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Bottom of the rocks at Nant d'Arpenaz, to show the buttress-like projections that enclose the lower part of the fall. rivulet flowing from the Dip of strata to north.

The falls go down lower than the road, which is crossed by the falls into the Arve. a, The river Arve. Rise of strata to south. Inclination of strata east to west.

indication of a far more singular and striking disarrange

ment.

About half a league farther, the scene is graced by another most splendid fall, called Nant d'Arpenaz (fig. 75. and 76.), which comes down through a height of 800 ft. or 900 ft. in a brilliant descent. When the air is calm, and there has been a continuance of fine weather, the volume of water is by no means considerable; but after rain it is magnificent, and, if by chance a brisk wind should be blowing up or down the valley, the falling water is borne away along the surface of the rocks, till it becomes an invisible mist, when by its deposition it is again condensed and accumulated into another fall of equal beauty, so continuing its descent into its rocky basin below, whence it is carried, as the waters of Nant d'Orli are, to the river Arve. The beauty of this fall is not its only charm for the extraordinary position of the strata near it demands equal observation. Approaching it from Nant d'Orli,

77

a, Nant d'Arpenaz in perspective distance [represented too wide in our engraving]. bb, Road from St. Martin, passing in the direction of the arrows.

upon the summit of the cliffs, which here appear sunk and shattered, the traveller is greeted with a view of what he at first believes to be an ancient castle, citadeled in the mountains. Seen, as the writer and his companion saw it, lit up by the bright rays of a setting sun, while the neighbouring rocks were in shade, it had a most beautiful and magical appearance: but it afterwards was found to be produced by a portion of the rock, which, by some cause, has been tossed over from its horizontal position, and piled up perpendicularly into the fanciful forms of turrets, towers, and bastions: there are even openings in these fragments in the exact position and shape of windows. (See fig. 77.)

Immediately in conjunction with these, the subjacent and adjacent strata are bent upwards in their centre, at an angle of about 30°, and then continued regularly to the edge of the waterfall, which comes from a deep fissure through the mountain, and probably communicates with the feeders of Nant d'Orli, of which it may be only another branch: but of this it is almost impossible to be convinced by actual observation, on account of the steepness and distance of the mountains. On the right of the fall, instead of a horizontal position, the strata are deposited in concentric arches upon a diameter which forms the right cheek of the fissure. (See fig. 75.) By what extraordinary convulsion this can have been produced, there is no means of determining: for, although there are in this neighbourhood unequivocal marks of most extraordinary derangement, the extreme variety of forms which the strata assume baffles investigation. The concentric arches, above mentioned, are at first perfectly circular, but, as the middles of the strata are thicker than the extremities, they gradually become more and more eccentric, until, as they appear a few hundred paces farther up the river, they assume

so angular a form as to be nearly doubled under each other. Yet between these and the former, and but little above the surface, there are other circular arches, which, instead of being deposited in the same manner as the others, have their diameter horizontal. Farther up, among the recesses of the hills, there are fragments of exotic masses, which have been brought together from various places, and piled one over the other in most admired disorder." As far, too, as the eye can trace and the rocks are bare, the higher strata, as they recede in perspective, appear to be laid in every irregular position, some depressed, and others elevated, as if various powers had been brought to bear upon them from above and below.

The most natural conclusion is, that there are, probably, large reservoirs of water on the mountains above, which, at some early period, whether by an extraordinary accumulation, or by the recession of the subjacent rocks, were precipitated in a flood to the valley, bearing with them the huge masses which lie about in so many rude fragments. But this could not have caused the contortions in the strata which are so remarkable.

The natural colour of the limestone is a deep indigo, but from meteoric causes the surface has assumed a yellowish and brownish tint, while fragments are strewed about, which have passed through the fire of a kiln at the foot of the fall, of a light gravelly red. At this spot, there is a surprising echo, which is shown off" by the discharge of a small cannon; for the employment of which, the traveller is charged a fee which would not be unworthy of the guides who minister in the Devil's Cave, at Castleton, in the Peak.

The diagrams here given in illustration are not drawn with a view to proportion; my only object has been illustration. -W. B. Clarke.

