i as es PKS ee ne ve es pane Deine ¥ i LOCAL CORRESPONDENTS OF THE ‘GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.’ ALNWICK.0....e0+ee0e0++++ GEORGE TATE, Esq. F.G.S. Berwickshire Naturalists’ Field-club. DEAE etvatciavetareteveveleictatelsis 6 ... Rev. H. H. Winwoop, F.G.S. Bath Natural History Society. BRIDGNORTH. oie. «0 -tnc 0 C. J. CooPer, Esq. Sec. Severn Valley Naturalists’ Field-club. SRLS TOMaesycteiatereieter ors ecovelsicreyajs SypNeY Hopaes, Esq. Sec. cf Bath and West of England Society. IBRORIMUDN? cboodtinocoeaudon GEORGE Maw, Esq. F.S.A. F.L.S. F.G.S. Benthall Hall. CANTER BUR Wales sic. clsicleisieca = G. Dowker, Esq. Stourmouth House. CAMBRIDGE iajseresatsie(c ie. ieie.e'e D.'T. ANSTED, Esq. M.A. F.R.S. F.G.S. Impington Hall. Cuarmouru and Lyme .. E.C. H. Day, Esq. F.G.S. CHELTENHAM .,....-20005 ‘THOMAS Wriaeut, Esq. M.D. F.R.S.E. F.G.S. COATRROOKDALE.. .clesiciclss Rev. Joun Hayes, V.P. Severn Vailey Naturalists’? Field-club. DUBLIN ...... alateleyeleseielereiiete W. HELLIER BAILy, Esq. F.L.S. ¥.G.S. Geological Survey of [reland. IDDITIDD? GonHodBo soba DD OsOO JOHN JONES, Esq. Sec., and E. HoLuier, Esq. Hon. Curator, Dudiey and Midland Geological and Scientific Society. ID WINSTABE!, vlelsis viele sttelecre'e Rey. H. HousMAN, A.K.C. F.G.S. Northall. DIN BURGH eiciejecc ccc icls «lee ois ALEXANDER Bryson, Esq. F.R.S.E. F.G.S. IE PXCETEU Ruiiviaysie sielelo;elebetazefa) sieves G. W. OrmEROD, Esq. F.G.S., Chagford, Teign Naturalists’ Field-club. JHOIRUVAGR er cleteicinleneteretersiele la cies oe JAMES PowriIE, Esq. F.G.S., Reswallie. GAS WAW Ero sisleleleiaieiiieseietelsictcters Professor WILLIAM KING, Queen’s College, Galway. GLASGOW....... Metriatel tests JAMES FARIE, Esq. Sec. Glasgow Geological Society. GLOUCESTER .............. Capt. W. VERNON GUISE, F.L.S. F.G.S., President, and W.C. Lucy, Esq. F.G.S., Hon. Sec. Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field-club. HAGLEY, STOURBRIDGE .. JOHN GRAY, Esq. FUER EI FORD cryccieslece sienveleeuis ARTHUR THOMPSON, Esq. Sec. Woolhope Naturalists’ Field-club. ILFRACOMBE....... --eoe-. R. H. VALpy, Esq., F.G.S. GED IBUIRIVA0 (ejeiieleloie eisiexe .--.. Rev. R. P. Hruy, Hon. Sec. Malvern Naturalists’? Field-club. LIVERPOOL.....0..000- «ee: GEORGE H. Morton, Esq. F.G.S. Hon. Sec. Liverpool Geological Society, Lecturer on Geology, Queen’s College, Liverpool. MANCHESTER ..-....0.005 EDWARD WILLIAM BINNEY, Esq. F.R.S. F.G.S. NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE .. GEORGE S. Brapy, Esq., Hon.Sec. Tyneside Naturalists’ Field-club. INOR WICH 30s /c\ocie ccc. ».... Rev. Joan Gunn, F.G.S., Irstead Rectory. T. G. BAYFIELD, Esq. N. & N.A.S., &c. OupBuRY, BIRMINGHAM.. WILLIAM HENRY HAYWARD, Esq. M.R.C.S.E, L.S.A. &c. &c. RICHMOND, YORKSHIRE... EDwARD Woop, Esq. I'.G.S. &c. SAU OB iareielere. tra occ eielelaciciccele Rev. W. HoueutTon, F.L.S. V.P. Severn Valley Naturalists’ Field-club. Rev. J. D. La ToucueE, Stoke Saye Vicarage. SCARBOROUGH .....- coeess JOHN LECKENBY, Esq. F.G.S. SHREWSBURY .......4. ee. HENRY DICKINSON, Esq. Severn House, Colebrook Dale. STRATFORD-ON-AVON.... 0. R. F. Tomes, Esq. Corr. M.Z.S. Welford Hill. DEWKESBURW. ‘slececs cele e'e Rey. W. 8. Symonps, M.A. F.G.S. Pendock Rectory. FOR Q UWA NGlercis oieisiotectsveic’s cise WILLIAM PENGELLY, Esq. F.R.S. F.G.S. Lamorna. SVVFASR WIC Kept sisieioielercieleler -.... Rev. P. B. Bropig, F.G.S. Warwickshire Naturalists’ Field-club. AVE VANE OUST clelstsleleleietete oie) sis Rogpert Damon, Esq. F.G.S. WORCESTER: Sfejsc:sieieersis'o.stae Epwin LEEs, Esq. F.L.S. F.G.S. V.P. Worcestershire Nat. Field-club. WORKS iaihicisiciieleie clelciers eeeee W.S. Dausas, Esq. F.L.S. Keeper of the Yorkshire Phil. Soc. Mus. YARMOUTH......e0eee «eee. C. B. Rose, Esq. F.G.S. FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS. BERLIN» «00.0000 dossobasd de Baron A. von KoENEN. DRESDEN..............20+. Prof. Dr. H. B. Ger1nitz, For. Cor. Geol. Soc. ILTTETR SSR Sp GO RGOAUDORGD OG Prof. Dr. L. de Koninck, For. Cor. Geol. Soc. IVI NIT CIT cyolsiatere aieinietels inier(aie ale Dr. ALBERT OPPEL, Keeper Royal Bavarian Museum. IPYASRITS) sree aversts lo afeusiouk sreteone Dr. ALPHONSE MILNE-EDWARDS, Sec. Geol. Soc. France. IPUAGIUIE are aleleicferscicteleieioiceisis Dr. ANTON FrRitscH, Keeper Royal Bohemian Museum. GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE VOL. I. JULY—DECEMBER 1864, LONDON PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND Coa. NEW-STREET SQUARE THE “GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, ov Monthly Sournal of Geologn: WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED LHe GHOLOGIST. EDITED BY PRUE TONES, i Ges: COR, ACAD. NAT. SC. PHILAD., IMP. GEOL. INST. VIENNA, ETC. ETC. PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY, ETC. IN THE ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE, SANDHURST. ASSISTED BY HENRY WOODWARD, F.G.S. F.Z.S. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. ViOl.er. JULY—DECEMBER 1864. LONDON: LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, & GREEN. PARIS: J. ROTHSCHILD, 14 RUE DE BUCI. LEIPSIC: LUDWIG DENICKE. NEW YORK: WILLMER & ROGERS. 1864. PLATES ey ae III. BY Vi NE VIL. VIII. IX. X. XI. XI. LIST OF PLATES. Thecidium ; Recent and Tertiary Acrodus, Lias, Lyme Regis Acrodus, Cestracion, and Chimeera . Plicatula, Ostrea, and Hurypterus Plinthophorus, Lower Chalk Banded F'lints : Inyolutina, Lias Stylonurus, Eurypterus, a Bisse Lower Greensand Brachiopoda LIST OF WOODCUTS. Sketch-map of the Cornish and Devon region in ‘ Lower Silurian’ times Veaillum, a Fossil Fucoid . Dedalus, a Fossil Fucoid Myocaris lutraria, Budleigh- BG alercon Thecidium Mediter raneum . Section of King’s Craig, Bernice laa Monte Civita and Caprile . Lighthouse on Uschruffee Island, Red Seal Section, Alderley Edge, Gheshive Section, W. of Whitecliff Bay . Fish-scales, Kimmeridge Clay Section of the Elephant-bed, Malta Section of a Cave, Coast of Malta Mocha-stone in British Museum Section in the Lower Chalk near Ely Kimmeridge Clay and Chalk near Ely ; Section in “the Lower Chalk, a Outline of Involutina . 5 Shell-wall of Involutina Tail-spine of Stylonurus Section of the Rheetic Beds at Bocarth Cranium of Mammoth Section at Hford, Essex Section at Bridlington 5 ‘ PAGE 20 64. 65 114 118 149 196 200 256 64 349" THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. I.—JULY 1864. THE PAST AND PRESENT ASPECTS OF GEOLOGY. By the Eprror. HE publication of the First Number of a new Journal of Geo- logy seems a fit opportunity for noticing the present aspects of the Science, as compared with those it presented during the few principal epochs into which the short term of its existence may be divided ; and also for contrasting the ideas that during each of those epochs guided the course of geological investigation, forming for the time, so to speak, the rudder of geological thought. A retrospect of this sort, forming a kind of map of the country in - which we are about to travel, will naturally lead us to consider that undercurrent of ideas which forms the philosophy of the Geology of the present day; and thus to sketch out, though perhaps somewhat indefinitely, the functions which this Journal may be expected to perform, and the present benefit to the Science which may result from its publication. First attempts at the formation of a science have generally, per- haps always, consisted of sweeping hypotheses, meant to account for well-known, but not understood phenomena; and in Geology, even excluding the Cosmogonies, we all know that ‘Theories of the Earth’ were for a long time all that could be shown in proof that the mind of man had endeavoured to penetrate the mystery of the origin and formation of the planet on which he lived. Every one is familiar, also, with the proximate cause of these ‘ theories; namely, the necessity of accounting for the occurrence of sea-shells at various levels above the sea; and undoubtedly the first step towards the formation of the Science of Geology was to establish the organic nature of such things. This having been admitted, the next great advance was made by Playfair and Von Buch, proving that the sur- face of the earth was subject to alterations of level. These two facts having been established, the evolution from them of the Idea of Geological Change became easy; although the popular and general belief that all the known phenomena had been produced by a uni- versal deluge, long proved an obstacle to further progress. The last difficulty having at length been removed, chiefly through many fossils having been shown to belong to extinct species, the Idea of VOL. I.—NO: I. B 2 The Past and Present Aspects of Geology. Geological Time became at last familiar to the minds of Geologists. By means of these two ideas combined, men were able to discern the local succession of strata. We thus arrive at the first epoch of Systematic Geology—the beginning of the period of Werner and William Smith. At that time the characters considered distinctive of strata were mineralogical and stratigraphical, as the terms grau- wacké, floetz-rocks, &c., indicate: organic remains being regarded as subsidiary, or more or less accidental, and usually called ‘ Extraneous Fossils,’ a term that now has a widely different meaning, and to which William Smith was even then giving a new aspect, by showing the essential value to Geology of the objects included under it. The close of this period was characterized in a far different manner, having been fruitful in controversy respecting the Wernerian and Huttonian hypotheses, as well as in philosophical discoveries and opinions, some of which have immortalized the name of the Father of English Geology (William Smith); while others have invested that of De Lue with a light that will not be extinguished. Thus we may close the first era in the History of Geology—long in duration, and divided into a few great periods, in each of which the followers of our Science were occupied in discussing and esta~ blishing, one by one, some three or four propositions, which together now form the basis of our present knowledge. We have seen that the first great fact which was established—the organic nature of fossils—led immediately to the acceptance of the idea of Geological Change; this was succeeded by the rejection of the deluvial dogma, a conclusion which gave birth to the notion of Geological Time. The latter step was quickly followed by the detection of the local sequence of phenomena in different districts; and this, aided by William Smith’s discovery, that strata could be identified by organte remains, led to the formation of a Systematic Geology, which, how- ever, was at the time thrown into the background by the fierce controversy between the Wernerians and the Huttonians; but the Idea of Contemporaneity involved in that discovery survived the gloom, and shone forth all the brighter for its temporary obscurity. We now come to a different stage in the History of Geology, which may be termed the Descriptive Period, and which was inau- gurated by the formation of the Geological Society, and indeed chiefly caused by it. This stage is nearly coincident with the period over which the publication of the First Series of the Transactions of that Society extended; and is characterized by the absence of all attempts at theorizing, the necessary reaction consequent on the pre- valence of hypothesis in the period that went immediately before it. This was succeeded by the Second Classificatory Stage, coinciding in duration, roughly, with that over which the publication of the Seeond Series of the Transactions of the Geological Society extend, and which differs from the former Classificatory Stage chiefly in the fact that, while that was Mineralogical in character, this was Paleontological, or occupied with Fossils. But in this period we have also a revival of Theory, for, as Dr. Whewell has remarked, ‘conjectures and reasonings respecting the causes of the phenomena The Past and Present Aspects of Geology. 3 force themselves upon us at every step, and even influence our classification and nomenclature.’ The particular theory, of a general nature, which then occupied the minds of Geologists was that of the Uniformity of Geological Causes, commonly called the ‘Doctrine of Uniformity ; and, although there must have been a beginning when the causes in operation were different in degree (if not in kind) from those now in action, yet we may consider the doctrine to be probably true for that portion of time represented by the stratified and meta- morphic rocks (being, indeed, all with which Geology has properly to deal) ; thus we may legitimately add the Idea of Uniformity (which we owe to Hutton and Sir Charles Lyell) to those other ideas to which we have already alluded. We now come to the present epoch in the History of the Science. It will be seen that during the first stages of that history Geologists had mainly but one or two great objects in view; but in what we have termed the Second Classificatory Stage, although we have cited but one great event as characteristic of the period, yet at the same time many men occupied themselves in ascertaining the causes of local phenomena. Such theories as they put forth are perfectly legitimate ; and such theorists have increased in number and impor- tance during the present period. Nevertheless our Science is eclectic, and has been so since the formation of the Geological Society. One of the greatest benefits to the Science produced by that event was, indeed, the impression of this eclectic character upon legitimate geological investigation. Prior to the formation of that body every hypothesis, however crude and wild, was considered legitimate, because there was no code of philosophical laws by which it could be tried ; but the uncompromising exclusion of hypothetical memoirs from the publications and meetings of the Society was the means of causing a broad sharp line of demarcation to be drawn between the legitimate and the unphilosophical. The establishment of the Idea of Uniformity wrought, however, another change, as it enlarged the field of geological research. Through it theories were considered legitimate that did not require other causes than those seen now in action ; but there has long been a tendency to encroach even upon this widened boundary. ‘This is only what could have been predicted ; for, in proportion as our knowledge increases, so does our ability to theorize. It is now rightly considered legitimate to call in the agency of forces which, though not seen in operation in nature, may be evoked in the labora- tory; and we thus seem to be in a fair way of obtaining an insight into the causes of some of the most obscure physical phenomena. These attempts to enlarge the legitimate field of geological investi- gation may, therefore, be considered to have been attended with results beneficial to the Science ; and instead of the single line of research of a century ago, we have now a perfect labyrinth, each path being an avenue of thought paved with its fundamental ideas, and supported and lined by the facts that have been accumulated by Geologists during the last fifty years. The present epoch in the history of Geology may also be said to be B 2 4 The Past and Present Aspects of Geology. characterized to some extent by scepticism as to the exact truth of at least one of the fundamental principles to which we have alluded, namely, the contemporaneity of strata which contain the same or similar fossils, and which are geographically far apart. The late Professor Edward Forbes was the first to cast doubt on the general belief, and his opinions have been recently reiterated in a more or less modified form by several other geclogists. Moreover there is a general tone of wholesome scepticism respecting other matters, noticeable in recent geological works; especially as regards the sim- plicity of several phenomena, which are thus apparently being shown to be much more complex than has been supposed, whilst some few others are being proved to be more simple. Sufficient illustration of this scepticism will be found in the recent discussions respecting the origin of granite ; the mode of formation of river-valleys ; the excavation of lake-basins ; the doctrine of ‘homotaxis ;’ and the origin of species. Discussions on Geological questions have been perhaps at no time so rife as at present, if we except the period when the various Theories of the Earth and the rival hypotheses of Werner and Hutton attracted universal attention. Thus our Journal makes its appearance at an opportune moment, when matters of vital importance to Geo- logy are occupying the attention of our most able philosophers ; when the links which connect our science to archeology, chemistry, and biology are being every day strengthened ; and especially when the border-land (hitherto considered a desert) between the two sciences of ancient history—geology and archeology—is being traversed more and more frequently by the geologist and the antiquary, and is being cultivated and cleared by them, each on his own side, until finally there will be none but a conventional line of separation between the two great chapters in the history of the world and its inhabitants. This Journal being exclusively, though broadly, Geological, our readers may reasonably expect that in its pages will be found good and reliable information upon most current topics relating to the Science, together with original memoirs, such as it contains in this its first number. Guided by the principles already alluded to in distinguish- ing loose speculations from true theory, we shall endeavour to select such memoirs as contain the results of enquiries into geological truths, facts, or theories ; and such as exemplify the processes by which such enquiries have been carried out. In this manner, by taking a broad and firm grasp of all Geology, and excluding cos- mogony, we hope to make our Journal perform the function we have described ; and by getting the best work from the best men, we expect to ensure for it that measure of success which, as the only public Journal of Geology in Great Britain, it ought to obtain. Finally, by favouring no one school or theory more than another, criticizing fearlessly and uncompromisingly where it appears neces- sary, though laudatory where it is desirable, we hope to establish for the GEoLoaicaL MaGazineE that independent character which will alone cause it to be regarded as an impartial tribunal, whose verdict will command respect by reason of its justice. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. —_+-—. I. On some Pornts IN ANCIENT PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ILLUS- TRATED BY Fossits FROM A PEBBLE-Bep at BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVONSHIRE. By J. W. Satter, F.G.S., A.L.S. [NTRODUCTION.—The contents of a Geological Journal form as miscellaneous a series as can well be imagined. In its pages all kinds of subjects meet the eye together: the ana- lysis of an obscure mineral on one page; the correction of a stratigraphical error on another: here is a fresh reading of an old text; and there an uninviting catalogue with synonyms. Oc- casionally the Journal looks like the note-book of a naturalist ; and the affinities of a genus, the migrations of species, and the ‘ theory of descent with modification,’ are discussed with zealous care: and then, again, we get back to the old times and old subjects of geological thought ; and Werner and Berzelius, and their followers, have it for a season all their own way. There is nothing to complain of in all this: it is just what it ought to be; for it shows how wide our subject-matter is. ‘The earth and all that is therein’ — that is surely wide enough; nor will pen, pencil, or graver, till the end of time, have done with it. It is not one of the least of the charms of our comprehensive science, that every one may add something to its stores. A sea-side walk, with a hammer in the pocket, may discover a new world by accident; for,as Darwin, Lyell, and Ramsay have told us, the unrepresented past times have been far greater than those of which we have a geological record, and fragments of the missing pages may turn up at any time. It is hard to realize this, no doubt. If formations seem to be continuous, and are perfectly parallel to one another, it is hard to have to question every conclusion as it arises, and much more easy to say, ‘there is a complete passage from stratum to stratum here.’ Yet every now and then we alight upon new geological kingdoms; and still oftener on new pro- vinees of old and well-established ones. An obscure, but novel, eroup of organic remains comes to light in some well-worked district, for which we have as yet no fixed geological place. Then the bed containing it is found to have a more extended range; it begins to be recognized by a local name; and, after undergoing the usual ordeal of doubt and disbelief attached to a new-comer, and being variously assigned as a local variation of some better-known stratum, it settles at length into its 6 Salter—Budleigh Salterton Pebble-Bed. rightful position, and secures its hold of the public. And when this is done, we find it is no stranger after all,—that some twenty or thirty feet of shales, for instance, packed in with the base of our Lias, are really the representative of some great Alpine Limestones, which range from the Tyrol to the sources of the Ganges, and which are only not as important as the Dudley Limestone because they have been as yet less studied and described. ‘The history of the Lower Lias and Upper New Red Sandstone for the last fifteen or twenty years may well make us believe, that, ‘when the geology of a country is done, that is the time to begin it.’ The ‘Quebec group’ in North America is another example of the same kind. And so, as we do not know the real value of any new fact, we gladly welcome all; and, while we look with respect on com- plete monographs, systems of mountain-structure, and theories of internal heat, we feel no misgiving about small additions to our accepted data: they are always welcome, like the faces of fresh children at a feast; ‘the more the merrier.’ Pebble-bed in the New Red Sandstone at Budleigh Salterton : the Derivation of the Pebbles from Silurian Strata, and the Geographical Conditions under which the Pebble-bed was formed. —For half a century and more the roadways in the South of Devon have been mended largely from the hard round pebbles of the shore under Budleigh Salterton, and from the conglo- merate seen there in the cliff. A bed, one hundred feet thick, of quartzose pebbles, was not a thing to be neglected in a country of slate and marl, of watery atmosphere, and deep miry ways. Iixeter has found these pebbles admirably suited to her wants ; and the men who break them have learned the value of the ‘ cockles’ and ‘ butterflies’ within. It is only lately, however, that the contents have been critically examined; Mr. W. Vicary, of Exeter, leading the way, i a memoir, about to be published by the Geological Society, descriptive of the range and extent of the pebble-bed. Some thirty species of fossils have been already detected; all of them, without exception, being new to British geology, I need not go into details, which will be given by Mr. Vicary and myself in the forthcoming No. of the Geological Journal ; but I would call attention to the fact, that here, in a limited range of country, a single bed, not hitherto explored, has been found to contain a wholly new group of fossils—a fauna new to Britain, and of which we only find the parallel by crossing to the shores of France. It may be the Caradoc Sandstone under a new aspect; it may possibly represent an upper por- Salter—Budleigh Salterton Pebble-Bed. 7 tion of the Llandeilo Flags; or lastly, though not quite as likely, it may be of the age of our Lower Llandovery rocks, —a formation of which, by the bye, we know very little indeed as yet. Between these limits (Llandeilo and Llandovery beds), the new formation must be placed; but for the present we can get no nearer to its actual horizon. There is little doubt, that, while our Lower Silurian rocks (Llandeilo and Caradoc) were being deposited in the British area, a broad barrier separated their sea from that in which the contemporaneous French formations were accumulated, as Mr. Godwin-Austen has already shewn.* We know this, not only by the character of the rocks themselves, which indicate, on one side of this old barrier at least, that shingle- banks and sand-banks were accumulated, as along a coast- line; but the fossils alone would tell the same tale. There are abundant Lingule, shells which now only live in shallow seas; and numerous Bivalves, allied to the Horse-mussel, which resemble most those found a little way below tide-marks ;. and great vertical burrows of Worms in the sandy beds speak plainly of sandy shores, and not of deep water. All this might have been, and would be, compatible with the existence of scattered islets in the neighbourhood, while the seas might have been of continuous extent. The fact, how- ever, that a wholly distinct fauna occupied the French area, while that of Wales and the Border Counties was filled with our own British types, is clearly not to be so explained. The dark earthy slates of Normandy are just like the dark slates of Wales; and, on comparing the fossil contents of the two regions, we find kindred species in both: but the Trilobites and Shells which crowd the famous slate-quarries of Angers are only similar to those of Llandeilo and Builth; they are not identical in any case. The shingle-banks and _ gravel-beds among these ancient beds of ooze contain similar, but not identical species on the two sides of the Channel. So of the quartzose rocks which overlie them, and which, as above said, may represent our Caradoc or our Llandovery sandstones (we know not which as yet); their fossils are not the same as those of our own area. Subject no doubt to the same Peek movement of Seuton which converted the bed of the deep ‘ Llandeilo’ sea in Britain into shallows and bays during ‘ Caradoc’ times, yet the Nor- mandy area has barely a single fossil identical with those so widely spread over our own region; the Trilobites are different; * Quart. Journ, Geol. Soc., vol. xii. p. 44, &e. 8° Salter—-Budleigh Salterton Pebble-Bed. the Brachiopod and other Bivalve Shells are not the same ; and, in order to identify them as belonging to one and the same period, we are compelled to the belief, strengthened as it is by many considerations, that a land-barrier of some extent, indented by bays and inlets, ran across in an east. and west direction, separating what is now-Wales from what 1s now the peninsula of the Cotentin and the promontory of Brest.* One or more of these inlets ran deep into the Cornish region, and another, doubtless, ranged up to the Exeter district. For we - UPPER SILURIAN. HARTLAND (BRITISH AREA.) POINT BUDLEIGH SALTERTON |x SPART POENT. LOWER SILURIAN. (FRENCH AREA.) LIZARD POINT. Fig. 1. Sketch-map of the Cornish and South-Devon region during the ‘ Lower Silurian’ times. find that the pebbles of Budleigh Salterton, now arranged in the New Red Sandstone, and originally derived from Silurian rocks, which could not be far off, contain French and not British species; not a shade of difference can be detected be- tween the Silurian fossils from May and Jurques, near Caen (and some from Rennes), and those from the Devonshire beach. There is yet more perfect evidence of this, which, as it has * I do not know that the Welsh marine area extended so far south as in this sketch. Mr. Godwin-Austen draws the barrier along the line of the Bristol Channel (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xii. pl. 1); but the Llandeilo and Caradoc rocks of South Wales were certainly accumulated in tolerably deep water (the Caradoe especially so); so that the north shore of the barrier was probably further to the south than his sketch would lead us to suppose. The correction is com- paratively trifling ; the main point is the existence of this barrier-line of old land separating the northern from the southern sea. Salter— Budleigh Salterton Pebble-Bed. 9 not yet fully come to light, must be reserved for a future communication. There is a small Silurian district near Meva- gissey and Veryan, in Cornwall, first made known by the collections of Mr. Peach, and afterwards traced in detail by Professor Sedgwick, and this seems to be the counterpart of the Normandy rocks, and to contain several of their character- istic fossils.* We are not yet in a position to affirm that these beds, at Gorran Haven and the headland of the Dodman, are identical with those which supplied the Budleigh Salterton pebbles; but at least they belonged to the same French group, and are wholly unlike the Silurian beds of Wales and the Border Counties. Yet the distance of these Cornish and Devon localities from the nearest point in Wales where Lower Silurian rocks are known, is not more than 90 miles; while they are 150 or 160 miles (in a north-west line) from the fossil-bearing localities in Normandy. Fossils from the Old Pebbles at Budleigh Salterton.—The fossils found in the pebbles of the pebble-bed under notice will not be fully enumerated here. They consist chiefly of Tri- lobites, large Bivalve Shells, allied to Modiola, Arca, and Nucula, and Brachiopods, of the ordinary genera known to us in Silurian rocks. The Trilobites are well-known French species; so are some of the most conspicuous Bivalves, and the great Lingule and Spirifere, though not at all like any- thing in Wales or Westmoreland: some of them have been already described by the French geologists, and particularly by M. Marie Rouault, of Rennes. It will be of interest to our brother geologists of France to see the fossils long familiar to them through their own research (though few of them have yet been figured), illustrated from specimens gathered from the shore of Devonshire. Leaving the bulk of the fossils obtained from these interesting pebbles to be described in the Geological Society’s Journal, I subjoim a description and figures of one or two Sea-weeds (?) from the collection of Mr. W. Vicary, and of a new Crustacean, from that of Mr. R. H. Valpy, of Ilfracombe.f The latter is of peculiar interest, and well worthy of further search being made for the missing portions of the body. * A different conclusion might be drawn from the lists given by Prof. Sedgwick and M‘Coy (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. vill. p. 18); but all the specimens that I have seen are of species distinct from the British; and some, at least, unnoticed by M‘Coy, are true French species—Calymene Tristani, for example. {+ This specimen is now in the British Museum, having been presented to the Geological Department by the discoverer. 10 Salter—Budleigh Salterton Pebble-Bed. Silurian Plants (?) from the Pebbles at Budleigh Salterton.— As in our memoir in the Geological Society’s Journal there will be no figures of these Alge (they are doubtful things at the best, but appear to be singularly characteristic of certain Silu- rian beds in Europe and America), I give them here; and they may serve to stimulate collectors to pay attention to these obscure fossils until we know more of them. M. Rouault, the indefatigable explorer of the Normandy palwozoic strata, has described a dozen species -of two distinct genera of Fucoids from thence. One group, which he calls Vexillum, has palmate fronds, with a stem and a lateral rib ; and this may well belong to the same group of organic bodies Fig. 2. Vexillum; a fossil Fucoid from the pebbles at Budleigh Salterton. Nat. size. as the celebrated Cauda-galli or ‘cock-tails’ of American geology; the name is a homely one, but is expressive enough. No vegetable matter accompanies these casts of fossils, which were probably allied to Pavonia or Acetabularia (if mdeed they were vegetables at all); there is a fringed edge to some of the Cauda-galli casts, which favours this reference; and with regard to Vezxillum, M. Rouault has described a regular transverse, as well as longitudinal, ridging in all his species. Dedalus of that author appears to be a group of irregularly crisped and curled fronds, without a midrib; putting us in mind of the Ulve and Enteromorphe of our sandy shores. I confess I am in doubt about these fossils; they seem so like congregrated ripple-marks, confused with surf-ripples, and perforated by worms. Crowded over one another in all direc- tions, and occupying great tracts of surface, they are at all events worth notice, and may be truly, as their describer sup- poses, marine vegetables. Salter—Budleigh Salterton Pebble-Bed. 11 Fig. 2 represents a Vexillum, and fig. 3 a Dedalus, so far as I understand these genera. In a rough section made by abrasion of the pebble, and shown at the right hand of fig. 3, we hi i Y Yy 1}, /) sy Deedalus ; a fossil Fucoid from the pebbles at Budleigh Salterton. Nat. size. Fig. 3. zs b shows the probable shape of the entire frond. see the incurved opposite surface of the cone or cup, for the frond was bent round much in the way a filter-paper is curved into a sugarloaf-shape (see the left-hand figure 6, fig. 3). Neither apex nor base of the original cone is preserved; but in the section there is something like a decussating set of fibres, as if the walls had been held together by plates of cellular tissue. The oblique surface-ridges are far too regular to be accidental; but if I were obliged to choose between assigning to this group of fossils a vegetable origin, and considering them due to the movements of an animal in the sabulous matrix, I should be reluctant to deny the latter alternative. Fig. 4. Interior cast of the left carapace-valve of Myocaris Lutraria, from a pebble of Silurian Sandstone at Budleigh Salterton. Nat. size. Myocaris Lutraria, new genus and species.—We have only the interior cast (in hard sandstone) of a single carapace- valve, which is transversely oblong, with square angles at back and front, 24 inches long, and more than an inch wide beneath the beak, which is*abruptly prominent, and placed at 12 Davidson—Recent and Tertiary Species of Thecidium. the anterior fifth. In front ‘and beneath the beak (fig. 4, a) a rather strong cervical ridge runs obliquely for a third of an inch; and behind the beak two strong ridges, terminating on the posterior margin in projecting spines, run down the posterior slope. Above these the posterior upper angle is perfectly square; beneath them the lower edge is strongly emarginate ; the ventral margin arched; and the anterior angles both abrupt and square (the upper one even acute), from the deep emargi- nation which truncates the whole anterior side. Surface marked with concentric ridges, not very closely placed, nor very distinct in all parts. Though we have but a single valve of this curious fossil, it must not be neglected. It is strongly characterized; and in every part it seems to have the characters of the genus Ceratio- caris exaggerated. The subcardinal ridge is so much stronger than in any species of Ceratiocaris I am acquainted with, that I am compelled to give a new name. I am indebted to R. H. Valpy, Esq., F.G.S., of Ilfracombe, for acquaintance with this fossil. He found it some time ago in the pebbles, on the banks of the Otter, and suggests the trivial name. It is not unlike a Bivalve Shell. Mr. Henry Woodward made the drawing from which our woodcut is exe- cuted, and I am indebted to him for again calling my attention to the specimen. Ribeiria pholadiformis, Sharpe, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. ix. pl. 9, fig. 17, may very possibly be a Crustacean of this group, with a remarkably thickened dorsal region and strong interior cervical ridge. It has been variously assigned to the Anatinide, among Bivalves, and the Calyptreide, among Univalves, neither of which groups seems very fit to receive it. I do not think we have quite got at the true affinity yet; but suggest the above, the more willingly in this place, as Ribeiria is a characteristic member of the mid-European Silu- rian fauna to which the Normandy fossils and the contents of the pebbles at Budleigh Salterton belong. On tHE Recent AND TerRTIARY SPECIES OF THE GENUS ‘THECIDIUM. By Tuomas Davinson, F.R.S., F.G.8., &e. HE object of the present communication is to review and compare the characters of the Tertiary and Recent species of Thecidium, the true characters of. which have been discovered only within the last few years. The genus was first named Davidson-——Recent and Tertiary Species of Thecidium. 13 Thecidea by Defrance* in 1821, and corrected into Thecidium by George Sowerby f in 1823. The shells of this genus are all small, none of the many species at present known being more than three-fourths of an inch either in length or breadth. Their shape is very varied, and they have existed from the Triassic period up to the present time. A single species only has been described from the Trias. The Jurassic forms are numerous, and have been fully described and illustrated by M. E. E. Deslongchamps,t Mr. C. Moore,|| and myself.§ The Cretaceous forms have likewise been admirably described and figured by M. Bosquet,4 Professor Suess,** and others; but the Tertiary forms have not hitherto received that full attention they deserve. The recent Thecidium Mediterraneum has been figured by several natu- ralists; and it is to M. Lacaze Duthiers that we are indebted for the most complete description of the animal we at present possess.tf It may, however, be as well to observe that nine years prior to M. Duthiers’ researches, Mr. 8. P. Woodward and myself had published an enlarged illustration of the in- terior of the dorsal valve, accompanied by the following explanation: ‘ Thecidium has a calcareous loop, folded into two or more lobes, lying in hollows of corresponding form, exca- vated in the substance of the smaller valve. This loop, or apophysary ridge, supports the brachial membrane, whose thick- ened and ciliated (cirrated) margin is apparently attached to the inner sides of the grooves. ‘The cilia (cirri) are very long, especially the outer series, which are directed inwards in the dried specimens.’ t{ We were thus moreover enabled to show that D’Orbigny’s supposition that Thecidium was unprovided with ‘ oral arms’ was erroneous, and that consequently his term ‘ Abrachiopodes’ could not be admitted. The interior arrangements of the smaller or dorsal valve * Defr. in Fér. Tabl. Syst., 38, 1821. See also De Blainville, Manual Malac., 516, 629, 1825; Dict. Sc. Nat. liii., 1828; and Risso, Europe Mérid., 393, 1826. + Genera of Recent and Fossil Shells. 1820-24. : t Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne de Normandie, vol. ix., 1853, and vol. x., 1855. || Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archeological and Natural History Society, 1854. See also ‘ Geologist,’ vol. iv. p. 198, pl. 1. 1861. § A Monograph of British Jurassic Brachiopoda, 1851. “| Monographie des Brachiopodes fossiles du Terrain Crétacé supérieur du Duché de Limbourg, 1859. ** Ueber die Brachial-Vorrichtung bei Thecidium, 1853 ; Sitzungsber. Akademie der Wissenschaften, vol. xi. p. 991. ++ Histoire Naturelle des Brachiopodes vivants de la Mediterranée, Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 4e Sec. Zool., vol. xv., 1861. {+ Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd series, vol. ix., May, 1852, p. 374; and Manual of the Mollusca, by 8. P. Woodward, p. 221, 1856. 14. Davidson—Recent and Tertiary Species of Thecidium. are extremely variable in the different species composing the genus; in some they are very complicated, while in others they are comparatively simple; but it is not the object of the present communication to review the whole genus, or to give a description of its many and varied species, these details having been published in the admirably illustrated memoirs already named; we will therefore at once proceed with the _ description of the two recent species, so as to be able after- wards to establish a comparison between them and the Tertiary forms hitherto discovered. TuHrcipium MepiTrerRANEUM, Risso. Pl. L., figs. 1, 2, 3; and Pl. II., figs. 5 to 10. Thecidea Spondylea, Sacchi.—In external form this small shell is somewhat pyriformly ovate, very variable in shape, and in life it is attached to marine objects by a portion of the back of its beak. The dorsal or smaller valve is thin, semicircular, and slightly convex at the umbone, flattened near the margin ; the hinge- line is straight and shorter than the breadth of the shell, a small triangular hinge-area being likewise observable. ‘The ventral or larger valve is more or less regularly pyriform, very convex, thickened, and somewhat depressed longitudinally along the middle. The beak is much produced, callous, and, when well shaped, triangu- lar ; but more often somewhat irregular, on account of the position and extent of its attached surface. The area is large, triangular, and flat, with a slightly elevated, but flattened deltidium. Shell- structure punctate. The interior arrangements have been already described by several naturalists, but a glance at the accompanying illustrations will convey to the reader’s mind a much clearer impres- sion than words could effect. In the interior of the dorsal valve an oblong or squarish concave, prominent, cardinal process exists be- tween the dental sockets (Pl. I. fig. 2, a) ; and outside of each of the socket-depressions is seen an oval muscular scar (wW), which M. Duthiers attributes to his ‘lateral adductor muscles’ (‘adjustors’ of Hancock). —|—|— Columbella Holboellii Mangelia turricula . . . . —|— MeMirevelliamar =. cet. . <6 a | eae Mvcylindraceat <<. 4: . M. cinerea (= Pingelii) . caVItwele camst inci ot vtec apne). &e Meipyramidalis’) <) . 2) sis Admete viridula-. .. .-.+. ts Erichotropis, borealis 2% .)2:..4) —— — INaticarclausas ys 6.9.6 se — |— | — WUE UP EOP WWE > UHOUP WEE > EE OWE UP UP bbb Pb NeGroenlandicac, 3.2. 2% ( ee ey ee NETO CCBAC le et teclne ass ere le INe Momtacuiin ote) as) 2) eal. — IN@shrelicoides mrs) fen. e) eee =) | —— Sealaria Groenlandica . . . ee Turritella erosa i ARS Comnucohopayes Gu ey A es wa — | — icorinalitoreaa lee en. | Margarita elegantissima . . Puncturella Noachina . . . — Dentalium abyssorum . . . — Rhynchonella psittacea. . . —|— Anomia squamula ... . — | — iecten Islandicus; <1. — IMytilusvedplis. 2... — | — | — Modiola vulgaris. . . . . == |e ( Continued.) iol Ge alae ol se * The species marked with an * are in the cabinet of Mr. Leckenby; the rest are represented in the British Museum. 54 Woodward —On the Bridlington Craq. Venus fluctuosa 6 Wellina caleaniay ost. 53 15.2). —;|—|— T. obliqua . 2. 2. - 2. 2. «© f} | — | —] — A esoladunlars Sacer cece. eters — Mactra-elliptica fs. 3. —|—}|— Myatruncata. . . . . .|/—{|—{/|—|— Panopwa Norvegica. . . . —|—|— Saxicava arctica (sulcata). . ae Pholas crispata . 2. . 2. 7} — | —}| — | — o fo) a vegans: Seen ly ae iy GENERA AND SPECIES a E o 2 E 8 : oC eS I *Pectunculus glycimeris —|—|— B Nucula Cobboldiz . a O *N. tenuis . ae ee ees IB Yoldia oblongoides —|— A *Leda caudata . 