original observation, and exhibits in an eminent degree that power and habit of arranging and co-ordinating physical phenomena which is essential to the attainment of great results, and which it has been the special use of such theories in the history of science to evoke and to direct. In particular, I think no one can read Darwin's chapter on the "struggle for existence," or the two chapters on "geographical distribution," without feeling that new and important light has been cast on subjects which are as interesting as they are difficult and obscure.

SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

BOTANY.

Plants yielding Tea.-I agree with Choisy, that there is only one species of the plant yielding the tea of commerce, for which I adopt the name of Thea Chinensis, given to it by Linnæus in the first edition of his Species Plantarum," and afterwards sanctioned by Sims and others as a collective one for Thea Bohea, viridis, and Assamica. The propriety of taking the name "chinensis" may be open to discussion, since we have no wild specimens of tea from China, but only from Upper Assam; and

a Chinese tradition of great antiquity states that the Tea-plant was introduced from India by the Buddhist priests, so that it is possible we may term a species "Chinese" that is in reality "East Indian" in its origin, and thus further another instance of "lucus a non lucendo." Dr Hooker, to whom I communicated these doubts, thinks that the plant may yet be found wild in North-Western China; and his intimate knowledge of the Flora of India renders that opinion of the utmost value.-Seemann in Linnean Society's Transactions, vol. xxii. p. 350.

On the Coal-Plants of Bohemia. By M. STUR.-The fossil plants from the Coal-basin of Rakonitz (Bohemia) present fifty-three species, and may be subdivided into four distinct local floræ. These species are distributed among twenty-one genera of ten families.

Calamites,

Asterophyllum, Annularia, Sphenophyllum,

Neuropteris, Naggerathia, Schizopteris, Dictyopteris,
Sphenopteris,.

Asplenites, Pecopteris, Alethopteris, Cyatheites,

Stigmaria,

Sigillaria,

Lepidodendron, Knorria, Lepidostrobus, Cardiocarpon,

Cordaites,

Flabellaria,

The following species-Calamites communis, Annularia fertilis, Naggerathia foliosa (particularly frequent around Rakonitz), Alethopteris pteroides, Cyatheites Miltoni, Stigmaria ficoides, Lepidodendron Haidingeri, and L. aculeatum-as also the Sigillarica, occur generally in

considerable number as individuals.

Calamites communis, Annularia fertilis, Cyatheites oreopterides, C. Miltoni, C. arborescens, Stigmaria ficoides, Cordaites borassifolius, and Flabellaria Sternbergi, occur both in the shales forming the roof of the coal-bed and in those immediately beneath it, so that the flora of both these shales may be considered as nearly identical; and the existence of two distinct flora within the basin of Rakonitz may indubitably be admitted: the one of Asterophylliteæ, Neuropteridea, Sphenopteridea, and other genera of Filices and Lycopodiacea, containing but a small portion of carbonaceous substances; the other, Sigillaria and Lepidodendra, which have chiefly contributed materials to the coal-bed. Two species (Knorria imbricata and Lepidodendron (Sagenaria) Veltheimianum), found in some few fragments within the Rakonitz basin, are characteristic of the lowest strata of the Carboniferous group.

The flora of this basin bears a striking general resemblance to that of Radnitz (known long ago through Count C. Sternberg's splendid publications), and to the flora of the coal of Zwickau (Saxony), lately described and figured by Professor Geinitz. Some few species, however, occurring in the basin of Rakonitz, are wanting in the coal-measures of Radnitz; these are Sphenopteris rutafolia, Asplenites cristatus, Alethopteris aquilina, Al. pteroides, Al. muricata, Cyatheites Miltoni, Cy. unitus, Cy. dentatus, Sigillaria mammillaris, S. oculata, S. elongata.—[Proceed. Imp. Geol. Instit. Vienna, March 13, 1860.-Translated in Quart. Journ. of Geol. for Nov.]

Flora of Amoor.-Asa Gray, in his notice of the Primitia Flora Amurensis, by C. J. Maximowiez, says-The Amoor flora offers several species identical with peculiarly Eastern North American ones: e. g. Acer spicatum, Pilea pumila, Asplenium thelypteroides, Symplocarpus foetidus! Also several closely representative ones; such as Caulophyllum robustum, doubtless the same as the Japan plant, which in fruit answers

perfectly to our C. thalictroides, and I still suspect not distinct from it; and Maximoviezia chinensis, Rupr. (to which evidently belongs Spharostema japonicum, Gray), a close counterpart of our Schizandra; Acer tegmentosum, very nearly our A. pennsylvanicum; Hylomecon vernalis which seems very close to our Stylopnorum diphyllum; and Plagiorhegma dubium, which has the look of a monstrous dicarpellary Jeffersonia. Indeed, good flowers are still wanting to make it at all certain it is not a Jeffersonia!

