Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

and the foundations , so to speak , of the river systems of the country were fairly inau gurated . For a considerable time the Trent Valley of this period was , even far south of the district under consideration , subjected to tidal action ; and its estuarine conditionsin common with those of the

, other great river-valleys of the country , extended many miles further inland than at present . Consequent , however , upon the continued elevation of the land , accompanied by an increase in the rate of temperaturethe sea gradually retreatedand the

, , Valley became the bed of one broad river , between whose banks rolled its watersfed largely by periodically melting ice and snow—riddling , washing , and carrying away to sea by far the greater portion of the clay and other finer material , and by

this means allowing to settle down , upon the red marls beneath and between its two banks , to the reduced thickness of from fifteen to thirty-five feet , the sand , gravel , and boulders which composed the remaining portion of the deposits with which the Valley was originally infilled . A yet further change took place . The river , by the continued elevation of the land , became

gradually contracted in its dimensions , and by degrees small tracts of gravel-beds appeared at the surface ; and as they rose the lessening waters worked out therefrom new channels , and they lay in the broad river a series of small islands , which , in the course

of time , become covered with vegetation . The outlines of the islands of this period , which are generally oval , and do not exceed six feet above the present level of the Trent , are easily traceable , and it is upon one of these that the town of

Burton-on-Trent was ori ginally founded . A further elevation and silting up of about two feet , however , brought about a considerable change , and converted the area between the two banks from an island-dotted river into a Valley cut up and about equall

y ap portioned between land and water . In the course of time a yet further increase in the laud-area of the Valley took place—possibly the result , to a certain extent , of its elevation , but principally of silting—by which means its conditionas presented under

, the aspect of an ordinary flood , was established . The last change represents the present aspect of the Valley under ordinary circumstances . There have ,

therefore , been no less than four different levels of river-action in the Valley , each represented by a distinctive series of deposits , and occupying definite and well-defined areas . The first is , of course , when the whole of the Valley was under water , and

the terrace-gravels of Drakelow , Stapenhill , on the one side , and of Horninglow and Stretton on the other , formed the river banks ; the second when the first range of gravel-islands or banks appeared . Of these , the largest commences about 200

yards north of Branstone Cottage , [ the author ' s residence , ] and extends to the bottom of Anderstaff-lane , being thus occupied by the High-street , and all the old parts of the towrr of Burton . " And in an equally plain manner does Mr . Molyneux

point out to his neighbours the gradual formation of the land they live on , and the materials of which it is composed , as well as the best means of preventing inundations for the future . If Mr . Molyneux ' s larger work be half as interesting as his sixpenny

pam phlet—and it ought to be more so—it must be most agreeable reading ; anyhow , he deserves hi gh praise for the able treatise he has published on "The Old River Courses and the Recent Floods of the Trent Valley at Burtou-on-Trent . "

On the 1 lth of May last , Lady Smith , of Lowestoft , in Suffolk , completed her hundred and third year , on which occasion she received by post the following beautiful verses by Eta Mawr , with the' writer ' s photograrili : —

" fake—honour'd Lady—jiaid with joy and pride , This cordial tribute , on your natal day ! To kindred minds , though space and time divide , Th' electric spark of friendship finds its way .

Accept the humble offering which I send ; Your portrait I possess — enclosed is mine ; A feeling , though a somewhat failing , friend—For I too have arrived at life ' s decline ! And life seems but a dream , though full of years , When back we look upon the lapse of time ;