3 — —— pels Ee pernulla o 64) ccc vemicnei ate —j|A @ardvum equlec seca anaes SS aa 18 C. Islandicum . A Cardita analis? apane O Astarte borealis... s°-.-. -; —;|—|A A. var. semisuleata .. pm ISN ANS UM SCR Beli a a sees enon —|—|B PACES UG abate ce, tic ieen sein epotenty a a 1B} * A. crebricostata . ed VAN IAC COMPTESSA/ eee ave ys —|—|bB VinGensiGlataeesen a ek a. |) 1B Cyprina Islandica . . . .| —|—j|—j|—|B AX IX O B B B B AN B 6 | 20 |. 384 | 44 Mangelia pyramidalis appears to be the northern representative of our M. rufa. Columbella Holboellii is regarded by some as a boreal variety of the ‘ Mangelia’ nana of Forbes and Hanley. The Bridlington fossil is like the specimens from Finmark, Spitzbergen, and Green- land. Turritella erosa, Couth. (= T. polaris, Beck), is found living in Greenland and Iceland, Spitzbergen and Newfoundland. Margarita elegantissima is living on the coasts of Finmark and Greenland. Nucula Cobboldie differs from the Crag Shell in exhibiting a tendency to become smooth when approaching its full growth. Yoldia oblongoides, Wood. « I adopt this name to signify that the species is identical with that of the Crag. It is not the same with the recent myalis, as stated by Mr. Wood, but is more like limatula (Say) or hyperborea (Lewin), which most conchologists will consider varieties. £ Parker —On the Sheleton of Archeopteryz. 55 Venus fluctuosa, Gould (astartoides, Beck), is found living in Behring’s Straits, Greenland, Spitzbergen, and Newfoundland. Montacuta bidentata. Prof. E. Forbes mentions ‘a Bridlington fossil in Mr. Bowerbank’s collection, which appears to belong to this species.’—Catalogue of Shells from the Glacial Beds, Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. i. p. 409. 1846. Mr. Searles Wood has not con- firmed this reference. Panopea Norvegica. This shell is not found in the Norwich Crag, except at Chillesford, under exceptional circumstances. Nore ON THE FORAMINIFERA OF THE BrIDLINGTON Crac. In a collection of Foraminifera of the Bridlington Crag, made some years since by Mr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., and re- ferred to in the foregoing paper, Messrs. T. Rupert Jones and W. K. Parker have observed the following species and notable varieties :-— Cornuspira foliacea, Philippz. Dentalina communis, D’ Orbigny. Biloculina ringens, Lamarck. Cristellaria cultrata, Montfort. Triloculina oblonga, Montagu. Polymorphina lactea, VW. and J. Quinqueloculinatriangularis, D’O.| Cassidulina levigata, D’ Orbigny. Q. Seminulum, Linn. Truncatulina lobatula, W. and J. Lagena sulcata, V. and J. Nonionina scapha, #. and M. L. squamosa, Montagu. Polystomella striatopunctata, Dentalina brevis, D’ Orbigny. Fichtel and Moll. These are such as are at present found in Northern Seas from the shore-line to about fifty fathoms; and, excepting Cassidulina, all occur in the Crag of Suffolk.—T. R. J. II. REMARKS ON THE SKELETON OF THE ARCHAOPTERYX 3 AND ON THE RELATIONS OF THE BirD TO THE REPTILE. By W. K. Parker, F.Z.S. [LN Plate 1 of Professor Owen’s invaluable memoir on the Archeopteryz (Phil. Trans. 1863), the fifth vertebra behind the Acetabula is seized upon as the first of the caudal series. In Pl. 3, fig. 5, of the same memoir, we have the delineation of a young Ostrich’s pelvis; and in that figure the first post- femoral joint is marked as the commencement of the true tail ; eight such joints being, even in the young bird, embraced by the posterior processes of the iliac bones. Noting this discrepancy, I was led to examine the pelves of a large series of birds (see Zool. Proc. 1864); and this led me to see that the least number of post-femoral vertebrae embraced by the iliac bones is three; for instance, in the smaller Raptores, in some of the smallest Jnsessores, and in a few of the feeblest Gralle. 56 Parker — On the Skeleton of Archeopteryx. In a very large proportion of typical perching and climbing birds, there are four joints thus clamped together behind the thigh-bones; in many of the walking and running land-birds five; whilst in the Swan, the Emeu, and the Diver ( Colymbus septentrionalis), there are as many as eleven. ‘Taking the average of the whole class, we shall find that the fifth post- femoral joint is—typically—the first caudal: and this agrees with Professor Owen’s determination in the case of the Ar- cheopteryx. This enumeration gives us twenty-one caudal vertebre for this remarkable creature; a number which, at first sight, appears very great as compared with what we see in existing birds. If, however, we examine the ‘ ploughshare-bone’ of a recently hatched Duckling, we shall find that it is composed of ten segments; and then, counting the fifth post-femoral as the first tail-bone, we get twenty-two as really belonging to that category. Following the same plan in other birds, especially amongst the Aves precoces, we shall, in many cases, get an equal result,-as many as twenty-four in the Swan, which, when young, has at least sixty-five vertebre in all. Iam not disposed to overrate the value of these remarks; yet it is well to be accurate even in detail; and itis highly interesting to see how little Nature has gone out of her way, after all, in the con- struction of this unlooked-for bird—the Archeopteryz. The general relationship of the Bird-class to the true (abran- chiate) Reptiles has still to be worked out; and it is difficult to say which Birds are the most reptilian. In some respects the Ostriches are, undoubtedly; and yet no living bird comes nearer the Mammal, in many important respects, than the Cassowary. The excellent qualities and high intelligence of the arboreal Birds would seem to set them at a great distance from the Reptiles; and yet the skull of the Crocodile comes very much nearer that of the Mammal than what is to be seen in any typical Bird. Moreover it is only in typical Birds (e. g. Turdus), that I have found any rudiment of that most characteristic lacertian bone, the pterygoidean columella; and in these very Birds the palatine transverse bone has its best development, a bone which is seen at its best in the Crocodilia, Lacertilia, and Ophidia: but which has no existence below these groups, nor above the Birds; and is either abortive, or quite absent in the greater number of birds having precocious young. ‘There is a curious blending of the characters of the various reptilian groups in the Birds; there has been no exclusive adoption of the mode of Day— On Acrodus. 57 structure of any one scaly type by these feathered vertebrates ; those reptilian qualities and excellencies which are best and highest have become theirs; but how much more! ‘This exal- tation of the ‘ Sauropsidan’ or oviparous type by the substitu- tion of feathers for scales, wings for paws, warm blood for cold, intelligence for stupidity, and what is lovely instead of loath- someness,—this sudden glorification of the vertebrate form is one of the great wonders of Nature. Ill. On Acropus Anninci#, AGass.; WITH REMARKS UPON THE AFFINITIES OF THE GENERA Acropus AND Hysopus. By E. C. H. Day, F.G:S. [Plates HI. and IV.] EW amongst the Fish-remains preserved to us in the Secondary rocks are more commonly met with than those of Sharks of the genera Acrodus* and Hybodus;{ yet, not- withstanding the frequency of their occurrence, we have but little exact knowledge of the form and affinities of the fish to which these remains belonged. ‘Their cartilaginous skeletons have, excepting a few fragments, altogether perished; and it is quite impossible to guess at their outlines, undefined as these were either by scales or hard plates. Nay, more, the remains that are known of these extinct forms present such great differences from the corresponding structures of living “fish, that, although a relationship to a single existing genus has long been indicated, the degree of that affinity is still very uncer rtain. Of the two genera, the remains of Acrodus are the less fre- quently met with ; and its structure is, in consequence, the less known. At the time that Agassiz wrote his celebrated work upon fossil fishes,{ detached teeth and one or two incomplete palates, or groups of teeth associated in their normal order, and some traces of the shagreen, or skin of the shark, were all the materials at his disposal for determining the characters of the genus. Relying upon these, he referred Acrodus and Hybodus to different families, assigning the former to the Cestracionts,§ of which the Port Jackson Shark, Cestracion Philippi, is one of two existing examples, and making the latter the type of a new family, the Hybodonts.| * Agassiz, 1838. t Ibid. 1837. t The volume containing those that form the subject of the present paper was published 1833-43. § Agassiz, ‘Poissons Fossiles,’ vol. iii. p. 139. || Ibid. p. 206, 58 Day— On Acrodus. The chief grounds upon which this separation was made ap- pear to have been, firstly, differences of form of the teeth of the two groups; secondly, an assumed diversity, in kind, of their structure; and, thirdly, a difference in the degree of variation of the teeth upon similar jaws. ‘The most important external character, given by Agassiz, of a Cestraciont tooth is its depressed and expanded form, fitted for crushing hard sub- stances ;* of that of a Hybodont, on the other hand, the cha- racteristic is the presence of a greater or less number of cones, of which the median is the most elevated, adapting it to retain prey when seized.f These differences of form are associated with a different arrangement of the enamel which covers the teeth ; and upon this, and a co-existent diversity in the in- ternal arrangement of the dental elements, Agassiz lays much stress.t Such differences, however, as we now have proof, do not amount to differences in ind, but are merely of degree; and if it can be shown that the external characters of Acrodus pass gradually into those of Hybodus, when traced through a series of teeth from the same mouth, we may admit, even without a special examination, that the internal structure would likewise be graduated from the character of one extreme form to that of the other. The third argument is based upon the fact, that the teeth in the mouth of some Hybodi differ less amongst themselves than do those upon the palates of some Acrodi;§ but this reasoning is altogether useless, except to support the generic distinction, if it be proved that the teeth of the two groups are but modifications of the same type. Another item of negative evidence that perhaps influenced the judg- ment of Agassiz upon this point was that the dorsal spines, or ‘ Ichthyodorulites, of Acrodus were still unknown;{ the possibility of such spines showing a close affinity to Hybodus being thus ignored. We have now fortunately sufficient evidence to justify us in attempting to form a clearer idea of the relationship that existed between these two genera; and this evidence lies in a complete * Agassiz, ‘Poissons Fossiles,’ vol. iii. p. 159. + Ibid. pp. 178, 179. { Ibid. p. 139, and again at p. 207, where, after speaking of the internal struc- ture of Hybodont teeth, he goes on to say: ‘Cette structure des dents s’oppose comme on le yoit, au rapprochement que M. Owen’ (in his ‘ Odontography’) ‘a tenté entre les dents des Hybodontes et celles des Cestraciontes, en effet les couronnes plates qui distinguent les dents des Cestraciontes et qui font des instruments propres 4 broyer la nourriture n’ont rien de commun avec Jes couronnes élevées et coniques des Hybodontes, qui quoique obtus dans quelques, espéces étaient évidem- ment destinées 4 saisir et 4 retenir une proie.’ It must be remembered, however, that, when Agassiz made this generalization, he had classed as a Hybodont tooth the cephalic spine of Hybodus. Ibid. p. 208. § Ibid. pp. 141 and 182. { Ibid, p. 140. Day—On Acrodus. 59 palate of Acrodus Anningie and in a pair of dorsal spines, asso- ciated with teeth, of another individual of the same species. The palate (Pl. ILI.) consists of an almost complete series of teeth, retaining the position that they must have occupied upon the jaw during life. ‘The bone upon which they were based has altogether disappeared; this fact and the absence of spines or any other remains anywhere near where the specimen was found, suggest the probability of its belonging to a detached lower jaw, “of which the car tilaginous structures have perished. Counting from either extremity of the series to the middle, we have on each side eight transverse rows of teeth, with a central row resting where the symphysis, or line of junction, of the jaw-bone would have been. ‘Two very small displaced teeth at the right extremity seem to indicate that there were origi- nally nine rows upon each side. ‘The two sides are not quite symmetrical, the right-hand series appearing more flattened and expanded than the left; and it is probably owing to this distor- tion that fewer teeth are discoverable in each row (excepting two) of the latter than in the corresponding ones of the former. Commencing from the extremities of the series, the first row on the right side is indicated by the two small teeth above- mentioned: all trace of this row is wanting on the left. The second row on the right contains 4 teeth;* ditto on the left 4 teeth ”? third bP) 9 6 9 ”? 6 br) ” fourth 23 te) vi 2? ? 2? ”? fifth 9 ” 8 29 2? 6 72 ” sixth ” ”? 8 oP) ”? 6 2”? ? seventh 2? ” 7 ”? ” 6 +B) ” eighth ted bed 6 t ? ? i) ” ninth _ Gitar. “ Dyaee: And the central TOW contains 5 Looking at the characters of the various teeth, thus grouped together, one at first feels doubtful whether the specimen should not be assigned to a Hybodus rather than to an Acrodus ; for, although the teeth of the posterior rows are marked with the fine strie characteristic of the latter genus, and are of a more or less depressed form, yet they all show some tendency to develop slight elevations, towards the apices of which the lines of enamel converge. In the more forward teeth we find, in the seventh row, the median elevations becoming more distinctly conical, and the ridges of enamel, which converge upon them, becoming coarser and more widely separated ; and in the eighth, ninth, and central rows these characters are so strongly brought * One of these is displaced to the outside of the third row. {+ The single detached tooth outside these appears to belong to the central row. + The sixth tooth of this row is scarcely visible. 60 Day— On Acrodus. out that, apart from the rest of the specimen, I should certainly have regarded these teeth as belonging to a small individual of Hybodus Delabechei, Charlesworth. * Agassiz, however, has figured an incomplete series of similar teeth under the name of Acrodus Anningie ;¢ but, though his representation is sufficiently clear to enable us to recognize the specific identity of the two specimens, the markings of the teeth are not shown well enough to render any exact com- parison of their characters in the various rows possible. One remarkable discrepancy between his figure and mine is obsery- able, namely, that in the series figured by Agassiz there are portions of as many rows of teeth upon a fragment as there are upon the entire of one side of my specimen. It may perhaps be that the two specimens belonged, the one to an upper and the other to a lower jaw, and that the number, arrangement, and size of the teeth differed upon the two, as I find they do in the recent Cestracions. In the Museum of Practical Geology there is a specimen that agrees very well with Agassiz’s figure, and amongst the teeth there are many that are unmistakably similar to those now figured; the differences that are apparent may, in addition to the reason given above, be likewise partly due to the larger size of the individual to which they belonged. I am the more inclined to believe in considerable variations in the teeth of individuals from seeing in the specimen before us that the teeth of one jaw varied, without regularity in size and appearance, not merely according to position upon the same side, but even in the same relative position upon opposite sides. We may observe this especially in the fourth rows, in which the teeth on the right hand are considerably larger and longer than those on the left. In the right-hand teeth there are indications of five elevations, of which the most prominent is not the median, but the most anterior; hence these teeth have a pecu- liar aspect not observable in those of the corresponding row. Regarded as a whole, this palate indicates that the mouth of this species was of an expanded form, exhibiting but the slightest tendency towards that contraction of the anterior portion, which is so characteristic of the jaws of the recent Cestracion. * T believe this species to be identical with HZ. pyraméidalis of Agassiz. Tt Some of the teeth answer likewise to his figure of A. gibberulus. Agassiz appears to have been acquainted with the latter teeth before he named the fragment of A. Anningie, which I cannot find that he has anywhere described. As the two species are, however, figured side by side, and were consequently, I presume, pub- lished together, I feel justified in taking my choice of the two names; and I prefer A, Anningi@, as belonging to the best characterized specimen, and as preserving the name of one to whom Palzontologists are deeply indebted. Day—On Acrodus. 61 The dorsal spines which, by means of the teeth associated with them, we can assign to this species are in the British Museum,* and were formerly in my collection. Having per- sonally taken part in the extraction of these remains, I can speak confidently of the authenticity of their association; and as they were not mixed up with Saurian remains, or those of any other species of Hybodus, &c., there is no reason to sup- pose that their juxtaposition was in any way accidental, as some such groupings undoubtedly are.t In order to show conclusively the existence of teeth in this collection similar to those in the palate described, I have figured (Pl. IV.) four teeth which, perhaps not more so than the others, are easily referable to certain positions upon a similar jaw. Thus fig. 1 corresponds with those of our eighth row, fig. 2 with our seventh, fig. 3 with our sixth, whilst fig. 4 is a larger specimen of the curious teeth already mentioned as occurring in one of our fourth rows; fig. 5 is a still more re- markable variation from the general type. The spines which accompany these teeth are the anterior and posterior dorsal, easily distinguishable from each other by good characters. The anterior (Pl. IV. fig. 6) is 173 inches in length, but the poimt had been broken off before it was embedded, so that it was probably from one to two inches longer when perfect; the part not inserted into the body of the fish measures along the anterior line 134 inches, leaving 41 inches for the inserted base. On comparing this spine with an anterior spine of similar dimensions (also now in the British Museum and formerly in my collection), and which is one of those usually confounded, by reason of the figures given by Agassiz, with Hybodus reticulatus, but which in reality belongs either to H. Delabechei, Charlesw., or to Hl. medius, Ag., we are struck with the resemblance that they have to each other. They are similarly proportioned and curved, and the ridges upon the sides and anterior face are very similar in depth and * I take the opportunity of acknowledging the courtesy of G. R. Waterhouse, Esq., and of Dr. Gunther, of the British Museum, as also of Professor Huxley, of the Museum of Practical Geology, in affording me every facility for the examina- tion of specimens under their care, and in drawing my attention to several which were of much interest, as elucidating my subject, aud which otherwise I might not have noticed. + In Lord Enniskillen’s magnificent collection, at Florence Court, there is a portion of a Saurian containing between the ribs two spines and many large teeth of Acrodus nobilis; and in the Museum of Practical Geology there is a smaller fragment of a Saurian ‘interior’ which displays teeth, two cephalic spines, and part of a dorsal, of Hybodus reticulatus, associated with teeth and part of a dorsal spine of Acrodus latus (?). These specimens are very suggestive of the destructive capabilities of the Ichthyosauri. 62 Day—On Acrodus. character. That of Hybodus differs, however, from that of Acrodus Anningie in being gently and regularly curved off from the sides to the centre of its posterior face, instead of this forming almost a right angle with the side; the ridges of the former are more numerous than in the latter; and a still better distinction is found in the largeness and fewness of the denticles upon that of Acrodus. Of the posterior spine (PI. LV. fig 7) about an inch of the base is missing; the length of the spine, as it 1s, is about 114 inches, of which ale fragment of the base measures 24 inches. The exposed part of “the spine would thus have measured 9 inches, or 44 less than what is preserved of its anterior fellow. From the latter it differs also in its much stouter proportions; and it has moreover a slight angle at the upper part of the base, which gives a somewhat distorted appearance to the spine, and the effect of which doubtless was to give to the exserted portion a more backward inclination than that of the anterior spine; the inserted portions probably penetrating the body in parallel directions. The line formed by the termination of the polished ridges, at the upper edge of the base, in the smaller spine is not so sharply sloped from the posterior to the anterior edge, but takes a deeper curve than in the larger. In the squareness of the posterior side, and in the comparatively large size of the denticles, the two spines resemble each other. After a careful comparison of several spines more or less closely resembling the one described with the figure of Hybodus curtus given by Agassiz, I am strongly of opinion that that is nothing more than the posterior dorsal spine of Ray fit ee = oe OSher bhoy sie Paco anced i Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. 