durability, for the architecture of bridges.*... Another purpose for which the lava of Mennig became quarried was suggested by the familiar use which the Romans had made of a similar rock in their own volcanic country, for the construction of portable millstones or hand-mills.... So soon as it was known that a quarry had been opened in the country of the Ubii, and that a stone might be procured resembling such lavas of Italy as were adapted to the purpose of millstones, the demand for it in the Roman stations became general. An intelligent antiquary and naturalist, W. C. Trevelyan, Esq., of Wallington, has informed me that he procured a portion of a Roman millstone, composed of the lava of Mennig, from the remains of a villa in Northumberland, near the Hunnum of the ancients. In the Roman station also of Aldborough, in Yorkshire, the Isurium of Ricard, the portable mills which have been found show that the same use was, in other places, made of the lava of Mennig." To which is added in a note, My friend, Mr. Trevelyan, whom I have to thank for this curious information, presented me with a small specimen, broken off from a millstone found near the Hunnum of the Romans, which I am fully persuaded may be referred to the peculiar lava of Mennig."

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I am glad to have an opportunity of adducing an additional testimony to this curious fact. In the autumn of 1822, I found, among the diluvial gravel in the neighbourhood of Godmanchester, in Huntingdonshire, two or three small fragments of porous lava, one side of which appeared to have been ground into a smooth surface. As they were evidently portions of a mass which had been employed in some artificial work, and seemed to have been used in a mill, I made enquiries of different millers, but could not find that such a material was ever employed: I therefore presumed that they were diluvial, and added them to a collection I was then making.

Since then, I have visited the volcanic district of the Rhine three times; and in these excursions I have seen the Niedermennig lava in situ, as well as at Andernach in the shape of millstones. At the first glance I was convinced that the

*The lavas, trachytes, and basalts of the Rhone have been extensively used in architecture. Dr. Hibbert quotes the old Roman bridge at Engers, and the present bridge at Trèves. I may add, that the cathedral of Cologne is built of trachyte, from the Drachenfels and Wolkenberg in the Siebengebirge; and perhaps that rock cannot be more successfully studied, as to its contents, than in the walls and pillars of that splendid church, for the half polish they have received exhibits the minerals very perfectly.

fragments found at Godmanchester were identical; and subsequent comparison has confirmed the resemblance. Several other fragments I have since met elsewhere. One I found on the banks of the Stour, near Cattawade Bridges, in the parish of Brantham, Suffolk, which contained an injured morsel of Haüyne, one of the minerals named by Dr. Hibbert (p. 124.); and there are traces of other minerals in another fragment found at Stratford, in the same county. Previously to the appearance of Dr. Hibbert's work, the idea of their arrival in England by means of the Romans had occurred to me; and I made a note of the kind in my common-place book. It is to be remembered that Godmanchester was not far from a Roman station, and that the Romans were established at Colchester, only a few miles from Cattawade; and that at Stratford (about three miles from Cattawade, up the river) has been placed the station "Ad Ansam," though I have little doubt, that, whatever Ad Ansam may mean, it is wrongly stated that the Romans were established at Stratford; for the distance in the Itinerary of Antonine, and other considerations, would lead me to think that Lawford, which is on the height of the Essex side of the Stour, opposite to Cattawade, suits the position assigned better than Stratford. There is some mystery in the word Cattawade local authorities, village gossips, and others, derive it from the tradition of a cat which there crossed the

salt water. It appears to me, however, to have acquired its appellation from having been a vadum, where some of the auxiliary troops, probably Catti, whom Claudius brought over from Gaul, when he established his guard of veterans at Camelodunum, or Colchester (vid. Tacitus, Agricola, xiii.), crossed the head of the estuary. The Catti got their name from catte, the old German word for the animal, whom they resembled in character. This digression belongs to the history of the millstone lava.-W. B. Clarke. Parkstone, May 21. 1833.

Native Sulphur in the County of Northumberland. - Some years ago I found minute crystals of sulphur accompanying sulphuret of lead (galena), and apparently resulting from the decomposition of the latter mineral, in a vein at Redpath, in this neighbourhood; a notice of which appeared in Brewster's Journal for 1826, vol. v. p. 375. I have since found beautiful, though minute, crystals of sulphur, accompanied by carbonate of lead, in cavities in galena, raised from a vein at Hartington, also in this neighbourhood. W. C. Trevelyan. Wallington, Newcastle on Tyne, Sept. 22. 1832.

Several Skeletons of Eiks have been found in the Neighbour

hood of Killaloe; one lately, by some labourers digging marl for manure. They said it was perfect, and lying on its side; but in their hurry, and from thinking it of no value, they broke it up, and threw away all the bones, except the head and antlers, which they brought to a gentleman of my acquaintance. I went afterwards to see the place: it was in a valley parallel to, and at about half a mile's distance from, the Shannon. It had lain about twelve feet beneath the surface, under a bed of marl of about three feet thick, over which there was about nine feet of bog earth. When the bones were first taken up, they were quite soft; but they hardened on exposure to the air. The length of each horn is about five feet, and the greatest breadth of the blade one foot. The centre of the bed of the Shannon is marl, with great quantities of small shells throughout it. This marl is raised during the summer by the farmers, and forms a very fine manure. -T. K. Killaloe, Sept. 21. 1832.

We have been informed that the fossil elk of Ireland is found in numbers in the strata of the northern part of the Isle of Man. — J. D.