Very remarkable indeed is this division of monotypic or nearly monotypic genera or groups between North-eastern Asia and North-eastern America, of which so extended a list can now be given,-and very suggestive is it (at least where the species are identical or nearly so) of a comparatively recent communication between the two countries.-Silliman's Journal, May 1860.

GEOLOGY.

On the Structure of the North-west Highlands, and the relations of the Gneiss, Red Sandstone, and Quartzite of Sutherland and Rossshire. By Professor JAMES NICOL, F.G.S.-The author first referred to his paper in the "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society," vol. xiii. pp. 17, &c., in which the order of the red sandstone on gneiss, and of quartzite and limestone on the sandstone, was established, and in which the relation of the eastern gneiss or mica-schist to the quartzite was stated to be somewhat obscure, on account of the presence of intrusive rocks and other marks of disturbance. Having examined the country four times, with the view of settling some of the doubtful points in the sections, the author now offered the matured result of his observations. He agrees with Sir R. Murchison as far as the succession of the western gneiss, red sandstone, quartzites (quartzite and fucoid-bed), and limestone is concerned, but differs from him in maintaining that there is no upper series of quartzite and limestone, and that there is no evidence of an "upward conformable succession" from the quartzite and limestone into the eastern mica-slate or gneiss-the so-called " upper gneiss." The "upper quartzite" and " 'upper limestone" the author believes to be portions of the quartzite of the country, in some cases separated by anticlinals and faults, and cropping out in the higher ground, and in other instances inverted beds, with the gneiss brought up by a contiguous fault and overhanging them. This latter condition of the strata, as well as other cases where the eastern gneiss is brought up against the quartzite series, have, according to the author, given rise to the supposed "upward conformable succession" above referred to. In some cases where "gneiss" is said to have been observed overlying the quartzite, Professor Nicol has determined that the overlying rock is granulite or other eruptive rock, not gneiss.

The sections described by the author in support of his views of the eastern gneiss not overlying the quartzite and limestone, but being the same as the gneiss of the west coast, and brought up by a powerful fault along a nearly north and south line passing from Whiten Head (Loch Erriboll) to Loch Carron and the Sound of Sleat, are chiefly those which had been brought forward as affording the proofs on which the opposite hypothesis is founded; and in all, the author finds eruptions of igneous rocks, and other indications of faults and disturbance, depriving them, in his opinion, of all weight as evidence of a regular order of " upward conformable succession." Professor Nicol describes, first, the Durine section from Far-out Head to Loch Erriboll, and insists that the gneiss of Farout Head does not overlie the limestone, but that the latter is the highest formation here, and that the country is much disturbed by north and south faults. 2. At Camas-an-Duin, intrusive granulite, where it rises up

beneath the quartzite, involves large pieces of mica-slate, showing that the latter is the lowest rock. 3. At Arnabol Hill, on the continuation of the fault, the quartzite dips apparently below the igneous mass of the hill; but the openings of the Annelid tubes and the ripple marks, belonging to the surface of the beds, are here on the lower faces, showing reversal. 4. At Drium-an-teuigh it is not gneiss, but granulite that overlies the limestone and quartzite. 5. At Whiten Head, felspar porphyry intrudes in the line of junction, partly on the quartzite, but chiefly on the old slates to the east. The author refers the disappearance of the fucoid-bed and limestone (the upper part of the series), and the presence only of the quartzite in contact with the eastern gneiss, to denudation on a line of fault. He states also that there are clear sections in this district, north of Heilim Ferry, to show that the so-called "upper quartzite" passes regularly under the limestone. 6. Near the head of Loch Erriboll, the igneous matter has generally thinned out, letting the quartzite come close against the mica-schist; but when present, whether in mass or in veins, it affects the mica-slate far more than the quartzite, thus proving the schist to be the lower rock. At places the sections are much complicated by the igneous rock. Above Erriboll House, the section of the hill side, passing upwards from limestone to fucoid-beds, quartzite and mica-schist, with red felspar veins, is regarded by the author as clearly indicative of an inversion on the line of fault; this he saw also on the Ault-na-harra Road. 7. East of the Kyle of Tongue are some patches of conglomerate lying on the eastern gneiss. These have hitherto been regarded as old red sandstone; but Professor Nicol, on examining them, found that they are identical with the conglomerate of the red sandstone ("Cambrian" of Murchison) of the west coast. At Cnoc Craggie, quartzite lies on this eastern conglomerate. These remnants are supposed to have been preserved from denudation on account of having been hardened by the syenitic eruption of Ben Laoghal. 8. At the northwest end of Loch More the so called "gneiss," overlying the quartzite, is eruptive granulite. The quartzite is thin, and has probably therefore been denuded along the line of fault. 9. At Lochs Glen Coul and Glen Dhu the gneiss does not overlie the quartzite: from a distance it may appear to do so, but the ridges are separate, and the so-called "overlying gneiss" is sometimes intrusive syenite, sometimes vertical masses of granitic gneiss with unconformable strike. 10. The quartzite of Loch-naGanvich dips against the syenite of Glasven, which mountain is not all quartzite, as has been stated, but has syenite with vertical granitic gneiss; the latter underlies quartzite, and is continuous with that of Central Sutherlandshire. 11. The syenite of Glasven does not bring up any limestone under the quartzite, and therefore the latter is the lowest of the series here; nor does the limestone of Stronchrubie dip below the quartzite. Professor Nicol traces a synclinal of quartzite and limestone from Queenaig to Brebag, resting at each end on red sandstone and gneiss; and he makes the quartzite of Glasven and Ben More to be the ordinary quartzite lifted up and denuded of the limestone, not an upper quartzite." The author states also that some of the so-called "upper quartzite" here is granite, and some of it red sandstone ("Cambrian"); and that the " upper quartzite" and " upper limestone" of Loch Ailsh and Strath Oykil are merely the repetition (on the other side of the anticlinal of Ben More) of the limestone of Stronchrubie and Assynt, modified by denudation along the line of fault. 12. On Loch Borrolan, red porphyry alters the beds. At Cuoc Chaorinie the limestone series is absent, and the mica-slate is brought against the fucoid-bed. Near Loch Ailsh the limestone is in force, but nowhere passes under the gneiss, though the latter is seen for a thickness of some hundred feet. 13. To