119 in the Paloplotheria of the Débruge and of the Paris Basin there are three. The absence of a slight prominence on the inner surface of the lower molars is not very constant; it is hardly visible in P. an- nectens and P. Codiciense, but is very well shown in P. minus. 'The ridges of enamel which have been pointed out as occurring on the posterior portion of many of the molars constitute a peculiarity of equally slight importance. Besides these unstable characters, there is one which is sufficiently persistent to warrant the generic separation of Paloplotherium and Paleotherium; in the former the back molars are markedly distinct from the premolars, whereas in the latter, all the molars and pre- molars, except the first premolar, are similar. This difference, however, is not even strictly defined in the three species of Pa/o- plotherium ; in P. minus the last premolar resembles more the hind molars than in P. annectens, and still more than in P. Codiciense. It is interesting to note these modifications in relation to time. P. Codiciense is the oldest known form of the Palawotherian type, and is the farthest removed from the true Palgotheria. After it comes P. annectens, which is less distinct. Afterwards, in the ‘époque du gypse,’ there appears P. minus, so much resembling some species of faleotherium that Cuvier considered it referable to that genus. The range in time of Paloplotherium is very limited; since the Miocene age it has been replaced by Acerotherium.—R. T. OBSERVATIONS SUR LES PRINCIPAUX ELiMents DU TERRAIN QUATERNAIRE ; SUR LES THEORIES PROPOSEES POUR EN EXPLIQUER LA FORMATION; ET sUR L’ AGE DE LArcite A Sirex. Par M. E. Haprrr. (Bullet. Soc. Géol. France, 2me Sér. vol. xxi. p. 58, &c.) ; N this memoir (read 16th November, 1863) the author compares the opinions of M. de Mercey and himself with regard to the Quaternary deposits of Picardy, in which of late years so many real, as well as some suspicious, remains of pre-historic man have been discovered. 1. He agrees that the clay of the plateaux in Picardy, regarded by M. Buteux as contemporaneous with that of the valleys, may be the most ancient of the Quaternary series; but he is not yet satisfied with the evidence. But he points out that, if so, this plateau-clay must be different from the Limon Hesbayen of Dumont, which has been identified by Lyell (‘ Antiq. Man’) with the Loess ; and different also from the clays worked at St. Acheul above the red gravel, which M. Buteux has regarded as the continuation of the plateau-clay. He points out also the close resemblance of the brick- clay of St. Acheul with that of Menchecourt as presenting a difficulty yet unexplained. 2. M. Hébert then alludes to the red gravel, pointing out its great importance and the small attention that he considers it has hitherto received. It is traceable over a large part of northern France. Under the name of ‘old alluvium,’ M. d’Archiae has connected it with the Loess of the Rhine; but with this view M. Hébert does not agree. It is in the red gravel that the original discoveries of M. _ Boucher de Perthes was made. Its uniform presence over a wide 120 Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. tract renders it important as a land-mark, and as proving the greater antiquity of underlying ‘ diluvial’ beds. The gravel of Moulin Quignon is considered to be derived from débris washed down the slope of the hill, and to be a mixture of rolled flints with red gravel, whose date is not determined. It follows, of course, that, according to this view, the Moulin Quignon beds are newer than the red gravel. 4. The loess, or marly loam of Picardy, overlying the grey gravel, is regarded as older than the red gravel, and older than the loess of Paris. In considering the various explanations of the deposits of the (Quaternary period, M. Hébert does not adopt the theory that the Juoess was the mud of the glaciers once covering Europe. He shows 2 section in which the red gravel covers and penetrates the Loess and upper beds of grey gravel, ‘filling lar ge aud irregular swallow-holes, and affecting the upper beds of the Caleaire Gro ossier, at a height of 180 feet (55 metres) above the sea, in precisely the same manner as it affects the grey gravel. He points to the agency of acid thermal waters as worthy of consideration; but thinks that for the present the sea and marine currents afford the best explanation, pointing out the terraces and parallel roads of Picardy as analogous to those of Glen Roy and others in the British Islands. 6. The age of the ‘clay with flints’ (argile a silex) of Picardy IM. Hébert believes to be still doubtful. He had formerly regarded it as contemporaneous with the plastic clays of Picardy; but more recently has come to the conclusion that it is more ancient, as he finds sections in the Forest of Dreux in which the superposition ot the plastic clay on this clay with chalk-fiints is clear, and there is an intermediate bed of white and yellow sand. He remarks the simi- larity in the circumstances of deposit, when this clay is compared with the red gravel.—D. T. A. NOTES ON FOREIGN GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. By Dr. T. L. Putesoyn, F.C.8., &e. The Mineral Riches of Roumania.—-The Lake of Balta-Alba.—On the Colouring- matter of the Emerald.—Fossil Musk-ox at Précy.—Great Quantity of Human Remains from Moulin Quignon. M P. POENAR has written in the Belgian journal ‘Le Progrés i par la Science,’ an interesting account of the Mineral Resources of Roumania, one of the Danubian Provinces. I will endeavour to condense the results of M. Poenar’s observations :-— Several streams and rivers of Roumania are auriferous, especially the Olto, the Argis, the Dimbovitza, and the ‘Valomitza. ‘The gold-washers find now and then grains of a considerable size ad hering to a quartz-gangue.—Carbonate of copper is met with in the district of Mehedintzi, on the River Birza: copper-mines were worked when the Austrians occupied Little Wallachia, at Baja-de- Rama, the name of which hemlet signifies in English ‘Mines of Copper. —Carbonate and oxide of ¢ron are met with in the district of Vileca, also in those of Prahova, Comarnik, and Focsani, at the source of the River Rimnik, where iron-ore is very abundant, and Notes on Foreign Geology and Mineralogy. [21 in the neighbourhood of the immense virgin forests which cover the sides of the Carpathians.—Traces of native mercury were met with at Pitesti, in the district of Argis, in a thin bed of clay, whilst the foundations of a house were being laid ; but the metal has not been sought for since.—Rock-salt is the most abundant mineral substance of Roumania. The Government Mines are worked in Vilcca, Pra- hova, and Bouzéo. About 86,000 tons areraised annually. Beds of salt appear in many places even at the surface, principally on the mountain-sides, but they generally plunge about 100 yards under the surface; they are upon an average about 160 yards thick.—There is indication of coal at several places, on the borders of the River Bahna, in Mehedintzi district, near the town of Tourna Severino, and in the district of Vileca, near the village of Tamasesti. The seams do not appear very considerable, but they have never been properly explored.—Roumania abounds in lignite, especially in the districts of Vileca, Mehedintzi, &c. It has given rise, from time to time, to some curious geological phenomena. ‘Thus, during the earthquake of 1838, crevasses were suddenly formed, out of which rolled tor- rents of bituminous and mineral waters. M. Poenar was directed by Prince Alexandre Ghica to study these phenomena. In certain localities he found the lignite had taken fire during the earthquake ; and it has continued to burn ever since. Jn the neighbourhood of Malavetza, in the district of Mehedintzi, he witnessed an extraor- dinary fact. Underneath a layer of clay, about six yards thick, was a bed of lignite; the earthquake detached the clay, which slipped during the night down the side of a hill, carrying with it the pea- sants’ houses and the trees, which remained standing almost perpen- dicular as before: the bed of lignite took fire immediately on being thus laid bare in contact with “the atmosphere. Neither coal nor lignite is worked in Roumania, although the latter is so abundant, and often close to the surface.—itumen is met with in several localities, sometimes in the solid state, sometimes liquid; it is worked at Prahova and at Bouzéo, where the mines yield about 170 lbs. per day. eee bitumen, or petroleum-oil, is abundant, and would doubtless have been extensively worked before this, if the means of communication were better.— Sulphur is found native in the district of Dimbovitza, near the village of Chotinga. It is found in a layer of green clay, in the form of globules. It is also met with at the mineral springs of Baboci.—At Sibicia, Coltziu, and Valea Booului, in the district of Bouzéo, amber is found. It is generally of a greenish tint, and more é esteemed on that account.—In the district of Argis, on Mount Ciocan, and at the mineral springs of Olanesti in Vileca, garnets are met with in micaceous sandstone, and in the gravel and sand on the borders of the rivers.—M. Poenar termi- nates his two papers by an account of the mineral waters of Rou- mania. There are three kinds, ferruginous, sulphurous, and alkaline. These mineral springs appear to be abundantly dispersed over the whole district. At Prédial, and Cornu in the district of Prahova, both iodine and bromine are found in these mineral waters. All the springs are cold except that of Cozia, the water of which has a tem- 122 Notes on Foreign Geology and Mineralogy. perature of 75° Centigrade. At the Olanesti springs there exists a medical establishment. The following is the description given by M. Pierre Poenar (Loe. cit.) of the Salt Lake Balta-Alba, at the end of his account of the mineral riches of Roumania. ‘This lake is situated at 12 kilometres (about 74 miles) from the town of Rimnik-Sarat, in the middle of a vast plain; it is 7 kilométres (about 44 miles) long, and varies in breadth from two to three hundred metres; its depth is from one to two métres only. The water of this lake is very salt, and forms saline deposits on the borders, where it is of a reddish-brown colour, and nauseous to the taste, on account of the multitudes of its aquatic birds, whose excrement (guano) is constantly driven upon the shores. At a few yards from the side the water is very clear, colourless, and odourless; but has a strong saline taste, rather bitter. Its specific gravity is 1:112; and its mean temperature 19° Centigrade (15° feaumur). The bottom of the lake near the centre is level, very firm, and sandy; whilst the shores present a bottom of black greasy mud, exhaling constantly an odour of sulphuretted hydrogen. This mud contains the remains of the numerous aquatic plants which cover nearly the whole surface of the water in the shallower parts. It is much used in cutaneous diseases, rheumatisms, scrofula, &c.* The mud is applied to the affected part, aud allowed to dry in the sun. This treatment is repeated several times in the day; and a bath is taken in the lake at night and morning. The Lake Balta-Alba appears to owe its origin to subterranean springs passing through some of the layers of salt spoken of above. Its water has been in- completely analysed: it contains chloride of sodium and sulphate of soda, with a little carbonate of lime and sulphate of magnesia. In 1858 I gave an account, in ‘ The Geologist,’ of the researches of Dr. Lewy, of Paris, upon the colouring matter of the emerald, in which it was stated that the emeralds of the Muso mine, in Mexico, contained a certain amount of organic matter to which they owe their colour. This interesting question has been lately examined again by Professors Wohler and Gustav Rose, and the result com- municated to the Paris Academy of Sciences. They do not deny the existence of about 14 per cent. of organic matter in the emerald ; but they find that the emerald does not lose its cclour by calcination, as stated by M. Lewy, but becomes opaque; moreover, that the emeralds of Muso contain 1:186 per cent. of chromic oxide, a quantity which the last-named author considers too little to account for the colour. Yo prove this point, MM. Wohler and G. Rose melted together 7 grammes of colourless glass with13 milligrammes of oxide of chromium, and obtained a transparent, homogeneous, green glass, the colour of which was found to be identical with that of the emeralds of Muso. Vauquelin, when he discovered chromic oxide in the emerald, at once * T have lately had forwarded to my laboratory for analysis, two specimens of volcanic mud from the Island of Ischia, which is appled likewise with considerable success in various diseases of the skin. I shall be able to make known its compo- sition in the course of a short time.—T. L. P. Notes on Foreign Geology and Mineralogy. 123 attributed to it the beautiful green colour, and his opinion appears after all to be the true one. M. Lartet has published an account (Comptes Rendus, lviii. 26) of the fossil cranium of the Musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) found by Dr. Eugene Robert in the Diluvium of Précy on the right bank of the Oise. It was found at a depth of about 2 métres in a gravel- deposit belonging to the Diluvium or Drift, which is there covered with 3 or 4 métres of loam, analogous to the /oess. Among some other remains of large animals found there was the tusk of an Elephant. In the French and English remains of the Musk-ox we have an example of an animal restricted at the present day to the northern parts of America, above 60° of latitude, which at one time lived in our ‘quaternary’ Europe under the 47th degree, and we know also that the arctic Reindeer ranged in ancient times to the Pyrenees. M. Lartet supports the relationship of the Musk-ox to the Ovide, rather than to the Bovide as advanced by Owen in his paper on the English fossil remains of Musk-ox, in the Geological Society's Journal, 1856. M. Boucher de Perthes (Comptes Rendus, lix. 3) has discovered recently some more human remains at Moulin Quignon—a locality that became celebrated by the finding of the jaw-bone which gave rise to so much discussion. M. de Quatrefages publishes (loc. czt.) a long note upon this discovery. The box forwarded to Paris by M. Boucher de Perthes contains 16 or 17 teeth, several fragments of cranium, a portion of the occiput of an adult, a piece of ihe temporal bone of a young subject, some vertebrz, a portion of a sacrum, &c. These were forwarded on the 8th June, 1864; since then an entire jaw-bone and a cranium have been discovered, together with a quantity of other bones, about 200 in number. M. de Quairefages terminates his paper with the following remark: ‘To day, as last year, I leave to geologists the task of determining the age of the terrains de transport of Moulin Quignon, and consequently that of the human race the remains of which they have preserved. At any rate, the existence of this antehistoric human race, quite distinct from the Celtic races, cau be no longer contested” M. Elie de Beaumont reiterates the expression of his desire to see these bones placed in the hands of an expert analytical chemist; but he does not state his reasons for wishing these analyses to be made. REVIEWS. GEOLOGICAL Essays, AND SKETCH OF THE GEOLOGY oF MAn- CHESTER AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. By Joun Taytor. London: Smmpkin, MARSHALL, & Co., 1864; pp. 282, 8vo. VERY physical science, like almost every field of research and subject for thought, has its two classes of writers—the scientific and the popular ; but we very much doubt whether the writers on any science exhibit so wide a difference in education and ability as 124 Reviews— Taylor's Geological Essays. do those on Geology. Doubtless this peculiarity may be partly ex- plained when the peculiar nature of geological research is taken into account; for, while in every other physical science the investigator must be either a good mathematician or a skilful operator, both of which qualities imply education, in Geology, as we all know, a quarryman, a coastguardman, and a blacksmith have become good observers, and even, in the first-mentioned case, a polished writer and a bold and ingenious theorist. Notwithstanding this isolated case of success in geological litera- ture, it would be far better if Geology could limit the actions of her humbler votaries to original work ; but the fatal notoriety attached to ‘writing a book’ is to them a stumbling-block and to us foolishness. The work now before us well illustrates our meaning ; it is one oP the most absurd books on a geological subject that we ever remember to have read, for the author (who is noé the late Mr. John Taylor, of mining celebrity) knows just enough of geological phenomena usually to misrepresent them ; and, although he writes of ‘Tales told in Athens,’ he has such remarkable opinions as to the right spelling of the names of fossils, that we feel assured that in a knowledge of Latin and Greek and of the subject of which he treats he is equally wanting. As an example of the author’s knowledge of paleontology and comparative anatomy, we give the following paragraph from p. 1138 s— But what is most characteristic of these palseozoic corals is this: whilst those of the present day have their septa, or radiations, either in fours, or a multiple of four, the former have always a multiple of six. . . The septa were formed by the animals as furrows, along which to thrust their tentacles, so that beautiful as the fossils themselves are, when they served as dwelling- “places to their jelly-like inhabitants, they must have been more beautiful still, for then the summit of each was adorned by a coronal of bril- liantly coloured tentacles, like those of the common sea-anemone. In fact, the only distinction betwixt the anemone and these fossils is this, that the former have a leathery envelope only—whereas the latter are encased in a calcareous defence. It is bad enough to be told that the paleozoic corals have their septa in sixes, and that the recent Zoantharia have them in fours ; but here we may charitably suppose that the author has been looking at facts through a bad glass, which inverted nearly everything and dis- torted the rest; but when he writes of septa being formed as fur- rows, along which tentacles were thrust, and of corals having a calcareous defence, we perceive that he is completely ignorant of his subject. We have already mentioned his bad spelling; when tr eating of fossil reptiles, he remarks of one of them, ‘This goes by the classic name of shyneosaurus, which “being interpreted,’ means the “ beaked lizard.” ’ ‘The italics being his own, the sentence contains a satire on itself. We also read of Caryophylla sexdecimale, and of many other species spelt on the same plan ; of Syringipora, Rhyn- conella, Cellipora, Producto, Buccinium, and so forth. Reviews— Taylors Geological Essays. 125 Y Y Mr. Taylor’s notions of physical causes are as remarkable as his comparative anatomy; and his account (p. 59) of a ‘brecciated limestone’ having been formed from shingle, is particularly absurd. He is very fond of a simile now and then: and, although we ocea- sionally get a good one, we are frequently at a loss to imagine how he has satisfied himself of their applicability; for instance, we are told of ‘the sea, like a huge mortar, pounding its coast-lines into muddy sediments, to be again reconsolidated.’ The best we have met with in the book is that in which the geological record is compared to the old Woodstock Palace, as described by Sir Walter Scott, the different fronts of which were said to contain specimens of every style of architecture, just as the different rock-formations contain examples of every fauna. If the ideas, many of which, we are told, ‘were sketched during a few minutes’ rest in some solitary quarry,’ were more frequently of this stamp, we should be inclined to forgive the author for many inaccuracies, in the hope that such similitudes, by impressing the reader with a sense of the beautiful, would draw off his attention from errors in facts and principles, or, at any rate, loosen their hold on his mind. It becomes, indeed, a serious matter when men who, though having probably a very tolerable knowledge of local facts, under- take to write a work of this kind for the public at large, having no better knowledge of paleontology than what induces them to believe that a Yurbinolia differs from a Cyathophyllum only in being ‘smaller, and more even in its outline,—an opinion which he im- mediately illustrates by figuring a Cyathophyilum as a ‘Turbinolia.’ A man must be a very accomplished geologist to write a good general or elementary work; and the more popular the book, the more care and knowledge does it require. For this reason, such men as Phillips, Huxley, Ramsay, and Jukes, spend a portion of their time very advantageously in providing intellectual food for the rising generation of amateur geologists; but men of Mr. Taylor’s stamp can employ themselves much more profitably in working out a special subject, than in composing a bad imitation of Hugh Miller’s writings, as full of errors as it well can be. Nores or A Trip To IcELAND 1n 1862. By ALExanpeR Bryson, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. Edinburgh, Grant, 1864. 