First edition. This copy inscribed verso of the front free endpaper; "P. Brown Esqre, M.D. with the kind regards of the Author", with Brown's ownership inscription to the title page. The son of a Newcastle seedsman, Belt (1832–1878) was educated at a private school conducted by by John Storey, a secretary of Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club, becoming an enthusiastic student of natural history. "In 1852 he left England for the Australian gold-diggings, and, with three brothers, worked as a miner. Between 1853 and 1860 he visited several mining districts and pursued his geological investigations. He became a member of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria ... In 1862 Belt returned to England with a high reputation and established himself in London as a consultant mining engineer. He was a fellow of the Geological Society and a corresponding member of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences". Around 1863 he travelled to Canada as superintendent of the Nova Scotian Gold Company's mines, and from 1868 to 1872 "he conducted the mining operations of the Chontales Gold Mining Company in Nicaragua. His observations of that country's geology, flora, and fauna" are described in the present work. During the 1870s he spent time in Siberia and on the Russian steppe, from his observations developing theories which led him to deal "boldly and suggestively with the phenomena of the Glacial period in Britain and in various parts of the world" (Britannica, 1911). Belt initiated a correspondence with Darwin about the symbiotic relationship between the "Bull's Horn Acacia" - Acacia collinsii, - and the ant Pseudomyrmex spinicola, which lived off the plant's secretions while defending it from aggressive parasites, later discussing Belt's theories on glaciation and extinction. Darwin received a copy of Belt's book on publication, and wrote to Hooker; "Belt I have read, and am delighted that you like it so much, it appears to me the best of all natural history journals that have been published" (quoted in Darwin, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II, p.169). An uncommon work, particularly so inscribed.
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