the south of the foregoing localities the anticlinal of Ben More has been swept away, the line of junction is in the continuation of the synclinal of the Gillaroo Loch, and the gneiss is almost continuous from west to east. 14. The section at Craig-na-Cnockan proves the existence of the fault with powerful lateral compression. 15. Loch Broom gives the author similar evidence. 16. At Loch Maree and Gairloch no section shows an "upward conformable succession." The limestone is here diminished by denudation along the fault. 17. The mountains east of Loch Torridon show red sandstone and quartzite powerfully faulted and crushed, and the eastern gneiss meets them suddenly end to end-well illustrating the true structure of the district. 18. Near Loch Carron the section clearly shows the great fault. 19. At Loch Keeshorn the author sees great disturbance of the strata and no "upward succession." 20. In the south of Skye the red sandstone (" Cambrian") rests unconformably on the gneiss, and this is identical with that of the mainland ("eastern gneiss.")

Professor Nicol further argues that the mode of the distribution of the rocks shows that there is through Sutherland and Ross-shire a real fault, and no overlap of eastern gneiss of more than a few feet or yards at most; and that the fact of different strata of the quartzite series being brought against the gneiss at different places supports this view, and points to a great denudation having taken place along the line of fault. Though the quartzite is here and there altered by the igneous rocks, yet it is truly a sedimentary rock, and so is the limestone; but the eastern gneiss or mica-schist is a crystalline rock throughout: this fact, according to the author, is inimical to the hypothesis of the eastern gneiss overlying the limestone and quartzite. It has been insisted upon that the strike of the western gneiss is different from that of the east; but the author remarks that the strike is not persistent in either area, and that great movements subsequent to the deposition of the quartzite series have irregularly affected the whole region. With regard to mineralogical characters, Professor Nicol insists that both the eastern and the western gneiss are essentially the same. Both are locally modified with granitic and hornblendic matter near igneous foci; but no proof of a difference of age in the two can be obtained therefrom. The alteration in bulk of the gneiss in the western area, by the intrusion of the vast quantities of granite now observable in it, may perhaps have caused the great amount of crumbling and faulting along the north and south line of fault, dividing the western from the eastern gneiss-a fault comparable with and parallel to that running from the Moray Firth to the Linnhe Loch, and to the one passing along the south side of the Grampians.-Proceedings of Geological Society, London, Dec. 6, 1860.

ZOOLOGY.

Mammalia and Birds of Arctic Regions. We have received from Sir John Richardson the following extracts from the correspondence of Mr Bernard R. Ross of the Hudson's Bay Company; and, as local lists of animals are of much utility in giving correct information of their distribution, especially when drawn up by so careful and judicious a naturalist as Mr Ross, lists of the animals and birds collected are added. These animals and birds were collected on the 62d parallel, or still more to the northward, up to parallel 67, near which the most northerly post (that on Peel River) is placed :

20th June 1860.-" I received charge of this district in 1858. It is greatly altered since you saw it. There are now missionaries of all sects moving about, and a more civilised tone pervades our society. I NEW SERIES.-VOL. XIII. NO. I. JAN. 1861.