8vo. pp. 56. HIS little pamphlet, reprinted from the ‘ Scottish Guardian,’ is more genial than scientific, and the author evidently did his best to deserve the name of ‘ Bacchus,’ given to him by one of his fellow-travellers. There is, however, some geology; and what there is is good and useful, for Mr. Bryson belongs to the modern school, and does not take things too much for granted. The lava of Iceland would seem to represent, in modern times, the eruptions on a great volcanic line, skirting the extreme west of the old world. This line has existed since the Cretaceous period, and the points of eruption have been gradually travelling northwards. Unlike the great volcanos of America, which erupt through tens of 126 Reviews—Bryson’'s Trip to Iceland. thousands of feet of upheayed mountain, most of the eruptions of the European series were either submarine or only at moderate elevations above the sea. The basalt of the north-east of Antrim and the Western Islands of Scotland are examples of some of the earlier outbursts. The Faroe Islands are more modern, and Iceland is still among the localities from which molten rock is poured out. It is impossible, therefore, to pass by without notice any really honest account of Icelandic phenomena by a competent observer. The Geysers and the Strokr, those singular examples of intermit- tent fountains of boiling water and steam, were, however, the only objects that the shortness of the author’s visit allowed him to study. He found the Great Geyser basin to measure 74 feet by 68, the temperature of the water in it varying from 176° to 179° F. The depth of the tube was 70 feet on one side, and 64 on the other. With thermometers specially contrived so as to lose part of the mercury when exposed to a temperature above’ 212°, he and his companions determined the temperature of the bottom of the tube, not long before an eruption, to be 240°, while the temperature half- way down was in one case as high as 270°. Not only this, but every important fact known concerning the district proves that the causes of disturbance are purely local, and that they are probably produced by chemical action. The explanation given by Bunsen is supported by Mr. Bryson’s observations. ‘The absence of organic matter in the Geyser water was proved by the use of permanganate of potass, and is a fact not without importance. The Strokr erupts when turf and stones are thrown into its funnel, and very rarely without such provocation. Mr. Bryson suggests, as a reason, the floating of mechanical particles on the surface of the water already boiling, and the consequent incapacity of the steam to escape into the air without bubbles, which in this case are represented by an eruption. He illustrates the case by the behaviour of water boiling in a vessel where a broken egg supplies a film of albumen. It is suggested that the phenomena of the Geysers are probably modern. ‘The measurement of the siliceous sinter of the Great Gey- ser by Capt. Forbes would give an age of about a thousand years; and this estimate is somewhat strengthened by the fact that there is no notice of this spring in the earlier days of the colonization of Iceland, 986 years ago. ADDRESS AT THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE RoyaL GzEO- GRAPHICAL Society, 23rd May, 1864. By Sir Roperick I. Mtr- cHison, K.C.B., G.C.St.A. & Sr.8. D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., Director-General Geological Survey, Presipent. London, 1864. 8vo. pp. 89. oe presentation of the royal awards to Baron Charles von Decken and Captain Grant, the Obituary Notices, and the report of progress in British and Foreign Geography constitute, of course, the bulk of this interesting Address ; but there is one section in it of especial interest to Geologists, namely, a notice of the Glaciers of the Himalayan Mountains and New Zealand, as compared with these \ Reviews—Sir R. I. Murchison’s Anniversary Address. 127 of Europe, and a review of what is known about the powers of Glaciers in modifying the surface of the earth, and the agency of floating icebergs (pp. 57-77). Following up a subject referred to in his Address to the Royal Geographical Society in ne namely, the former glacial condition of Northern Europe, Sir R. Murchison reminds those of his readers ‘who have not attended to the connection between existing geogra- phy and the ancient conditions of the globe, that Scotland and lar ge portions of Northern Europe must, at a period anterior to the crea- tion of man, have been in the same condition as that in which Greenland and its adjacent seas are now;’—that at the Glacial Epoch those lands were covered by snow-fields and glaciers, and bordered by coast-ice, from whence ice-bergs and ice-floes floated off to discharge their loads of mud, sand, and stones in the neigh~- bouring waters. ‘The conditions and the results of such great con- tinuous or continental ice-fields, were sketched out for Scotland and Sweden by R. Chambers in 1853 (who thought that great thick- nesses and wide areas of hard rock-masses had been removed, pro- bably along lines of fracture, by the action of an extensive glacier- sheet), and illustrated about the same time by Rink’s account of the ice-clad mountains of Greenland, and previously by Ross’s great Antarctic land-ice. We all know that multitudinous observation and hypotheses, hoth before that time and since, have been made for the elucidation of the manifold phenomena of ‘ Glacialization,’ both local and general, and both as to the agents and the results; and ‘ the new theory of the power of moving ice,’ namely, ‘ that the excava- tion of deep hollows in solid rocks is due to a weight of superincum- bent ice pressing and grinding downwards and outwards, over high, flat, and sometimes broad watersheds and table-lands, during that period of intense cold which produced the old glaciers,’—excavating, for instance, such lake-basins as those in Switzerland and North Italy, is the point which Sir Roderick takes specially into considera- tion in the Address before us, prefaced with a notice of the discoveries made in the glacier-world by Captain Godwin-Austen, Dr. Haast, and Dr. Hector. A review of the progress recently made by Mar- tins, Gastaldi, Mortillet, Paglia, Studer, Escher, and others, in pointing out the extent to which ancient glaciers and their moraines have ranged within or on the flanks of the Alps, seems to prove that old water-worn alluvium in many places underlies the oldest moraines of glaciers, which therefore have not necessarily been excavating bodies, though in some instances they have pushed before them the débris lodged in old rock-basins; that glaciers exercise comparatively little erosive power; that the direction and depth of some of the lake-basins said to have been hollowed out by ice-action, as well as the slopes of their floors, offer insuperable objections to the applica- tion of this theory of excavation; and that the old glacier of the Rhone has carried its load of stony débris across the area of the Geneva Lake, then probably choked with ice. As a geologist, with wide experience, the President of the Geo- eraphers clearly states his conviction (mentioning, too, his facts and 128 Reviews—Sir R. I. Murchison’s Anniversary Address. his supporters), that, in spite of general statements to the contrary, there are cracks, rents, and gorges of fissure in the rock-masses, ‘ orographic depressions and deep cavities,’ in some of which glaciers and rivers flow, often with but little wear and tear, whilst others have been unwrought by ice; and that these fissures, giving the main features to the ground, have been caused by upheaval, by rup- tures, and denudations. The formation of real glacier-lakes by moraines,—the burstings of such lakes,—Né6rdenskiold’s map and memoir illustrating the gla- cialization of Finland,—the striations and roundings of surface by the action of ice-bergs, as suggested by Peter Dobson, more than twenty years ago,—these are the other points discussed by Sir Roderick in his concise and well-handled review of the subject of Ice-action. Wealso find geological information scattered through this Address, as indeed it must be in all good geographical reports ; and we ex- tract the following :— ‘From the researches of M. Schmidt, the geologist, aided by the botanist Glehn and the topographer Schebunin, we learn that the region beyond the Sea of Baikal is distinguished by a great variety of geological formations. Crystalline rocks, however, abound; and the unaltered sedimentary fossiliferous formations are much less ex- tended. Among the latter, the Devonian and the Jurassic deposits have been best recognized. The latter has the petrographical cha- racters of the Jurassic rocks of the Caucasus, and contains certain beds of coal, which in one spot is said to pass into graphite. Further eastward, and along the Saigon or chief mountains, and on the Amur below the juncture of the Zeia, there are spread out great freshwater formations of Tertiary age; whilst in the great Island of Sakhalin very recent marine Tertiaries repose on true Chalk and Cretaceous deposits. Having discovered what he believes to be many transitions between crystalline rocks and unaltered sediments with fossils, M. Schmidt is of opinion that all such changes have been brought about in an aqueous manner, and not by any plutonic or igneous action. The ingenious author is obliged, however, to admit the existence of obsidian in one place, and has not yet developed his proofs in favour of his novel system, in which, if I have not been misinformed, he seems to carry the chemical and Neptunic ideas of Bischoff to what I cannot but consider an extravagant length’ (p. 40). PROCEEDINGS OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS CLus. Vol. v. No. 1, 1864. 8vo. pp. 92. Three lithographic plates, and four woodcuts. TRANSACTIONS OF THE TYNESIDE NATURALISTS’ Fre_p-cLus (With List of Members and Index to the Volume). Vol. vi. part 2, 1864. Newcastle-on-Tyne. 8vo. pp. 197, with several woodcuts and 5 plates. PRocEEDINGS OF THE WARWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS’ AND ARCHZO- Locists’ FreLp-cLus, 1863. Warwick, 1864. 8vo. pp. 41, with one plate. Reviews—Proceedings of Field-clubs. 129 REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE TEIGN NATURALISTS’ FInip- CLUB FOR THE YEAR 1868, and List of Members. Exeter, 1864. 8vo. pp. 11, with a photograph. Transactions (No. 4), List or Members, AND ee OF THE Woo.HorrE NaTuRALISTS’ FIELD-CLUB, 1863 (pp. 49) ; TRANsAc- “tions (No. 5), 1864 (pp. 77). 8vo. Hereford. Bristot NatTurRALists’ Society. EsrasLisHep 1862. REPORT oF THE COUNCIL READ AND ADOPTED AT THE SECOND ANNUAL MErEt- ING OF THE SOCIETY, HELD May 51TH, 1864. With the Rules, and Lists of Officers and Members. Clifton, 1864. 8vo. pp. 19. List, Ruies, anp Notes oF Eni Mn LINCS OF THE CARADOG FIELD-CLUB, SHROPSHIRE. Established 18638. Ludlow, 1864. 8vo. pp. 15. TRANSACTIONS OF THE DupLEY AND MIDLAND GEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY AND Firtp-citus. No. 1, December 1862. With List of Members. Dudley. 8vo. pp. 23. PROCEEDINGS OF THE DupLEY AND MIpLAND GEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC Society AND Fieup-cLtus. No. 2, June 1863. In- cluding Appendix to List of Members. Dudley. 8vo. pp. 39. TRANSACTIONS OF THE MANCHESTER GEOLOGICAL Society. Vol. iv. No. 12. Session 1863-64. Manchester, 1864. S8vo. pp. 19. HE titles above given of serials now before us serve to indicate the wide-spread and well-managed operations of naturalists and geologists in Britain, and some of the useful results of their research. We leave it for others to work out the statistics and history of the Societies and Field-clubs themselves, however interesting the subject may be; we shall take our casual collection of their Proceedings as a sample of the work they do, and proceed to point out some of the chief geological matters in which they have interested themselves. The veteran Naturalists’ Club of Berwickshire publishes an account and figure of a new fossil Sea-star ( Cribellites carbonarius) from the Mountain-limestone of Northumberland, with a notice of its associa- tion with Carboniferous Plants, from the pen of Mr. George Tate, F.G.S., who points out that, by careful observation, the difference of the fossils in successive layers of Carboniferous strata, in more than one instance, is found to show that marine conditions gradually gave way, ‘probably from a gradual alteration of level, and an influx of fresh water,’ the water becoming estuarine, and afterwards entirely fresh; and the remains of plants becoming more and more abundant. Messrs. Rupert Jones and G. Tate supply also a paper on some small Bivalve Crustaceans (Estheria striata, Candona (?) Tateana, and Beyrichia Tate), from the Carboniferous rocks of Berwickshire and Northumberland, illustrated by woodcuts. Mr. Turnbull’s Ad- dress to this Club contains an interesting account of the tastes and progress of the Club, as shown by their published ‘Transactions: Geology and Mineralogy have had 16 papers out of 215 since the Society began. The Tyneside Naturalists’ Field-club, near neighbours to ‘the fore- going, work as enthusiastically, and publish even "fuller Proceedings, the completion of a series of local catalogues of animals and plants VOL. I.—NO. III. Kk 130 Reviews— Proceedings of Field-clubs. being kept prominently in view. This year Tyneside geology is elucidated by a note on some fossil teeth of Horse from Stockton, by Mr. J. Hogg, and by two papers by Mr. J. W. Kirkby, and one by Messrs. Kirkby and Atthey. Fossils are rare in the lower portion of the Magnesian or Permian limestone in the neighbourhood of Sunderland ; but Mr. Kirkby ob- tained some in a new quarry at Bishopwearmouth, where 68 feet of the ‘Lower Limestone,’ the ‘ Marlslate’ (3 feet 7 inches thick), and some of the Red Sandstone at its base, were exposed. The fossils are :— Nautilus Freislebeni, Geis. Chonetes, sp. Straparollus planorbites, Ihinster. Fenestella retiformis, Sch/otheim. Chiton Loftusianus (?), King. Ichthyorachis anceps, Schiot. Leda speluncaria, Geinitz. Cyathocrinus ramosus, Sch/ot. Spirifera Uri, Meming. Serpulites anastomosis, sp. nov. Camarophoria crumena, Martin. Mr. Kirkby remarks that these represent a local fauna, differing from all other Permian groups that he knows of; the prevailing species being ‘ either wholly new to Britain, or such as are compara- tively rare in other localities where they occur, The highest beds of the Durham Coal-measures have yielded some little fossils to Mr. Kirkby’s careful search—namely a band of minute shells in ironstone, a specimen of which, however, had been found years since, and preserved in Mr. Vint’s collection at Sunderland, though the exact locality was forgotten. Professor Phillips had long ago seen that specimen, provisionally and doubtfully referring the fossils to Aneylus; Mr. Kirkby thinks it probable that Estheria ought to claim them; Mr. Rupert Jones sees no evidence of that relationship, but agrees with Mr. Davidson that the little fossils belong to Discina. Beyrichia arcuata, Anthracomya acuta, Neuro- pteris, Asterophyllites, and Fish-scales accompany Ancylus (?) Vinte (Kirkby) in the ironstone. Messrs. Kirkby and Atthey treat of numerous fish-remains from the Coal-measures of Northumberland and Durham, chiefly found in a carbonaceous shale or ‘black stone’ at Newsham Colliery ; and they enumerate the following genera as being indicated by these fossils :—Rhizodus, Megalichthys, Holoptychius, Acrolepis (?), Pleu- racanthus, Orthacanthus, Gyracanthus, Ctenoptychius, Diplodus, Ceratodus, Platysomus, Celacanthus, and Paleoniscus, besides others, as well as some Mollusca, Insecta, Entomostraca, and Annulata. We recollect to have seen in Mr. Atthey’s collection of fossils from Newsham a little jaw closely resembling that of one of the Reptilia from the Nova-Scotian coal. Rhizodus lanciformis, Newberry, Holoptychius sauroides, Agassiz, and Holopiychius, sp. indet., have been worked out by the authors, aided by Sir P. Egerton, and are illustrated in a lithograph of rare delicacy by T. Brady of York. Lastly, a short paper, by Mr. G. S. Brady, on the fauna and flora of some pools, of different degrees of brackishness, in Hylton Dene, near Sunderland, is of considerable importance to geologists. Reviews—Proceedings of Field-clubs. Kasi ‘Estuarine swamps,’ says this careful observer, ‘such as this, seem to be the nearest analogues we now possess of those extensive lagoons which, during the Carboniferous Period, supported the rank vegetable growth now fossilized in our Coal-measures. To the Palecontologist it must be matter of considerable interest to note the association of species in such localities; and I think enough has been said to show that considerable caution should be used in pronouncing upon the saline or freshwater nature of any deposits merely from the nature of the animal forms which they enclose. Judging from analogy, however (if our own island may be taken as a type), we should suppose that any great luxuriance of vegetable growth must be in- dicative of freshwater conditions. We uniformly find in the saline portions of these marshes a peculiarly dwarfed and stunted vegetation, while as we recede from the salt-water influence it often assumes a rank luxuriance, putting on a character quite as much in accordance with vegetation of the Coal-period as can be expected in these degenerate days.’ The Warwickshire Field-club publishes a lecture on the Hyzna- den at Wookey Hole in Somerset, by Mr. Parker, the fellow- workman with Mr. Dawkins in exploring this cave, and in the careful collection, sorting, and preservation of the numerous bones from the different layers of cave-earth and breccia, and from different parts of the cave, as well as of the more rare and valuable stone implements of human manufacture, found there. A Presidential Address well adapted for Naturalists,Geologists, and Archeologists, and interesting notes of the doings and sayings at the several indoor and outdoor meetings of the Club, form the rest of this part of the Proceedings, which, though neither printed nor edited so well as those already mentioned, is an honest and useful witness of scientific life in Warwickshire. The Teign Naturalists chronicle six excursionary meetings, at which old churches, quarries, mines, fossils, botany, and social dinners were, as usual, important features, advancing knowledge and tending to good fellowship. The Presidential Addresses for 1861 and 1862 to the Woolhope Naturalists, by Messrs. Banks and Lightbody, treat con amore of the geological work done and to be done in those parts of the country visited by the Club; and Mr. Hoskyn’s Address in 1864 (there seems to have been none in 1863) indicates clearly and pleasantly the comprehensive character of the scientific and social purposes of Field-clubs. Mr. E. J. Isbell contributes a short paper on the Earthquake of October 6th, 1863, illustrated by a lithograph sketch- map, representing the varying intensity of the shock along a line from Lancashire to Somerset, and transversely east and west. The Bristol Naturalists, counting 214 ordinary and 16 correspond- ing members, announce that they make steady scientific progress and enjoy continued financial prosperity ; they look back with plea- sure, and forward with hope. Enjoying the use of the Museum of the British Institution, they have presented a valuable specimen of Apteryx as a contribution in acknowledgment, as well as money- grants. They enjoyed and profited by four excursions, and had several interesting papers read at their indoor meetings. Geology has a fair share of their attention. K 2 132 Reviews—Proceedings of Field-clubs. The Caradoc Field-club, youngest of all, show by their first report that they know how to avail themselves of the manifold advantages that Shropshire affords for the zoologist, botanist, geologist, and archeologist. They enhance, too, the “pleasures and advantages of their excursions by meeting the Woolhope Club, the Oswestry and Welshpool Club, and the Severn Valley Club. Like other kindred associations, the Dudley and Midland Field- club has been established for the development of the scientific re- sources of a special district; and, being in a mineral district par excellence, geology is foremost on its list of objects, geologists are strong on its staff, and its inaugural address was eminently geologi- cal. The field-meetings work over the many interesting outcrops of well-known strata, and are rewarded with rare plants and antiqui- ties, as well as fossils, much information being obtained and dis- seminated; and, in fulfilment of a judicious detente to cooperate with other societies, the Woolhope, Oswestry, Warwick shire, Cottes- wold, and Severn Valley Field-clubs have been sharers in the work. The Dudley. Geological Society (as it is sometimes termed ) holds also field-meetings in the winter with good result. Some good papers on local geology are published in No. 2 of the Proceedings, especially Mr. H. Johnson’s, on the practical application of Geology to the in- dustrial pursuits of the South Staffordshire Mineral District, and Mr. E. Hull’s, on the New Red Sandstone of Central England, and its usefulness as a source of water-supply. We have now to refer to the Geological Society of Manchester, last, but not least—as venerable among its class as the Berwickshire Field-club is with naturalists. As a representative of the chief pro- vincial societies for the cultivation of geology, we allude to this scientific association of Manchester men. No. 12 of vol. iv. of their Transactions contains much information in a paper by Mr. E. Hull, on the occurrence of Glacial Striations on the surface of Bidston Hill, near Birkenhead, which he saw with Messrs. Morton and Cun- ningham, and a paper by Mr. J. Plant, on the discovery of Coal in Brazil, where, it seems, from his brother’s notes on the subject, 65 feet of coal occurs in 114 feet of strata, extending over 150 square miles! Stigmaria, we are otherwise informed by Mr. Plant, under- lies some at least of the coal; and we learn too that Sphenopteris and Lepidendron are present, as well as a minute fossil crustacean, Beyrichia, characteristic of the Paleozoic period. We need not enlarge our list of Scientific Societies to show the good resulting from the steady activity of British geologists ; co- operating with each other, with the Irish societies, and with their geological brethren abroad, they seize and utilize much that is of value : as eyes are opened, facts are seen; as natural history is culti- vated, facts must be grouped; we have seeding-time and harvest in science as in farming ; we must watch the outgrowth of facts and their concentration in theory; truth and judgment, supported by industry and enthusiasm, work in this; and where are better evi- dences of this good work than in the Proceedings of our Field-clubs and Scientific Societies ? REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. —— }—— - DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUARIAN Society.