was preparing his dinner. This dinner confifted of a large crow, which he was plucking by the dim light of the embers of his furnace. On the fame embers his pot was boiling; and he every now and then dipped his crow into it, that he might foften and pluck his morfel with the greater eafe. What a fine fubject for the pencil of Teniers!'

'The Mineralogical Report of the Department of the Channel' prefents us with little deferving of particular notice. Both the lead and quickfilver mines have been repeatedly abandoned; and a deficiency of coal renders the propriety of their refumption still problematical. The preparation of falt from fea-fand, which, we understand, is practifed on a small scale in a corner of Dumfriesshire, is, in this department, conducted on a more extenfive and beneficial plan.

M. Duhamel's prize memoir on Coal,' even in the form of an abstract, prefents us with several important refults, but which have by no means the attraction of novelty to British minera logifts.

M. Girard enters into a long, learned, and plaufible difquifition on the prefent, paft, and future State of the Valley of Somme.' His reafonings reft on the fuppofition that France. and England were once joined by an ifthmus; that the tides rofe to a much greater height on the coafts of Picardy and the Boulonais than they do at prefent; and that the turbaries of the valley of Somme were gradually depofited, and formed in a large lake, at a period when the river had not found its prefent iffue.

General Obfervations on the Nature of the Carpathian Mountains in Upper Hungary, &c. By Citizen Lefebvre, Member of the Board of Mines.' It appears from this rapid furvey, that the first, or most elevated chain of these mountains, confifts of granite, which is frequently covered with calcareous maffes; that the fecond chain is chiefly formed of a compound primitive rock, confifting of alternate bands of quartz and mica,, though mountains ftrictly granitical also occur; and that the third chain is moftly compofed of a fpecies of porphyry or jafper, interfperfed with minute cryftals of feldfpar and mica. In this laft chain are fituated the celebrated mines of Kremnitz, Schemnitz, &c. which give employment to twenty thousand individuals, and produce gold, filver, lead, and copper. At Schemnitz, which lies neareft the centre of these extenfive workings, the Emprefs Maria Therefa eftablished a mineralogical academy, which vies with that of Freyberg, and to which individuals from all countries refort to be inftructed in the arts of mining and metallurgy. In the porphyry mountains are likewife found calcareous maffes and thermal waters. But the red fchorl,

F 3

fchorl, fo much covered by the mineralogist, occurs in a mountain of the fecond chain.

The mountain which contained this red fchorl appeared to me remarkable on account of its ftructure; the circumjacent hills being all compofed of gneifs, or primitive flaty rock, whereas it differs from them in the arrangement of its conftituent parts. The quartz and the mica, in place of being depofited in alternate and nearly parallel layers, have formed identical maffes. It is thus that the quartz occurs in large portions, imbedded in very thick layers of flexible mica, that is greasy to the touch like talc. Sometimes nothing but these layers of mica is to be feen, and difpofed either in a horizontal, or almoft perpendicular direction, or even winding, and prefenting no uniformity of pofition.

I have remarked with aftonishment, blocks of granite on the surface of this mountain; but, as I have not feen it in a continuous mass, I am inclined to believe that these blocks are foreign to the mountain, and that they have been conveyed to it from the higher chain by the waters.

This obfervation, however, applies not to the quartz, which obviously enters into the compofition of the mountain, and is of contemporaneous formation with the layers of mica. The fracture of thefe quartzy maffles frequently reveals thin layers of mica, which were apparent on the outfide, and which have been enveloped in the confused cryftallization of the quartz.

Though our researches and obfervations about this mountain occupied two entire days, we could discover the red fchorl only in one spot, at the bafe. We firft obferved it in the quartz, running along in a very narrow band, and uniformly directed from north-east to fouth-west, as if it had been a metallic vein. The quartz in which it occurred presented, on infpection, no character different from thofe of the fmaller maffes. which compofe the mountain. After we had dug two or three fathoms in a ftraight line, the quartz difappeared. On meeting with the micaceous layers, we feared that we had loft the fchorl, but after an attentive fearch we found it again, observing the fame direction which it had in the quartz, and for the moft part prefenting even larger prifmatic fafciculi. We remarked, at confiderable intervals, fome small blocks of quartz incafed in the layers of mica, and containing alfo fchorl in their fubftance, though not a trace of it was difcernible on their furface, &c. In the courfe of a few fathoms the fchorl vein completely vanished, and could not be retraced.?

The continuation of this Journal, which has now reached us, will claim our attention in fome future article. In the mean while, we fhall be happy if we can be at all inftrumental in giving its contents greater publicity, and in thus contributing, even indirectly, to excite a fpirit of research into the fubterraneous refources of our own country.

ART.

ART. VII. The Hiftory of the Orkney Islands: In which is comprehended an Account of their prefent as well as their ancient State; together with the Advantages they poffefs for feveral Branches of Industry, and the Means by which they may be improved. Illuftrated with an accurate and extenfive Map of the whole Islands, and with Plates of fome of the most interefting Objects they contain. By the Reverend George Barry, D. D. Minifter of Shapinfhay. 4to. pp. 509. Conftable & Co. Edinburgh. Longman & Co. London. 1805.

WE E confider this plain and unpretending volume as an acceffion of no inconfiderable value to the topography and statistics of the British Islands. It has been compiled with great diligence and labour, and contains a mass of curious information relative to a very interefting and neglected part of the empire. It is amazing, indeed, how little is known by their fellow-subjects of England, of thofe remote and disconnected fragments of our territory and population, and how much better acquainted we are, in general, with the Sandwich and Philippine islands, than with thofe of Shetland or Orkney. To most of our readers, therefore, the account contained in this volume should have all the recommendation of novelty, and should intereft them much in the fame way with the defcription of a newly discovered country. In spite of this attraction, however, we are afraid there is too much science and fobriety in Dr Barry's manner of writing, to let his work be very popular with the general reader. The naturalist and the antiquary will probably relish it better: and, at all events, as it is the first tolerable account that has yet been laid before the public of these interesting regions, we think no apology neceffary for prefenting our readers with a pretty full account of it.

