the plantation was made. Neither, again, will it be thought probable that the seeds had been wafted to the spot by the wind, when it is stated that I never met with a single wild specimen of the Epipactis in any other situation in this neighbourhood, the nearest place where I have observed it to occur in a wild state, being not less than eight or ten miles distant. As Epipáctis latifolia, though by no means a very rare plant, is yet entitled to rank inter rariores, I confess I have felt some pleasure in its having taken up its constant and voluntary abode on my premises; and should you think this account of the circumstance likely also to afford any interest to your readers, you will perhaps find a corner for it in your Magazine. - W. T. Bree. Allesley Rectory, Nov. 3. 1828.

ART. III. Geology and Mineralogy.

VOLCANIC District between the Rhine and Moselle. Few districts in Europe are more interesting to the geologist than that lying to the north of the Moselle, and the west of the Rhine, and occupying the greater portion of the angle formed by the confluence of these two rivers. This tract, which has an average breadth of thirty to forty miles, bears indubitable traces of having in remote ages been the scene of volcanic eruptions throughout a great part of its extent, and the most determined Neptunist, whatever he may contend as to the subsequent agency of water, must admit that here, once at least, fire has been in general and extensive agency. In some quarters are seen isolated conical hills, which bear every appearance of being of volcanic origin; in others are deep circular lakes, of no great extent, which have been plausibly supposed to occupy extinct craters; and in various directions where the ground has been opened, lava, pumice stone, and other volcanic products are found in profusion. One of these is the well known cement, improperly called Dutch Tarras, from the circumstance of its being brought from Andernach, and other towns on the Rhine, to Holland, whence before the invention of Roman cement, it was shipped to England, and still is to various parts of Europe. As little of this interesting district is seen by those who pass from Brussels into Germany or Switzerland, by the ordinary route on the left bank of the Rhine, I would advise geologists travelling in this direction, to make the same deviation from the direct road that I did last summer, going from Spa across the country to Bertrich-Bad, a romantic watering-place, excellently situated for making excursions in different directions, and where we staid ten days, and thence to Coblentz, and there resume the main road. The distance is not greater than the direct route by Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne, the scenery often highly picturesque, and the road very tolerable. In one part, in crossing a heath, it was necessary to have a fifth horse, in addition to the four which our well-filled berline required; but in general the roads were equal to the cross roads in England, and much of the way very superior. The whole distance from Spa to Bertrich-Bad is about seventy miles, of which we made an easy three days' journey, sleeping the first night at the village of Schoenburg, and the second at Gerolstein. At this last, and indeed at almost every neighbouring village is a mineral spring, containing oxide of iron, held in solution by an excess of carbonic acid gas, exactly resembling the Spa water. If one of these numerous springs, of which the water, sparkling like champagne, and hardly less agreeable to the taste is constantly drank by the villagers as their ordinary beverage, and has, besides medicinal virtues far more potent than those of Tunbridge, could be transported to England, it would be cheap at the price of many thousand pounds. Fastidious travellers would not relish the humble fare of these village inns, but our party look on this excursion as one of

the most delightful of our whole tour, from the opportunity it afforded of seeing a genuine picture of the manners of the German peasants, and the many amusing little adventures which befel us. At Gerolstein, near to which is a distinct crater, and many other interesting geological objects, besides much picturesqe scenery. Our hostess, Fraulein Klein, an old maid, was a perfect counterpart to Meg Dods, in St. Ronan's Well and an imitator of Sir Walter Scott might advantageously take up his abode with her for a fortnight, to study the oddities of this original, as the sub-heroine of a novel to be called the Castle of Gerolstein, the ruins of which frown over a perpendicular rock, towering close above the inn. Such travellers, however, as do not think the laughable eccentricities of an original character a compensation for bad fare, I would advise to leave Spa in the afternoon, and sleep the first night at Malmedy, and the second at Prüym, at both which places are very tolerable inns; and thus perform the whole journey in two days and a half, dining the last day at Daun, a village between Gerolstein and Bertrich-Bad, where is an excellent inn, in the parlour of which we found a piano-forte, with Mozart's opera of Don Juan lying open, and violins and flutes, &c., hanging on the walls; and while my daughter played on the piano, the host's son (in a blue smock frock) accompanied her on the guitar, and, like the rest of this amiable family, was as intelligent as well bred. As there are no post stations, it is necessary to hire horses for the whole journey; and as no one at Spa could give any account of the road, which few English have travelled, and the voiturier who conducted us, and was previously equally ignorant of it, is the only one there who has been the road, it may not be superfluous to mention that his name is Remacle Deblon, and that we found him very civil and careful.