—This Society had its first excursion for this season on 7th June last, the district selected being that around Drumlanrig Castle. Shortly after nine in the morning members and _ their friends, to the number of about thirty-five, met at Dr. Grierson’s Museum at Thornhill. Having been conducted by Dr. Grierson over his well-arranged collection, which comprises very numerous specimens of the natural history, antiquities, and geology of Nithsdale, the party set out from Thornhill about ten o’clock. At Boatford the party turned aside to inspect the remarkable upright stones in the field there, the rude ornamentation on which, as Dr. Grierson pointed out, was of precisely the same character with that on the ancient cross of Durrisdeer, a portion of which is in his own collection, and which probably belonged to the 11th century. ‘The next object of interest, indeed the chief for the day, was Tibbers Castle, the ruins of which are at present being excavated under the inspection of Mr. Howitt, master of works to His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch. After the several points of interest had been inspected, Dr. Grierson read an interesting paper upon Tibbers Castle. In the introduction the Doctor said, ‘I will go back to the beginning—back to the time when these mountains were formed. They are Silurian, and form a basin which is the Vale of the Nith. Lying upon the Silurian (I think not the Devonian) is the Lower Carboniferous of Closeburn and Keir, a marine formation, in which are the remains of the characteristic testacea. Of vertebrate animals, all that has ever been met with are the flat teeth of the Psammodus, a family of fish having a cartilaginous skeleton. Succeeding the Lower Carboniferous, are sandstones. In these, excepting when in immediate connection with limestone, there has rarely a trace of organization been found. In the dark red sandstone such has never been met with; but in the lighter sandstone there are a few vestiges of vegetable remains. No indications of animals had been met with until within the last eight months. Those were footprints, which were recognized to be those of the Cheirotherium, a gigantic Labyrinthodont animal, whose race has long been extinct. During the formation of the red sandstone, and immediately preceding it, the earth was con- vulsed, and then issued from rents in the Silurian rocks molten lava. The place on which we stand was once that lava, now amygdaloidal trap. After the formation of the sandstones, be they Carboniferous, Permian, or Triassic, no other formation of solid rock was formed, or, if formed, it has disappeared without leaving a trace behind. Afterwards this valley became filled with glaciers. How many ages of frost there were, and what changes in subsidence and elevation the earth underwent, is not to be determined ; but the ice melted, and there were formed glacial lakes, which at times broke their barriers, sweeping along the débris of the rocks, and 134 Reports and Proceedings. depositing heaps, in part forming the undulated surface which characterizes this district. Ages passed on, and the glaciers had melted away, but onward flowed the clear streams of the Nith to the Solway. I will not attempt to argue when it was that men first occupied this valley. The first have left a few stone celts, and by these we know that there were men ere history had began.’ Dr. Grierson then took up the archeological history of Tibbers Castle, tracing it down from the time of the Roman occupation to its destruction by Robert Bruce in 1311. The company then proceeded to Drumlanrig Castle, and thence to Durrisdeer. Here, some went to examine the King’s Quarry, others held on up the hills, by what was formerly the only road—properly the bridlepath—to Edinburgh, till they struck into the ancient Roman road which leads to the Roman Camp. —Dumfries Herald, 10th June. Exeter Naturaists’ Crus.—On Saturday, 18th June, this Club made an excursion to Strete Raleigh, by invitation of Went- worth Buller, Esq., who awaited their arrival, and threw open his hothouses and conservatories, containing a very fine collection of orchids, palms, and ferns, to their inspection. The party next proceeded to the interesting gravel-pit at Straight- way Head, where beds of pebbles identical in character with those seen on the beach at Budleigh Salterton are inter-stratified with bands of white sand and red marly clay. Having made a minute examination of these, the members continued their walk for some distance up the hill, and on their return to Strete Raleigh were shown two living Badgers, captured by Mr. Buller on the borders of Dartmoor, near Becky Falls. The Badger is a peculiarly interest- ing animal to the naturalist and ecologist, being the last represen- tative of the Bear-tribe existing in the British Isles, of which it is, geologically speaking, one of the oldest existing quadrupeds, its bones being mixed with those of extinct animals in the bone-caverns around Torbay, &c. Unfortunately it bids fair to disappear before long, though a few still exist about Poltimore and on Haldon, as well as on Dartmoor. Mr. Buller read a highly interesting paper on the distribution of plants in the south-western parts of England. The general con- clusion Mr. Buller arrived at, was that the last climatic change was not from a colder, but from a warmer period to the comparatively cold climate of the present time. Mr. Vicary then read a paper ‘On the Pebble-bed of Budleigh Salterton.’ (This has since been published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No. 79.) Engravings of the fossils, and a geological map showing the continuity of the various formations on the opposite sides of the English Channel,* were exhibited in illustration of Mr. Viecary’s paper, which excited great interest amongst the members.—4Axeter and Plymouth Gazette, 24th June. THe Dupiey anp Mipianp GeoxLoeicat Society held their second Field-meeting at Llangollen on the 14thand 15th July, in con- * See Guotocicat Magazine, No. 1. Reports and Proceedings. 135 nection with the MaNncuEsSTER and LivERPOOL GEOLOGICAL SOCIE- ries. Shortly after twelve o’clock the party commenced their examin- ation of the geological features of the northern side of the valley. The route lay along the banks of the Dee for upwards of a mile, and the first halt was made at the slate-works, near Llantysilio, where the huge slabs brought down from the quarries near the summit of the adjoining hills are prepared for industrial purposes. As roofing mate- rial these slabs appear somewhat coarse, though they are said to be durable. They are not in such demand as the thicker slabs, which are used for cisterns, chimney-pieces, &c. The next point of interest was the venerable pile of ruins, all that now remains of Valle Crucis Abbey, which was at one period a famous monastic establishment in the Valley of the Cross, one of the most secluded and picturesque dells which could have been selected for a religious community. The Abbey appears to have been built a.p. 1200. From this point the party divided, one portion, including several well-known botanists of Llangolien, taking the road for the World’s End, a division of the Mountain-limestone ridge of Eglewseg, while the remainder took a pathway across the hills, and came upon the remarkable exposure of limestone further south. This bold and terraced escarpment extends from near Trevor in a north-western line for many miles, and affords to the geologist many characteristic fossils of the Carboniferous for- mation. The lower measures consist of light-coloured beds, which are extensively quarried for use in the ironworks of Staffordshire and Lancashire. ‘The upper layers are of a darker colour, and of less in- dustrial value. The organic remains are principally Productus (P. Llangollensis being the most characteristic), Syringopora, Eu- omphalus, Pleurotomaria, Spirifera, Rhynchonella, &c. At the base of these rocks a small exposure of the Old Red Sandstone gives its pe- culiar colour to the slope, and in several places has been penetrated, apparently in search of mineral veins, of which the range contains many examples, though they are not productive in this locality. After spending some time in skirting the Eglewseg Rocks, and with many a halt to admire the ever-changing scenery, the summit of Dinas Bran was at length attained. From this point the sea of hills piled up in tumultuous succession towards the west, the blue outlines of the more distant mountains, and the. varied features of the adjoining vale, almost entirely diverted attention from the ruined fortress which crowns the eminence, and dates its origin from the early times when the Britons were retreating before the invading and conquering Saxon race. At five o’clock the various sections assembled at the Hand Hotel, where a cold collation was provided. In the evening Mr. Edward Wood presided, and Mr. Plant (Sal- ford Museum) gave an account of the geological features of the district inspected during the day. He described the Upper Silurian rocks, which are supposed to be the equivalents of the Wenlock Shale and Limestone. These measures form the hills in the immediate neighbourhood of Llangollen, and also those from which the slates are obtained. These vast layers of rock, he said, must have been formed in -a deep sea, and hence they are not rich in fossil remains ; but the few 136 fieports and Proceedings. that have been found undoubtedly connect this formation with the Limestones and Shale of Dudley and Wenlock. The sandy character of the beds would also, he thought, account for the scarcity of fossils. Passing upwards, another member of the Paleozoic series was faintly represented in the district. He had until that day entertained some doubt of the correctness of the Geological Survey in putting in a patch of Old Red Sandstone at the base of the Eglewseg Rocks, but what he had seen on the excursion fully convinced him that the published maps were correct. Above this formation came the Mountain-limestone, remarkably rich in fossils, and which he claimed as belonging to the geology of Manchester, for the range of hills near Llangollen formed their horizon-line.—Mr. Jones (Dudley) expressed on be- half of the Midland Society his pleasure in meeting so many distin- guished representatives of the Manchester and Liverpool Geological Societies, and hoped that such meetings might be of frequent occur- rence. He raised one or two points for discussion in connection with Mr. Plant’s paper, particularly with reference to the conditions under which the Wenlock beds were deposited in North Wales and in the neighbourhood of Dudley respectively. The President and several gentlemen took part in the discussion, after which a vote of thanks was given to Mr. Plant for his valuable address. In acknowledging the saine, he enlarged on the important questions which were occupy- ing the attention of the geological world at present, particularly with reference to the presumed antiquity of the human family. The customary vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the official business of the day, after which, in the cool of the evening, many points of interest in the locality were visited. Early on Friday morning the party set out for a day’s excursion on the south side of Llangollen, under the guidance of Mr. D. C. Davies (Oswestry), who has done much valuable work by his long continued investigation of the geology of this locality. A short halt was made at Plas Newydd, famed as the residence of the ‘ Ladies of Llangollen’ for many years. ‘The front of the cottage is ornamented with richly carved oak, some portions of which appear of great antiquity. The road to Glyn Ceiriog, the place of destination, leads over a portion of the Berwyn Hills, and for a considerable distance is extremely steep and fatiguing, but at almost every point fresh combinations of rugged scenery opened up. The village of Llansaintfraid was reached about eleven o’clock, and after refreshment, the geological features of the valley were examined. The principal point of interest was a quarry of Bala Limestone, where a few characteristic fossils of the formation were obtained. The stone fences and the loose material lying on the hill-side afforded, however, by far the best organic remains, which are very similar to the fossils found in the neighbourhood of Church Stretton, in the eastern equivalents of the Bala rocks. The botanists were rewarded by several rare plants; but time did not allow of a very careful search. A portion of the party made a long détour, in order to reach the lower beds of limestone, and the curious inter- stratified layers of igneous rock. They spent considerable time in examining the first bed of Bala Limestone, which affords numerous Reports and Proceedings. 137 and varied organizations. They also passed the several bands of felspathic ash, and joined the straggling remains of the general party at the New Inn, Glyn Ceiriog. The majority of the members, after partaking of luncheon at Llangollen, returned home; but not a few made this the starting point for a tour in North Wales.—J. J. THE second meeting of the members of the CorreswoLp Natvu- RAListTs’ FIELD-cLUB took place at the Speech-House, in the Forest of Dean, on Friday, the 24th of June. After breakfasting at Mitcheldean, and looking at the fine old church there, the members proceeded to Drybrook, to examine the section of the transition-beds of the Old Red Sandstone and Carboniferous Limestone, which was worked at some time since by Messrs. John Jones and W. C. Lucy. The section was found accurate; indeed, so carefully has the work been done that no less than 150 divisions were made; and a strong desire was expressed that it should be published in the Transactions of the Club, as the bank on either side will soon be covered with grass. During the walk to the Speech-House, the Rev. W. S. Symonds explained in a very lucid manner the position of the various beds of the Mountain-limestone and Coai-measures which were seen or passed over during the excursion. After dinner, Dr. Bird, of Cheltenham, who had resided in the forest for some years, read an interesting paper on the local History, Geology, and Botany of the district.—W. C. L. Royau Society, Thursday, 9th June, 1864.—The reading and discussion of Professor Owen’s first paper ‘On the Cave of Bruni- quel’ occupied the entire evening. This cave is situated on the es- tate of the Vicomte de Lastic, in a limestone cliff, on the north side of the valley of the Aveyron, Dep. Tarne et Garonne, in the south- west of France. A collection of the remains found in this cavern having been offered to the Trastees of the British Museum by the Vicomte, Professor Owen visited the spot and reported on the con- tents already exhumed. ‘The Trustees immediately decided upon the purchase of the collection offered, which was at once secured and brought away, and now forms a part of the National Museum. The collection comprises pieces of bones with rude carvings of heads of the horse and reindeer upon their surface, numberless weapons of bone and horn, flint flakes (of the pattern which occurs in nearly all the caverns of this period in Centrai and Southern France) thousands of remains of reindeer and other animals—extinct or partially extinct —(the bones indicating by their fractured condition that they had all been broken to obtain the marrow, and the horns cut to form weapons), and lastly, portions of ten human* skulls, the jaw of a child about five years of age, and the remains of an infant. These human re- mains, Professor Owen considers, were interred in the breccia of the cavern, before its consolidation by the stalagmite, when it consisted of dry loose earth mixed with bones, &c. From the absence of pottery, and from the nature of the animals found associated with the works * Of the Preeceltic type; one dolichocephalic. 138 Reports and Proceedings. of art and human remains, Professor Owen is of opinion that the latter will prove to be, perhaps, the oldest. yet discovered.—Dr. Falconer spoke at great length on the various classes of cave-remains, but principally to point out the inaccuracy of Dr. Schmerling’s descrip- tions of animals from the Liége caverns.—As the enumeration and description of the animals met with in the cavern at Bruniquel will form the subject of a future paper, Mr. John Evans, who had visited the cave, thought it would be unwise to discuss the question of the antiquity of the remains without such data.—Professor Busk described a cavern lately opened at Gibraltar from which parts of as many as thirty-fiveseparate human remains had been found associated with works of art of all ages from the historic to the stone age, and with remains of Rhinoceros, Hyzena, and other animals extinct in Europe. Some of the human remains were very remarkable indeed, and would be shortly described.—Professor Huxley defended the Engis skull, upon which a doubt had been thrown by Dr. Falconer. He (Prof. H.) looked with distrust on the contemporaneity of bones buried in breccia—he con- sidered there was prima facie evidence that the human remains were newer.—Professor Owen defended the contemporaneity of the human and animal remains, and reasserted their antiquity ; he believed the cavern had been inhabited for ages. —General Sabine (the Chairman) then summed up and returned thanks, and the meeting ended. In a Report by M. Milne-Edwards, recently made to the French Academy, the following notices refer to Geology, and indicate so much important progress in the provinces and principal cities in France, that the record cannot fail to be interesting. It will also be useful to many readers of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE :—Marseilles : A medal to M. Coquand for researches on the Geology and Palzon- tology of the Province of Constantine (Algeria). Notice of a memoir by M. Matheron on the Tertiaries of Provence, and by M. Reynés on the boundaries of the Cretaceous rocks of the same province.—Montpelier : Gold medal to M. Gervais for his Palzon- tological researches.— Dijon : Notice of researches by M. Perrey on certain relations between earthquakes and the position of the moon, indicating tides in the interior of the earth.— Toulouse: Notes by M. Leymerie on the Geological Constitution of the Valley of the Ariége ; and by M. Filhol on the Mineral Waters of the Pyrenees. — Bordeaux : Examination of the Biarritz Tertiaries by M. Gosselet. — St. Etienne: Memoir of the Sulphur-mines of Sicily by M. de la Bretoigne ; on the granular Iron-ore of Audricourt, by M. Maussier ; and on the Anthracite- and Coal-mines of the Sarthe and the Mayenne, by M. Dorlhac.—Zyons: Memoir on the Jura, by M. Fournet ; and remarks on the influence of the miner on civilization, by the same author.—Grenoble: Researches by M. Lory on the Geology of the Alps.— Metz: Researches by M. ‘Terquem on the Foraminifera of the Lias.—D. T. A. Tue following Medals recently voted by the French Academy relate to Geological work :—Gold medal to M. Eudes-Deslongchamps for his Paleontological researches, and chiefly his work on Teleo- saurus. Silver medal to M. Coquand for his work on the Geology Correspondence. 139 of Algeria; to M. Bonissent for his work on the Geology of the Département de la Manche; and to M. Boucher de Perthes for his researches on the natural history of man in prehistoric times. A gold medal has also been voted by the Society for the Encourage- ment of National Industry to M. Alibert, for his discovery of Graphite in Siberia, magnificent specimens of which were shown in the Great International Exhibition of 1862.