The first book prefents us with a view of the islands, confidered as a whole, combined with a geographical description of

each.'

Thefe iflands are fituated in the Northern Ocean, between Caithness and Shetland, from the former of which they are diftant only about four, and from the latter nearly twenty leagues. The latitude of Kirkwall, the centre, is fifty-nine degrees and nine minutes north, and the longitude two degrees and thirty minutes weft, from the meridian of Greenwich.' Viewed as a whole, these iflands are high and precipitous towards the weft, but flope, and fink into level plains, towards the east, efpecially thofe which are diftinguished by the name of the North Ifles. We think the fact may be accounted for by the pofition of the frata, which generally rife towards the weft or

fouth-west, and dip, or are inclined, towards the east or northeaft. The late Dr Walker, we believe, was the firft who obferved that iflands and continents are generally high on the west, but form flopes or plains towards the eaft. This feems to prove a general conformity in the pofition of the mineral ftrata, though the cause of this conformity is unknown to us.

From the fimilarity of the points of Berey in Waas, and Dunnet in Caithness, and the general correfpondence of the rocks and foils on the oppofite fides of the Pentland Frith, our author concludes that the Orkneys were probably joined, at fome remote period, to the Mainland of Scotland: and alfo, that the iflands themselves had been formerly united into one unbroken.

continent.

We admit that there are very strong reafons for adopting this conclufion; but we fee no reason to have recourse, with our author ́(p. 8.), to the action of fubterraneous fire, to account for the difmemberment of the Orkney iflands. In feveral parts of Caithness, where the strata are interfected by veins of foft matter, the fea, by working them out, has made deep inlets into the land, and fometimes rufhes, with terrible impetuofity, by fubterraneous paffages, from one fide of a promontory to another. We are therefore inclined to think, that the Pentland Frith, and the founds which feparate the islands, were originally occupied by foft fubftances, which the force of the water has washed away. In proof of this we may obferve, that all the remaining rocks on each fide are extremely hard, and well calculated to refift its attacks. The Old Man of Hoy, a ftupendous pyramidal rock, fituated a few hundred yards to the weft of that diftrict of Waas, though not noticed by our author, forms an illustration of this doctrine. It. is evidently composed of the fame fandstone with the neighbouring rocks; and as thefe rife towards the weft, this pyramid is feen from a great distance to overlook the neighbouring hills, and is among the highest pinnacles in Orkney. It has evidently been joined to the neighbouring rocks by fofter ftrata, which the fea has gradually corroded and worn away.

We

The foil in Orkney, though fhallow, is generally fertile, and our author is much at a lofs (p. 10.) to account for this fact. obferved, that the moft prevailing rock is a fpecies of calcareous fandftone flag, of a blue, or bluish grey, colour. The foil formed by the decompofition of this ftone contains a portion of carbonate of lime, which renders it fertile.

The climate, on the whole, is temperate, the range of the thermometer being from 25° to 75°, and that of the barometer within three inches. The medium temperature of fprings is 45°. The moft prevailing wind is the fouth-weft; the most difagreeable and

unhealthy

unhealthy the fouth-eaft. Snow is rare, and never lies long: the winter is more distinguished by heavy rains. For about two weeks, and fometimes more, about the middle of June, the wind almost invariably blows from the north, accompanied with fnow and hail fhowers, of fuch violence as to check vegetation, and drive the domeftic animals to feek fhelter. The author, with much probability, (p. 13.) imputes this feemingly unnatural cold to the melting of the ice in the northern ocean, and confequent evaporation. About 40 years ago, the north wind brought what the people called black fnow, which ftruck them with terror and aftonishment, until it was discovered that the black snow was afhes, thrown out by an eruption of Hecla in Iceland. Another peculiarity is, that thunder and lightning feldom occur, even during the warmest weather, in fummer, but are frequent during tempeftuous weather, with rain, hail, and fnow in winter.

The greatest rapidity of the spring tides, even in those channels where they run quickeft, is nine miles in an hour, and the neap-tides. have only about a fourth part of that velocity.' p. 15.

We do not pretend to call in question the accuracy of this calculation; but we have frequently feen veffels enter the Pentland Frith with a strong breeze a-ftern; and, upon meeting the tide, we have feen them stopped, and afterwards carried back, with all their fails fet, by the violence of the current.

The fecond chapter contains a geographical defcription of the iflands. They were first mentioned by Pomponius Mela; and ancient authors differ exceedingly with regard to their number and extent. The late Mr Mackenzie, from actual furvey, afcertained their number to be no fewer than fixty-feven, of which only twenty-nine are inhabited. The remaining thirty-eight, called Holms, are of fmall fize, and have always been appropriated to pafturage. Befides all thefe, there are feveral which are overflowed at high water, have fcarcely any foil, and are called Skerries, which indicates fharp, ragged rocks.

Most of the names of these islands terminate in a, ay, or ey, which our author thinks, in the Gothic language, * denoted an idland of large extent; while Holm implied one that was smaller, and only fit for pafturage. We rather think that Holm means hollow or flat land.

The islands have been immemorially divided into north and fouth ifles, from their position in refpect of the Mainland, or more probably of Kirkwall, which, for many ages, has been confidered as their capital.

The fonorous name of Pomona affixed to the largest island, or Mainland, as it is called, has exercifed the ingenuity of etymologists. Our author (p. 20.) thinks it is compounded of two Icelandic

*Vid. Ihre, Glofs. Suigoth. 1. 894.