Bertrich-Bad, besides being very romantic and delightful in itself, is a convenient station for examining the geology of this district at leisure, as there is a large hotel, much frequented in the summer both by patients using the warm baths, and by lovers of the picturesque; and very frequently by German geologists from Bonn, &c., who, as well as Herr Bodifé, the bath-inspector, would afford every information as to the objects most worthy of attention. The two near to Bertrich-Bad, are the Käse Grotte, a highly curious grotto, formed in part of basaltic columns, intersected at regular distances by deep transverse circular furrows, so as to resemble cheeses piled on each other, whence the name; and the crater of Falkenlei, an extinct volcano, which alone is worth a long journey to see. The hill occupied by this crater, and in fact formed by the volcano, has been split in two by some great convulsion, and while one half has fallen into a deep adjoining valley, the other half remains erect, and, being easily accessible by convenient walks, offers a close and extremely interesting view of the interior of the crater, with the lava just as fresh and full of air-bubbles as the slag of a blacksmith's forge, and looking as if it had not been extinguished a twelvemonth. Of this and the other interesting objects which the neighbourhood affords, full accounts may be found in Dr. Harless's Das Bad zu Bertrich (Coblentz, 1827), and in several other German publications quoted in this useful work. I regret that both ill health, and my superficial acquaintance with geology, prevented me from making those minute observations which alone could give any scientific value to the present article, the only object of which is to show my sense of the utility of your well-planned Magazine, and to induce competent geologists to take the route which I and my family found so interesting. W. Spence. Brussels, Jan. 20. 1829.

Evident traces of Manganese in Slate. - Slate inclining to pearly, from a quarry about half a mile west of Ilfracombe, and a dark greenish slate from Dennifole, in Cornwall, as also some of the dark-coloured micas, give very evident traces of manganese, when treated with borax and soda in the manner described in my former letter (Vol. I. p. 384.). — W. H. M.

Fossil Astèria. -I send you a drawing of the Astèria (fig. 19.), found at Horsington, by the Rev. James Hooper, Rector of Stawell. It was taken

from a stratum of cornbrash, and is a very perfect specimen. The sketch and the figure is of the exact size of the original; a is the stone in which it is embedded, and b a section of a small bivalve shell. I am, Sir, &c. W. H., R. N. Yeovil, Aug. 21. 1828.

Washing of Gold. The art of washing gold was practised on the Rhine from early antiquity up to 1824, when it ceased near Basil; but a few men continue to be employed in the environs of Lohr, as at Wittenweir there are three, at Nonnenweir fourteen, &c. The gold is found in a coarse alluvial deposit, and sometimes forms a coating on the pebbles. The banks containing the gold are usually about 100 paces in length. They are for the most part on the margin of the river, and rarely in the islands. The banks of pebbles containing the gold are covered with coarser pebbles and vegetable earth. (Zeitschrift für Mineral., Juin, p. 533.)

74

PART IV.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ART. I. Natural History in Foreign Countries.

FRANCE.

METZ, Dec. 9. Our last notes (Vol. I. p. 472.) left us in the Museum here collected chiefly by M. Hollandre, and proposing to visit the cabinet of birds of M. Meslier de Rocan, and the plantations of M. Durand, and of the late Baron Tschoudy. M. Hollandre has published Faune du Département de la Moselle, et principalement des Environs de Metz, &c., in 12mo, 1825. It is arranged after the system of Cuvier, and the number and variety of birds are very considerable. At the end of the work a list is given of a cabinet of white varieties of birds belonging to M. le baron Marchant, which includes specimens perfectly white of birds usually black; as the crow, blackbird, magpie, &c.; and of others naturally more or less red, as the redbreast, &c.