*—D. T. A. CORRESPONDENCE. Se es To the Editors of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. Your correspondent Col. Greenwood suggests an enquiry con- cerning rainless districts. I believe it is quite certain that the North of Africa and the whole of Asia Minor are subject to occasional rains, in a certain sense seasonal, though for the most part, and some- times for more than one year at a time, in the greater portion of these wide tracks no rains fall. At any rate, there are no periodical rains; and it is rather in contradistinction to such districts, and to distinguish areas where there is no constant precipitation, than as an absolute proposition, that the expression is made use of. Col. Green- wood is no doubt aware that there are other tracts, especially that on the west side of the Andes, where rain is so excessively rare that the inhabitants would regard it as almost a miracle. I remember being told some years ago by a resident at Alicante, on the east coast of Spain, that there had been no rain in that district for more than twenty years. Since then there have been rainy seasons, and it is probable that small showers may have been forgotten ; but there are local conditions in that neighbourhood very,unfavourable to rain. Perhaps this explanation will satisfy your readers that it may be convenient, and in some sense correct, to call certain large areas ‘rainless, though rain occasionally falls on parts of them, and in- clude others among provinces of autumn- or winter-rains, which are as dry as the former. Certainly Canada and Ireland would not be incorrectly regarded as excluded from earthquake-districts, though a shock now and then may be felt in either country. D. T. AnstxEp. Impington Hall, Cambridge, August 6, 1864. Visit TO SeLtsrty. From Letter, Aug. 8, 1864. ‘Last week I spent a couple of days (or rather tides) at Selsey in examining some of the Quaternary deposits. They are very curious, but not easy of interpretation, though I had read Godwin-Austen’s paper before going there. I saw the Pholas holes in the Kocene beds, a privilece which fortune has seldom if ever granted, I believe, * One of the finest specimens of Siberian Graphite brought over by M. Alibert is now placed in the British Museum. 7 Geol. Soc, Journ., vol. xiil. p. 48. 140 Correspondence. to a geologist, they being usually covered up by sand. I also saw, in the Chichester Museum, a rolled elephant’s tooth, found some- where near Selsey, which I take to belong to E. meridionalis. I believe the common Elephant of these deposits to be F. antiquus. This association of species agrees with that in the Forest-bed at Cromer. I dare say you know that there is a great part of a very fine individual of £. antiquus in the Chichester Museum.—Y ours, &c., O. FisHER. Mautese Bone-caves. Extract from Letter, dated August 4, 1864, from Dr. A. Lerra Apams, Surg. H.M.S. 22nd Reg., F.G.S., &c. EXT winter I mean to work especially at the Elephas Meli- tensis, and draw up a concise account of the deposits in which the remains have been found, together with a complete sum- mary of all the specimens of the animal yet discovered. I have in my own possession a goodly collection already, mostly brought to- gether by dint of very hard work, comprising some eight or nine specimens of teeth of different individuals; an upper jaw with teeth in place; portion of a tusk, 8 inches long by 6} in greatest circum- ference, composed of beautiful ivory; vertebrae; a scapula; frag- ments of long bones, &e. No doubt these islands (Malta and Gozo) have been re-elevated. We find all their large Mammalia, such as the Hippopotamus, &c., either in breccias, in fissures, or in stony soils at low levels in hollows and depressions, where, from the sub- angular fragments (many scored deeply, and a few well-rounded and even polished, are distributed throughout the red earth in gaps and hollows, the bigger stones being at the bottom), it is clear that in all probability they had been washed by the sea downwards as the land was rising or sinking. I look to the situations of the alluvial gravels as significant; more especially as the denudation of the soil is com- plete everywhere on slopes; and, excepting in hollows and sheltered nooks, there is certainly no alluvial deposit in the island (I mean én siétt: man has carried it to any height). ‘No doubt our Elephant is distinct; my collection shows that; as I have teeth of all ages almost. They are much fractured, however, on have evidently been knocked about a good deal. One skeleton vas found én sit%; that is, so far so that I collected parts from the Elephant-bed. Red Caleareous Sandstone. == = Sea, level. tall bones to the skull on a cutting along the face of a bank about three yards in length. ‘The abundant remains of the animal in one Holle of the above shape (fig. 1), in the “ Calcareous Sandstone ” are Correspondence. 141 quite extraordinary. Remains of as many as seven individuals were found at divers levels on the face of the bank, which is about 80 feet in perpendicular height, and about 100 feet in its greatest breadth. Several shells (all, I think, belong to Helix) were also found. I have sent them to Mr. Woodward. From the manner in which this gap is filled up with red earth and rounded stones, there is every likelihood that all had been washed from higher lands ; the bones are very fragmentary. ‘There was no trace of man here; but a stone implement was discovered forty years ago ina fissure filled with clay, and a very clear description of the discovery has been preserved. ‘JT think I mentioned in a former letter that I had discovered a cave on the coast of Malta containing abundant remains of the fossil Myoxus I had formerly described from another cavern in the neigh- bourhood, containing also Hippopotamus and Land-shells. The vein- cavern is situated on the same terrace-cliff with the last-named, and is firmly packed with red earth and stalactite, so that it requires a great amount of labour to clear it out. Ihave penetrated only about 6 feet inwards, making a section 14 feet high and about 8 feet square. I give a rough sketch of the deposits (fig. 2). I wish very much 1. Stalactite. 2. Red loam and stalactite. 3. Remains of Myoxrus Melitensis, Birds’ Bones; with Helix, Clausilia, and Bulimus (all existing shells). 4, Red loam and stalactite. 5, Yellow loam. 6. Red loam, with a few nodules of stalactite, and abundant remains of a Rodent (un- determined). 7. White stalagmite, containing a tooth of Carcharias megalodon and Fish-bones. a a. Lower Limestone of Malta. 6, Undisturbed portion of the cave. to clear the whole out, as I feel confident that there will be found some interesting remains; but the expense is more than I can afford. Possibly the cavern runs many yards inwards; and nothing could be more suitable for the preservation of organic remains; and the fact of finding Fish-bones and the serrated tooth of the great Shark (common in the Caleareous Sandstone) on the floor would point to something like human occupation. If I could obtain a grant from any of the Museums or Societies, the cavern might be cleared out, also the other mentioned gap, where I have found so many remains 142 Correspondence.— Miscellaneous. of the little Elephant; I believe that £30 would do for the two; of course the fossils would be sent home, and a full description of the proceedings.’ THE PRESENT STATE OF THE BRIDLINGTON CRAG. To the Editors of Tar GroLocicaL MAGAZINE. Mr. S. P. Woopwarp has stated, in his paper on the Bridlington Crag, upon the authority of Mr. William Bean, of Scarborough, that ‘the whole mass has been entirely removed or built over,’ and that ‘the only remaining chance of obtaining the fossils consists of dredging in the harbour.’ I beg to state that, during the prevalence of south-east winds, large tracts of the Bridlington Crag are exposed by the removal of the sand and gravel which generally lie over it from low to high water-mark, leaving it bare sometimes for weeks together. At other times, however, it remains covered up beneath thousands of tons of sand and gravel; and I have waited for years, hoping the sea would remove the surface, but it did not do so. At length, in January last the tide laid bare about 150 yards of the Crag for nearly a fortnight, and I collected a good series of fossil shells, &c. Only the upper portion of the deposit immediately under the cliff has been walled up; all the rest can be seen at intervals when exposed by the sea between tide-marks. I send you a Bear’s tooth which was obtained from the Bridlington Crag.*— Yours, &c. Epwarp TINDALL. Old Guildhall, Bridlington, 24th July, 1864. Notre rrom Mr. 8S. P. Woopwarp, F.G.S., &c. &c., ON THE BRIpLINGTON CRAG. In my paper last month, Montacuta bidentata is mentioned as a Bridlington Fossil in Dr. Bowerbank’s collection, on the authority of Professor Edward Forbes. I have just obtained the very speci- men, and it is labelled on the back of the tablet ‘Nar Valley’ (Norfolk), where it was found by Mr. C. B. Rose.—S. P. W. MISCELLANEOUS. ia sepa DiIscovERY OF AN A#ROLITE, AND VISIT TO A PETRIFIED Forest IN NORTHERN QUEENSLAND. — At the monthly meeting of the Queensland Philosophical Society, on the 2nd of February last, Mr. Le Gould read a paper entitled ‘Geographical and Geological Observations in Northern Queensland.’ We extract the following :— Mr. Le Gould says, ‘ When two days’ march beyond the Isaaes, a beautiful stream, and the first branch of the Mackenzie River, passing along a rocky valley, covered with large ferns and some good-sized trees growing about, I came upon a large gum-tree, * The tooth referred to is a canine tooth of the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos), hitherto only obtained from the fens of Cambridgeshire, &e.—Ebrr. Miscellaneous. 143 divested of all its bark and leaves, which lay across my track. It had been sharply broken about five or six feet from the ground, through its base, which was three or four feet in diameter. I won- dered what could have broken so huge a tree in so sharp a manner, as it had not the appearance of having been struck by lightning. I dismounted to examine it, and found a great bruise in the trunk. I proceeded to search the locality, and about fifty or sixty yards away saw something which appeared like a large cannon-ball. My surprise was great, believing that no artillery of such a calibre had ever been so far inland. On inspection it proved to be an Aérolite. It was of a dark metallic colour, extremely hard, and about ten inches in diameter ; in fact, it very closely resembled a ten-inch shot, and was about the same weight. It was perfectly round, except that one side was slightly flattened ; its surface was ex- tremely smooth, and very slightly perforated. The extraordinary appearance of the tree was now clearly accounted for in my mind ; it must have been struck by the Aérolite on its downward passage to the earth. I regret that my limited means of transit did not permit me to bring this extraordinary phenomenon to Brisbane for this society ; but my next visit may enable me to do so, as I have planted it for that purpose. ‘The following day I came upon a complete petrified forest, which I found, by the time I got through it, to be nearly sixty miles in extent. I have traced whole trees fifty or sixty feet in length through this forest, with their limbs and branches perfectly visible, and their trunks varying from twelve to twenty inches in diameter, imbedded in the shale and sandstone formation peculiar to this district. Although these fossil trees are completely silicified, they still pre- serve their original appearance, except that many of them-are some- what flattened, the result of the pressure which they have sustained. The living trees of this part are chiefly -bricklow, myall, sandal- wood, ironbark, and a variety of other hard woods.’-— Queensland Daily Guardian, 16th February. Toe Nepurite or New ZraLranp.—Professor Hochstetter com- municated the following to the Vienna Imperial Academy of Sciences on May 12th :—This mineral, held in high esteem among the natives ag a material for weapons, tools, and various ornamental objects, occurs exclusively on the west coast of the South Island, which is called ‘Te Wahi Pooramoo,’ signifying ‘the place of the green stone.’ It appears generally in the form of pebbles in river-beds and on the sea-shore ; it is, however, said to occur also in masses in the vicinity of considerable veins of serpentine. The natives distinguish by name a great number of varieties, different in hardness, colour, and translucence, which may be distributed in two groups :—A. Of intense green (generally leek-green), more or less translucent, with a hardness between that of felspar and quartz; compact, not schistose. B. Of less value than the former ; this is analogous in physical pro- perties and chemical composition to M. Damour’s ‘Jade blane,’ from we East, represented by the formula RS (proportion of oxygen= 22) and probably belonging to the family of the Amphiboles. 144 Miscellaneous. The group A offers no analogy with the same mineralogist’s ‘Jade vert,’ or ‘Jadéite,’ from China, the chemical formula of which is 3(Na Ca Mg Fe) ae 2A12+4 9Si. The examination of two conspicuous varieties, examined in Dr. Fehling’s laboratory at Stuttgart, has given the following results :—a (‘ Tangiwaii’), translucent ; structure, scaly laminated; hardness between cale-spar and felspar; specific gravity 261; infusible before the blowpipe; chemical formula AVS? + 11(M¢Ca Fe K)Si+H. 6 (‘Kawa-Kawa’), translucent at edges ; scaly laminated ; between fiuor-spar and quartz in hardness; specific gravity, 3°02; fused with difficulty before blowpipe; chemical for- mula Al2Si?+5(Mg Fe K)Si + H. By calculating these analytical results according to the theory of polymeric isomorphism, the general formula R*Si8, with the proportion of oxygen=1 ; 8 (as in steatite and meerschaum) is obtained. Count M. GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION UNDER THE SCIENCE AND ART DerartMent.—The Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education, as a part of their scheme for aiding the Working Classes in scientific instruction, held examinations in the Applied, Physical, and Natural Sciences, in May last, at the several localities where classes had been preparing in compliance with the requisite conditions. The chief centres of examination in Geology were Stroud, Netherton, Holywood and Belfast, Bristol, Waterford, Liverpool, Glasgow, Cheitenham, Salford, Wigan, and Banbridge. The examiner was Prof. Ramsay, F.R.S., G.S. The character of the examination may be judged of from the following selected ques- tions from the examination-paper of May 23rd :— Name the substances of economic value extracted from the Carboniferous series. 12. Explain the reason of the occurrence of different qualities of spring-waters or of river-waters, with or without examples. (12.) Tn what British formation do the remains of terrestrial quadrupeds first occur ? 10. ame some of the chief balding stones of Britain, state their general minera- logical composition, and the formations to which they belong. (22.) Explain the theory of slaty cleavage. (24.) Name the chief British formations from which ores of iron are obtained for economic purposes. (18.) Name the genera of Crustacea (exclusive of Trilobites) found in the formations that range between the base of the Lingula-flags and the top of the Upper Silurian strata. (20.) Explain the connection of three or four geological formations with the agricul- tural or pastoral state of the country in which they lie. (20.) Name some of the chief leading points in the grouping of fossils that distinguish the Paleozoic rocks from those of Mesozoic (Secondary) age. (20.) What is the reason that the strata of coal-ficlds frequently lie in hasin-shaped eurves? (18.) What stratified formations in the British islands are associated with trae volcanic rocks ? and name the districts in which these volcanic rocks are found. (20.) The results have now been published. There were 164 candidates: of these, 15 gained Ist class prizes; 21 2nd class, 54 8rd class, 35 were honourably mentioned, 82 merely passed the examination, 27 failed.—R. T. THE GHKOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, No. IV.—OCTOBER 1864. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. ——_}-——_ T. On tHe Nature AND Origin or BANDED FLuintTs. By 8. P. Woopwarp, F.G.S. [Plates VII. and VIII. ] Hee idler picking up pebbles on the sea-shore, and the geologist breaking stones in a gravel-pit, frequently meet with banded flints, which display their markings like a painting on the smoothly fractured internal surface, or, in other cases, in the form of lines more or less deeply engraved on the exterior by the action of the weather. The bands seen in section are often accompanied by discolorations of fanciful shape, in which imaginative people find pictures of their friends and others. In the British Museum there are about fifty of these flints, chiefly Sussex specimens, from the collections of Dr. Mantell and Mr. Dixon; there are also examples from Germany and Poland; and they are most likely to be found wherever chalk- flint eravel occurs. Large numbers of curious eravel-flints have been collected by Mr. John King, of Norwich, Mr. J. W. Flower, of Croydon, and Dr. Bowerbank. Butthe most extensive and instructive collection is that of Mr. Wetherell, of Highgate, to whom we are indebted for the use of most of the flints 1 now figured. The origin of these flints has been a puzzle to stone-breakers for the last fifty years. Those with the furrowed surface were considered by Parkinson to be the wrinkled and petrified re- mains of the peduncle of the Anatifa, or Duck-barnacle. In the third volume of the ‘ Organic Remains,’ (p. 241, pl. 16, fig. 18) he figures and describes ‘such a flint as that represented i in our Pl. VIL, fig. 7, but quite irregular in its form. In the first Mantellian collection are two flints labelled in accordance with this view; but there is no reason to suppose their learned owner VOL. I.—NO. IV. L 146 S. P. Woodward—Nature and Origin of Banded Flints. latterly entertained such a belief. It is, however, well-known that Dr. Bowerbank considers them fossilized sponges,—an opinion which few will share with him. When slit and polished, the banded portions shew no microscopic peculiarity to distinguish them from the adjacent unbanded flint, and no organic structure save where they invade the texture of a Sponge, or envelope Foraminifera, so-called Xanthidia, and other minute organisms with their hazy shroud. I believe that I can now offer conclusive evidence that the coloured bands in flints are produced by infiltration, as taught by the late Professor Henslow; a view in which Mr, Wetherell coincides on the proof afforded by his own specimens. All kinds of siliceous pebbles derived from gravel-beds are more or less affected by agencies to which those beds have been subjected, and especially they are liable to be stained by the penetration of water charged with iron or manganese, which has produced coloured zones and dendritic infiltrations in the most compact jaspers and agates as well as in the more per- meable flints derived from the waste of the Chalk-formation. The well-known pebbles of Egyptian jasper, when cut and, polished, have a dark border of ochre and umber; the centre creamy, with one or. many sets of parallel brown lines, en- croaching upon and obliterating their precursors like successive waves. In the ‘Crystallography and Mineralogy’ of MM. Mitchell and Tennant (p. 509) there is a representation of one of the Egyptian jaspers in the British Museum, which has been considered to resemble the portraits of Chaucer! We here represent one of the mocha-stones in the same collection. These were probably formed, like other agates, in the vesicular cavities DO ae g U g9 9 Mocha-stone, in the British Museum ; polished section, nat. size. of trap-rocks; but, having been set free by the breaking up and decomposition of their ‘matrix, they contributed to form the S. P. Woodward—Nature and Origin of Banded Flints. 