[A POSTSCRIPT to Mr. Clarke's Communication, ending in p. 630. The appearing of Meteors in November, in different Years. (p. 386, 387.) An Instance for 1834.]— On the return [in 1834] of the period when the meteors, of which I have said so much, were seen in 1799, 1832, and 1833, I felt naturally anxious to watch the atmosphere. My health, however, did not allow me to remain up all night; but on rising, at three o'clock in the morning of Nov. 13., I saw from my window, in fifteen minutes' time by the watch, fifteen falling stars, in the direction of a line from Leo to the star Miza in Ursa major. The night was cloudless, and the moon so

bright, that the constellations could be scarcely seen; but the meteors were very red and brilliant. The wind blew briskly from E.N.E., and freshened after every meteor. The coincidence between these and those before seen in America and Europe (p. 289. 385. 611.) on this day of the month is curious; but those which I now mention were decidedly electrical, and of no uncommon character. One meteor fell to the south of Ursa major, and appeared to pass between Cor Caroli and Arcturus. There were no trains. Should any correspondent of the Magazine have made any farther observations, I shall be obliged for the statement of them. W. B. Clarke.

REVIEWS.

ART. I. Tilles of Works on Subjects of Natural History, published recently.

LORD, Perceval B., M.B., M.R.C.S. of the Bombay Medical Establishment: Popular Physiology; being a Familiar Explanation of the most interesting Facts connected with the Nature and Functions of Animals, and particularly of Man. Adapted for general readers. Small 8vo, 500 pages, and several woodcuts. 1834. 7s. 6d.

Lea, Isaac, Member of the American Philosophical Society, &c. Observations on the Genus Unio, together with Descriptions of New Genera and Species in the Families Naiades, Concha, Colimacea, Lymnæana, Melaniana, and Peristomiana; consisting of Four Memoirs read before the American Philosophical Society, from 1827 to 1834, and originally published in their Transactions. 4to, 232 pages, with [numerous] coloured plates. Philadelphia, 1834. Various Contributors: The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. Vol. I. Part I. 8vo, 100 pages; 7 copperplates filled with engravings of insects, some of them coloured. London, 1834. 7s. 6d.

Bagster, Samuel, Jun.: The Management of Bees; with a Description of the "Ladies' Safety Hive." With Forty illustrative Wood Engravings, and a Frontispiece exhibiting the Queen Bee, Worker Bee, and Drone Bee, of the natural size and colour, and magnified. Small 8vo, 244 pages. London, 1834. 6s. 6d.

Purchas, Samuel, A.M., and Bagster, Samuel, Jun.: Spiritual Honey from Natural Hives; or, Meditations and Observ

ations on the Natural History and Habits of Bees. First introduced to public notice in 1657, by Samuel Purchas, A.M.; now modified and republished by Samuel Bagster, junior. Small 8vo, 176 pages. London, 1834. 3s. Phillips, Professor: A Guide to Geology. 5s.

Higgins, W. M., F.G.S., Lecturer on Natural Philosophy at Guy's Hospital, Author of "The Mineral and Mosaical Geologies," &c.: Alphabet of Electricity, for the Use of Beginners. 12mo, 116 pages, and 47 engravings on wood. London, 1834. 2s. 6d.

ART. II. Literary Notices.

THE Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, on the contributions to science made at the late meeting at Edinburgh, is to be put to press immediately.

A Volume on Comparative Anatomy, by Dr. Grant, is to be published early in 1835, by M. Baillière: in 8vo, with numerous wood engravings.

Swainson's Zoological Illustrations, Second Serics. We are requested to state that not any single numbers of this work can be had after January 1. 1835.

Of the Zoological Journal, part xx. (the 4th of vol. v.) is very nearly ready. This part will contain several plates; and there will be published, at the same time, a part consisting of supplementary plates.

Of Gould's Birds of Europe, part x. is published, and it is a most interesting one: the figures of the penduline tit, the marsh sandpiper, the kite, and the little bittern, are especially commendable.

The Natural History of Dogs is the subject of the next volume of the Naturalist's Library, by Sir William Jardine: the volume is nearly ready. The Deer and Antelopes are to be the subjects of the successive volume.

Of Thompson's Zoological Researches a fifth Memoir has been just published; its subject is: "Developement of Artemis salinus, or brine shrimp, demonstrative of its relationship to Branchipus and the other Crustaceous Phyllopoda, and to those enigmatical fossils the eyeless Trilobites; with a new species of Artemis and of Apus. With six plates."

In No. iv. of the Analyst, November, is an entertaining article on the nidification of the wren, and another on the plumage, nest, and eggs of the long-tailed titmouse.

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