The collection of birds in M. Meslier's cabinet is confined to those of Europe, and only wants two or three species to be complete. It is arranged after the Manual of M. Temminck (4th edit. 1820), and is in excellent preservation. He had been offered for it, as we were informed, upwards of a thousand pounds. He gave us a MS. catalogue, which, with the Faune of M. Hollandre, we have presented to the Zoological Society. The by-roads are in such a state in the neighbourhood of Metz, that at this season we were informed it was scarcely possible to approach the plantations of the late Baron Tschoudy at Colombé. We, therefore, after taking leave of M. Coutie, Madame Coutie (who, having no children, and finding it necessary to occupy herself with something, devoted herself to botany, in which she is known to have acquired a scientific and practical knowledge), M. Durand, M. Simon (the readers of our Magazines at Metz), and our other friends there, and promising to return to them in about two years, left for Paris on the 10th, and arrived there on the 12th of December.

Paris, Dec. 13. 1828, to Jan. 11. 1829. It would not be very easy to relate all that we saw and did here during our stay in September (Vol. I. p.385.) and at this time. It is unnecessary to talk of the Jardin des Plantes, of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, and of other cabinets, libraries, and exhibitions, which are, or ought to be, seen by every body. We had the satisfaction of showing specimens of our forthcoming Encyclopædia of Plants and Hortus Britannicus, and of explaining the improvements which we have attempted in the abridgment of botanical description to Professor Decandolle, MM. Mirbel, Desfontaines, Bory de-St.-Vincent, Ad. Brongniart, the Baron de Férussac, and a number of the members of the Natural History Society, and of receiving their approbation. This approbation, however, we shall only value when we see our improvements adopted by these gentlemen in their published works; and this we do not

expect to see, unless from M. Decandolle, till our Encyclopædia and Hortus have been some time in circulation.

The naturalists and other scientific men of Paris have great advantages over those of London. The French government devotes a large sum annually to the support of scientific and literary institutions in the metropolis. Public lectures on every subject may be attended gratis; the most complete museums and libraries are of the easiest access. The social meetings at the houses of distinguished individuals, or of public bodies, such, for example, as those of the Baron Cuvier, the Baron Férussac, the Institute, the Athenæum, &c., are frequent; and the intercourse at such meetings is of real use to literary men, because difference of worldly circumstances enters into them for little or nothing. It is not to be wondered, therefore, that with superior native vivacity and acuteness, and all these opportunities, the French philosophers should be the first in the world. To profit from this state of things, a stranger should reside in Paris at least two years; and this we would most strongly recommend to parents, as the finishing process previous to travelling, for young men of from sixteen to twenty years of age.

Man in the North of France. As we gave our opinion (Vol. I. p. 482.) on the natural and artificial character of man in the south of Germany, we hope to be excused for offering a few remarks in a natural-history point of view on man in the north of France. Whether our opinion be considered right or wrong, we shall only say that it is not to be considered as hastily formed after a single visit; because we have been in France at different times since 1814, and met with French people in various parts of Europe before and after that period. Our opinion is, that the Frenchman of the northern provinces is, by nature, a superior animal to either the Englishman or the German; but that by education, including the influence of government, religion, and the backward state of the useful arts, he is, at present, inferior to them. The cause of the natural superiority we consider to be principally the climate, and chiefly the superior purity and freedom from moisture of the air. This element is inhaled by us for what may be called its nutriment, during every moment of our existence, and its quality must, therefore, have an effect upon our constitution and character, so much greater than all the other elements of nutrition put together, that it is hardly possible for us to form an adequate idea of the full extent of its influence. The next powerful natural agent is temperature, and, we think, it may be very safely affirmed that of any two people, alike in respect to education and civilisation, those will be highest in the scale of excellence, who have been born, and who live, in the purest air and mildest climate. If agriculture and the useful arts, including government and religion, were as far advanced in France as in England, we think the Frenchman would be the superior character to the Englishman; and were the arts in France equal to the arts in England, and the state of education equal to what it is in Wurtemburg, we cannot avoid coming to the conclusion that the Frenchman in the latitudes of Paris and Rouen would be the first being in the west of Europe. Some may think this conclusion humbling, but we cannot see how it is to be avoided. There is some presumption that man in certain parts of Asia Minor and Greece, and possibly of Italy, might attain to a higher degree of perfection than in France, as civilisation first began to spread in these countries; but our comparison does not extend to them.

The native excellence of the character of the French consists in the warmth of their affections, and in the clearness and rapidity of their intellectual faculties. Their native faults are, of course, the extremes of their native virtues; insincerity, because they are led by the warmth of their feelings to promise more than, upon trial, they find they can perform; and speculative rather than useful science, because the reward of the latter is the work of time, and requires the exercise of patience, while the lustre of