METEOROLOGY.- Lunar Rainbow. An instance of this phenomenon occurred at Plymouth a few evenings ago, about 11 o'clock. It remained distinct about two minutes, during which time, as seen from Morice Square, it appeared to extend almost completely across the harbour in a north-west direction; the moon shining brightly in an opposite direction. -J. Sept. 1832.

Remarkable Meteor seen from Norwich, Dec. 19. 1832.On the evening of the 13th Dec. 1832, at five minutes past six o'clock, as I was passing out of Norwich, in a south-west direction, my attention was arrested by a falling star, as I conceived it to be, descending obliquely from the west towards the east. It however increased in size and brilliancy, assuming the appearance of a splendid meteor; and, prior to its becoming extinct, its rapidity was apparently accelerated, and a distinct rushing noise was heard. The train, contrary to my preconceived notions of such phenomena, did not result from the rapidity of its motion, but was, bonâ fide, a train of sparks; as towards its close there appeared a double line issuing from the sides of the luminous body, and connected with the original line, forming an acute angle. The colour was similar to that of the planet Jupiter (which appeared just above its line of progress), and its apparent diameter one fourth of that of the moon's body. After the disappearance of the meteor, I watched the train of sparks which continued for about the space of fifteen seconds.-S. Woodward. Norwich, January 7. 1833.

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MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

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ART. I. Retrospective Criticism.

CORRECTIONS.-In Vol. IV. p. 267. line 13., for "pupæ, read "pupa." In Vol. VI. p. 150., in the "locality for the kingfisher," for "Cauford, Dorset," read "Canford, Dorset." In p. 181. line 14., in the criticism on Mr. Moggridge's account of a singular subsidence of the chalk measures near Lower Meudon, near Paris," for "nearly," read "marly." In p. 209. line 22., for the translation there given of the Latin quotation, substitute, as more accurate, this: "A bad cause will be made worse by defence." In p. 333., for “d, larva," read " C, larva." In p. 335. line 10., erase the word "it." In p. 369. line 17., the quotation ends with the word "Biography." In p. 380. line 20., after "of my paper," insert "[p. 116-120.]" as, without this, it seems that the paper was published in the Ent. Mag. not this Magazine. In p. 384. line 20., for "with eggs in," read "with eggs in it." In p. 384. line 22., for "building," read "breeding.'

Mr. Audubon. [Mr. Waterton in reply to Mr. Audubon, jun., p. 369.]—Extract from a paper written by the elegant biographer of Wilson, dated July 20. 1831: "The reason why Swainson did not write the work" (alluding to the Biography of Birds), “as told me by himself, was, that Audubon insisted upon his own name being given to the world as author! Mr. Swainson, upon this, very properly declined having any thing to do with the affair.-G. Ord."

The above requires no comment from me.

It is somewhat singular that Mr. Audubon, jun., should complain (p. 369.) of what he calls my "attacks "attacks" on his father, when he has taken no notice of the momentous charge which Dr. Jones brought against his father in the Franklin Journal; a full account of which is to be found in the Mechanics' Magazine for March, 1832, p. 404. In the Franklin Journal, the veracity of Mr. Audubon, as a naturalist, is called in question in the most unqualified manner. Now, Mr. Audubon being in England at the time the charge was made against him, and "unable to answer for himself," how comes it that Mr. Audubon, jun., did not complain of the attack during his

father's absence? and immediately step forward to assure the Americans that his father, on his return to his own country, "would be quite able to prove the correctness of all that he has said on the natural history of America?"

When I deem it imperative on me to make comments on a printed work, I never stop to enquire about the author's residence; and I take this opportunity to inform the public, that, whenever I may find any passage in an author which tends to invalidate the correctness of statements in the Wanderings, I shall buckle on my armour without loss of time.

In 1832, I learned, for the first time, that Mr. Audubon had given, in Jameson's Philosophical Journal, a new theory concerning the faculty by which the vulture traces its food. Finding that new theory diametrically opposed to what I had written of the vulture in the Wanderings, I forwarded to Mr. Loudon's Magazine [Vol. V. p. 233-241.] a minute account of my observations on that bird; being fully aware that, if Mr. Audubon's new theory were allowed to stand, my statement in the Wanderings must necessarily fall to the ground.

Some time after this, Mr. P. Hunter, a gentleman who, it seems, is a most fervent admirer of Mr. Audubon, sent a very copious extract from the new theory, which had appeared in Jameson's Journal, to be inserted in [Vol. VI. p. 83-88. of] this Magazine; requesting, at the same time, that the works of Audubon " might be allowed to speak for themselves." This was quite as it ought to be. But, pray, are those works to have the privilege of speaking for themselves, evidently to my utter condemnation as a correct ornithologist; and I be supposed to hold my tongue, because, forsooth, Mr. Audubon "has returned to the forests of America, and is unable to answer for himself?"

If Mr. Audubon, junior, feels alarmed for his father's reputation as a naturalist, at the menacing attitude I have assumed in defence of my own book (bless the bantling !), I would recommend to him either to refute my arguments, or send over an express to his father to come back from America without loss of time, and mount guard over his own Biography of Birds; which shall feel the weight of my arm in earnest, if the son returns me sarcastic thanks a second time. He might add in the express, that a person who signs himself R. B., in Mr. Loudon's last Magazine [p. 372.], is doing that which will make his father, on his return, exclaim, Oh, save me from friends!". my

Walton Hall, July 6. 1833.

Charles Waterton.

Mr. Audubon again. A person who signs himself R. B.