147 beds of gravel from which they are now cbtained. The stone is pellucid and stained with at least three sets of ferruginous lines and zones. Of these one set (7) evidently marks the succes- sive stages of endogenous formation, as proved by the small drusy cavity remaining in the centre (c). They have been rendered visible by the infiltration of iron-oxide in waves, not coinciding with the layers of structure, but crossing them in various directions (7). That some important change in the physical condition of the alternate layers has been produced by these infiltrations cannot be doubted, for in the case of our own banded flints the lamin are acted upon unequally by the weather. By those, however, who are familiar with the molecular changes produceable in mineral bodies this peculiarity is considered of less account. Sometimes the pebbles of banded flint are small, and evidently formed by the breaking up and bouldering of larger flints, as in the example repr esented by fig..2; Pl: VIL. ; and it is a rare thing to find a flint of any considerable size banded throughout with concentric lamine of colour, like the agates and Egyptian pebbles. The bands are for the most part local, and their form and direction bear no relation to the outline of the entire flint. The newly broken black flints from the Chalk-pits near Gravesend are remarkable for the frequency of discoloured spots and markings before referred to, especially where a Sponge or other imbedded substance has afforded easier access to the bleaching agency. These light clouds are often zoned with dark lines which become fewer and further apart at each end of the discoloured tract, and when there is an axis running through it the bands are curved and sometimes crescentic as in fic. 6, Pl. VII. The bands appear to be convex in the direction from which the infiltration has proceeded. The axis of the banded tract is often merely a dark line, as in fig. 8, PI. VII., where it incloses an angular fragment of the fibrous shell of Inoceramus; or it may be an open tube, drused with minute erystals, as in fig. 6; or a tube filled up by a succession of siliceous deposits traversed by the bands of infiltration, like the surrounding flint, as in figs. 4 and 3. In fig. 3 the upper part of the tube is filled with strings of oviform bodies (0) like those figured and described by Mr. Wetherell in the Mag. Nat. Hist. Mr. Wetherell’s cabinet contains several banded flints with a spongeous axis, besides the four examples now figured. One of them is a funnel-shaped Ventriculite (Pl. VIII., fig. 1). Another, more slender, had two roots which have left cavities passing to the outside of the flint (Pl. VIL, fig. 1). The small pebble, before-mentioned (Pl. VIL, fig. 2), contains a segment L 2 148 S. P. Woodward—WNature and Origin of Banded Flints. of a third form of Sponge, through which the bands pass un- concerned; and the critical example (Pl. VIL, fig. 5) exhibits both in long and cross section a well-defined sponge, permeated by canals like the stem of a Siphonia, which appears to be equally unaffected by the passage of the coloured zones. Equally conclusive of the inorganic origin of the banded tracts in flints are the specimens in which they are connected with ancient fractures formed while yet én siti in the Chalk. Flints thus broken, and subsequently re-cemented together, have been frequently noticed. In the one represented by Pl. VIIL., fig. 2, there is a minute displacement, visible externally at either end (2). The flint is broken along the line of fissure, and shews the side of the vein of white flint filling it, while a second fracture at right angles shews the relation of the banded infiltration. Fig. 3 1s a similar flint, broken so as to shew on each side, the banded tract bordering the plate of cementing flint, and also along the plane of this old fracture. Waterworn pebbles formed from flints of this description have been found by Mr. Wetherell in the gravel-pits of Muswell Hill. I take this opportunity to give some account of another banded flint, which, though outwardly resembling some of those already mentioned, has had a very different origin. The specimen represented by Pl. VIIL., fig. 4, is part of a vein from a fissure in the Chalk at Dover, and was presented to the British Museum in March 1862, by Mr. John D. Richardson, one of the contractors for the extensive works then in progress for increasing the fortifications on the west face of Dover Citadel. The Chalk-pits in some parts of England, as in Hampshire, exhibit more than elsewhere the phenomenon of inclined and vertical fissures filled with flint, which consists of two or more lamin separated partially by a central layer of chalky or ferruginous earth. These veins establish the fact of the deposition of flint by water flowing through it, like mineral springs, after the consolidation and movement of the Chalk. The fissure at Dover appears to be filled up chiefly with Chalk, and only in one horizon by a grey siliceous deposit, which has re- united a broken course of flints. It contains minute angular fragments of the black flint that seem to have occasionally fallen in and become imbedded. The current flowing through the fissure gave to its contents a laminated arrangement, and formed a deep central groove which appears to have been con- tinuous in all the deposited layers, chalk and flint alike. Mr. Richardson states in his letter that the vein of banded flint was met with in cutting through the Chalk-ridge that runs parallel with the coast, and about opposite the Shakespear wie is B Bb o/s algal) WV YN clanbart imp fh IB) a ly JOIN ith osname BNR cont ieee) crehalhy S. P. Woodward—WNature and Origin of Banded Flints. 149 Cliff. The surface was much varied with ‘ pot-holes,’ ranging from 5 feet wide and 20 feet deep to one of 30 feet across and 40 feet deep. The Chalk, where not disturbed, was very solid, with layers of flints about 5 feet apart. The vein with banded flint was slightly inclined with a drop, on the down-cast side, of about 2 feet. Hight to ten feet lower than the banded flint, and about 25 feet from the surface, there was a course ot very compact yellowish chalk, about 3 feet thick and as hard as Portland stone; it was perforated with holes, as if by the Pholas, 1-14 inches wide, through which water seems to have percolated; and 10 feet below this was a layer of flint not more than 3 to } inch thick, as evenly laid and horizontal as a flag- paving, extending for more than a hundred feet through the cutting. EXPLANATION OF PLATES VII. AND VIII. Prats VII. Fig. 1. Broken section of flint containing a Ventriculite; the upper part solid, but the branched root forming cavities in the stone. (Mr. Wetherell.) 2. Small flint pebble containing a segment of a fossil sponge (Cepha- lites), still showing the labyrinthic wall and angular meshes of sponge-fibre. (Muswell Hill, Mr. Wetherell.) ; 3. Thin slice of a translucent yellow flint, containing a flexuous tube, filled up with curved deposits of similar flint, and containing strings of ‘oviform bodies’ (0) in its upper part. (Finchley, Mr. Wetherell.) 4, Small fragment of black flint, with similar tube and bands. (Finchley, Mr. Wetherell.) . Section of pebble, containing a Sponge enveloped by an irregular discoloured space, through which and the Sponge itself the bands of subsequent infiltration have passed. (lent, Mr. Wethevell.) 6. Fractured surface of a small black flint, with a tubular drusy cavity. bordered by coloured bands. (British Museum.) . Flint pebble, much waterworn, and corroded by the weather; one portion showing ordinary flint ; the other corrugated and resem- bling a Hamite. (Muswell Hill, Mr. Wetherell.) 8. Polished section of a black Chalk-flint, from Gravesend, presented to the British Museum by the Rev. Norman Glass. The axis of the banded portion is stained with dark streaks, and contains an angular fragment of Jnoccramus (7). Prate VIII. Fig. 1. Broken section of a flint-pebble, containing a Ventriculite, the whole zoned with coloured bands. (J*inchley, Mr. Wetherell.) 2. Black flint, with thin plate or vein of white flint running through it, bordered on each side by a discoloured and banded space. (Finchley, Mr. Wetherell.) 3. Similar flint, with more simple fracture. (Finchley, Mr. Wetherell.) 4, Fragment of black flint from Dover, containing vein of banded flint and Chalk. 6. Black flint. g. Grey flint. c¢. Chalk. On NI 150 Seeley— Section of the Lower Chalk near Ely. IJ. On a Section oF THE LOWER CHALK NEAR ELy.* By Harry Suerny, F.G-.S., of the Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge. LY stands on a hill extending somewhat beyond the city as a ridge to the north; and a mile north-east of the Cathedral, at a spot variously named Roslyn or Roswell Hole, its flank is reached at a well-known pit, where the Kimmeridge Clay is dug for mending the river-banks; and the excavation shows some Boulder-clay and Chalk. What the relative posi- tions and relations of these latter deposits may be has been long disputed; some holding that the Chalk is there zz siti, let down by a fault; others maintaining that it is merely such a drifted mass, included in the Boulder-clay, as those which form so strange a feature in the Drift of the Norfolk Coast. f Professor Sedgwick has long been convinced that this latter view is a groundless hypothesis; for when the railway was made from Ely to Lynn, it exposed at about 100 yards off a section show- ing Kimmeridge Clay and Chalk side by side, and Boulder- clay between them; so the conclusion inevitably followed that there had been a great fault, letting down the Chalk for at least two or three hundred feet. This section was still to be seen in the spring of 1860, when I examined it. The faulted faces of both stratified formations were perfectly erect, parted by a column of Boulder-clay, some twelve feet wide, which from a distance looked like a basaltic dyke. Such were the known stratigraphical phenomena and infer- ences up to August, 1862, when, visiting the Roswell Hole, I discovered a section which, as exhibiting structures and relations not otherwise seen in this part of England, is here described. The pit is in form a long horse-shoe, the whole north side and curve of which offer an admirable exhibition of Kimmeridge Clay. ‘The south side shows at its terminal end Chalk, and at the part where it joins the curve characteristic Boulder-clay; and this is the side of the pit which claims special description. Though Ely stands on a slight rise, the country around is won- derfully flat; and though there is no difficulty in detecting the Shanklin Sands, an absence of escarpments renders it difficult in a country much covered with peat to detect even a rock so * This paper was read, February 16, 1863, before the Cambridge Philosophical Society. Tt The figures given in Sir C. Lyell’s ‘Elements,’ p. 129, are not included pinnacles of Chalk, but only reconstructed chalky drift, full of all sorts of rocks. Last summer I found a grand beulder SE. of Cromer, 180 feet long, and in shape like half a pear, fairly in the Boulder-clay. It was of soft Chalk; and the, flints were cracked, but less than those of Freshwater. Seelcy— Section of the Lower Chalk near Ely. aly marked as Chalk. Hence it was that well-practised eyes long overlooked the following succession, which indeed was probably only recently exposed. The east end of the south side of the pit is lower in level than the other parts; and here comes on the Chalk, pale-yellowish and sandy, showing, in its thickness of about 12 feet, numberless little joints, as though it had been shaken until there was not a whole block in it. I do not think, however, that it has been shaken. The upper foot or two is rubbly, and has a reconstructed aspect, due, I think, to the action of receding waters: but in the lower part the bed is un- disturbed; and here lines of colour run in various courses, which are planes of division in the Chalk. Some are quite horizontal ; some highly inclined, and dipping at every angle west and east. The hammer discovers the innumerable Perne (usually called Jnocerami), with which the bed abounds, not always resting flat, as in other Chalk, but often inclined on end at an angle of 50 degrees; and specimens of these, as well as many other fossils, often occur between the very planes dividing the rock. This is so extremely characteristic, that I regard it as an instance of false-bedding in the Chalk. A small piece of this, as seen on February 10, 1863, I have drawn in fig. 1, which represents the lower 6 feet of the section, and shows such SSE. NNW. Fig. 1. Section (about 18 feet long) of the lower 6 feet of the Chalk (12 feet exposed) at Roswell Hole, near Ely ; shewing false-bedding. a complexity of false-bedding as would indicate frequent changes of powerful currents, and probably near proximity to land and ENE. Water. WSW. | i 1 | | ! | ! ' | Kimmeridge Clay. Height, 20 feet. Chalk. Height, 14 feet. Fig.2. Diagram-section shewing opposite dips in the Chalk, due to cross-stratification, at Roswell Hole. a shallow sea. In another part of the cutting there was a sec- tion (fig, 2) at right angles to fig. 1, which showed still further 152 Seeley— Section of the Lower Chalk near Ely. evidence of false-bedding, in that the planes below the line at the top of fig. 1 dip south, while those above it dip north. These strata are low down in the Lower Chalk, and hold Avz- cula grypheotdes and Pecten Beaveri. Since discovering this section, I have met with another in- stance of false-bedding on a larger scale, and not so complicated, in the Lower Chalk of Cherry-Hinton, near Cambridge. This is shown in fig. 3. Perhaps such sections are to be looked for WSwW. ENE. Fig. 3. Section (60 feet long and 10 feet high) in the Lower Chalk of Cherry-Hinton, shewing false-bedding. (In another part of the pit, one seam at twelve yards from its commencement is one foot thick, and four feet at six yards further.) in all sandy and argillaceous Chalk; for the presence of such impurities must always lend a probability to its having been accumulated near to land. In this part of England the Lower Chalk is thin, and at Cherry-Hinton not more than 80 feet thick. There, at 30 feet from the base, it is as hard when wet as an Oolite lime- stone, splitting into massive blocks. I have seen from that place halves of Sea-urchins separated by slips; sometimes in Holaster the anus and mouth slipped together. Whether such shiftings are due to earthquakes I think doubtful, and regard them as the result of contraction. Here the Chalk is porous, and water soaks through it; but Professor Kangsley tells me that chalk becomes impervious when ‘puddled’; so that clear ponds of water, full all the year round, are formed on the chalk-hills by merely digging and well puddling a hole. Now it appears to me that at the time of deposition, the sea, washing the fine chalky mud about in this cross-stratification, or even enough to embed fishes, must have effectually performed on a large scale this operation that the farmer calls puddling. And if so, sit would appear highly pro- bable that the Chalk when deposited was a rock nearly as imper- vious as clay. A very simple test applied to water which has soaked through chalk shows that it has dissolved part of the carbonate of lime: that is, it has rendered it more porous than it was before. Of course the next water that passes through will make it more porous still; and to the water which soaked through before either it must have been even less pervious. Therefore I would suggest that the open absorbent character of Seeley— Section of the Lower Chalk near Ely. 153 Chalk is probably to a great extent due to the interstitial atoms having been dissolved and removed by the solvent action of water passing through its mass. If it be granted that this Chalk has been formed in a compara- tively shallow sea, it must be a matter of some interest to com- pare its fauna with that of Chalk in other localities, presumed to have had deeper water. Subjoined is such a list, from materials in the Woodwardian Museum :— Ventriculites radiatus; Swaffham. |} P. Beaveri ; V. quincuncialis (?); Cherry-Hin- ton. Cephalites; Swaffham. Micrabacia coronula; Burwell. Pentacrinus Fittoni; Burwell. Cidaris Bowerbankii; Cherry- Hinton. C. sulcata; Cherry- Hinton. Discoidea cylindrica; Cherry- Hinton, Hunstanton. D. subuculus; Hunstanton. Hemiaster; Burwell. Holaster subglobosus ; Hinton. H. Trecensis; Cherry-Hinton. Serpula rustica; Burwell. Enoploclytia Imagei; Burwell, Cherry-Hinton. E. brevimana; Isleham, Burwell. Glypheza cretacea ; Cherry-Hin- ton. Two unnamed Brachyura; Bur- well, Cherry-Hinton. Rhynchonella Mantelliana; Cher- ry-Hinton, Burwell. Terebratulina striata; Cherry-Hinton. Terebratula squamosa; Burwell, Tsleham. T. biplicata; © Cherry-Hinton, Burwell, Hunstanton. Ostrea curvirostris; Burwell. O. frons; Burwell. Pecten orbicularis; Burwell. P. Marrotianus (?) ;* Burwell. Cherry- Reach, Burwell, Cherry- Hinton. Lima globosa; Burwell, Cherry- Hinton. L. parallela ; Burwell. L. aspera; Burwell. Plicatula inflata; Burwell. Avicula grypheoides; Burwell, Reach, Fen-Ditton. Perna Crispii, var.; Ely. Pholadomya decussata; Burwell. Teredo amphisbena; Burwell. Cerithium ornatissimum; Bur- well. C. Gallicum, var.; Burwell. Sealaria striato-costata; Bur- well. Scaphites equalis; Burwell. Turrilites Scheuchzerianus; Bur- well, Cherry-Hinton. T. tuberculatus; Reach. Ammonites Sussexiensis; Reach. A. Rothomagensis; Reach, Isle- ham. A. varians; Reach. A. Ieenicus; Burwell. A. planulatus; Burwell. A. Mantelli; Reach. A. navicularis; Burwell. Nautilus elegans; Isleham. Belemnitella plena; Burwell. Ichthyosaurus campylodon; Bur- well. Rhaphiosaurus ; Cherry- Hinton. Pterodactylus ; Cherry-Hinton. Besides these, there are a few new species, especially some Gasteropods. Perhaps the most striking feature in the list is the number of Encephala and Crustacea; and I notice nothing that would suggest conclusions as to the depth they lived in, 154 Seeley— Section of the Lower Chalk near Ely. contrary to the physical consideration ; but to say they sup- ported the hypothesis of a shallow sea ‘would assert too much. As a group, they differ but little from other Lower Chalk collections, and offer little or no ground for assuming theories as to relative depth in the Lower- “Chalk Ocean. At Cherry-Hinton the Chalk-pit is about 30 feet above the Greensand. At Madingley there is a chalk-pit much lower in the Chalk; and in this locality the lower beds are less compact, have a slightly marly character, and contain Rhynchonella lineo- lata. In this pit there are lines of bedding which dip south; and here the Chalk forms a hill overlooking the whole Fen- country; the Greensand cropping out a few yards below, and a great plane of Gault extending beyond to the north. The hills Gf che’owen Chalk are alll low - ; Cherry-Hinton Gog-Magog, which is the highest, being only some 200 feet; and all the higher part of this is of Upper Chalk, which formerly, full of flints, was also seen in the Cherry-Hinton pit, but has been quarried away. ‘The Lower Chalk contains some small frag- ments of vegetable remains, but no plant more definite than the dubious Chondrites. I have never seen any extraneous speci- mens excepting a phosphatic nodule from Reach, derived from the Upper Greensand; and it fortunately is a phosphatized Cucullea, of a different species to any yet detected in the Cambridge district. The Gasteropods have come chiefly from Burwell. Crustacea occur indifferently at Burwell and Cherry- Hinton; as do Cephalopods, though these are much more abundant at Burwell than anywhere else. Til. On THE LAURENTIAN ForRMATION: ITS MINERAL CONSTITUTION, ITs GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, AND ITS RESIDUARY ELEMENTS or Lire. By J. J. Brassy, M.D., F.G.S., formerly British Se- cretary to the Canadian Boundary-Commission. PART I, lle is intended in this paper to present a general outline of the Laurentian Formation under the heads mentioned in the above title ; dwelling principally on the latter clause, its residuary elements of life, or, in other words, on those mineral substances, contained within it, which at some earlier period have been the constituents of organic bodies. This formation, or system of rocks, which have been called ‘ fundamental,’ has of late years very generally received the name of ‘ Laurentian,’ a geographical denomination, taken from the country (Laurentide or Laurentian Mountains) in which it has been well studied, and where it exists in vast force. An assemblage of metamorphosed rocks may usually be considered ‘ Laurentian,’ when over great spaces (with or without the intervention of the Bigshy—On the Laurentian Formation. Lop GJ SOY Huronian and Cambrian rocks*) it underlies discordantly beds more or less fossiliferous, named ‘ Primordial’ in Bohemia, ‘ Lingula-flags ’ in Wales, ‘ Potsdam Sandstone’ in North America. Such is its posi- tion in the crust of the earth. To Sir William Edmond Logan be- longs the honour of having distinctly announced the peculiar signifi- cance of the ‘ Laurentian :’ geologists not having recognized the fact, that it consists of altered sediments, once possibly rich with organ- isms, and still leaving us far from the beginning of life. For the purpose of study it will be well to consider the Canadas as pos- sessing the type of this formation ; for it there occupies a space of 200,00) square miles, in ample development (40,000 feet thick) ; and it has there been subjected for many years to the systematic examination of observers of the highest qualifications; mainly at the expense of the Canadian people. Sir W. E. Logan says of these Laurentian or oldest sedimentary rocks: ‘ They are altered to a highly crystalline condition, and are composed of felspathic rocks, interstratified with important masses of limestone and quartzite. Great vertical thicknesses of the series are composed of gneiss containing chiefly orthoclase or potash-felspar ; while other great portions are destitute of quartz and composed chiefly of a lime-soda-felspar, varying in composition from andesine to anor- thite,t and associated with pyroxene or hypersthene. This rock,’ he adds, ‘we shall distinguish by the name of anorthosite.’ The chief divisions then, without reference to any order of superposition, are— 1. Orthoclase-gneiss, sometimes granitoid; with quartzite, horn- blendic and micaceous schists, pyroxene, and garnet-rock. 2. White crystalline limestone, and dolomites, in numerous thick beds, containing serpentine, pyroxene, hornblende, mica, graphite, iron-ores, apatite, fluor, &c., and interstratified with bands of gneiss. 3. Lime-felspar-rock, or anorthosite, containing hypersthene, ilmen- ite, pyroxene, hornblende, graphite, &c. These thr ee groups are traversed by granitic and metalliferous veins. 1. Gnetss.§—The Laurentian Gneiss of Canada is grey or light- red, and is composed of quartz and felspar, in minute combination, and many thin layers of black mica (often mixed with or replaced by little plates of hornblende) running along the foliation. ‘This rock is greatly contorted, and for miles together, as in north-east Lake Huron, is ribboned with pretty festoonings: the lamine are re- garded as sedimentary layers. ‘The strike is mostly NE.-SW., or NNE.-SSW. For practical purposes, Logan divides this gneiss into two principal kinds—(1) the granitic or micaceous, and (2) * See Geol. Report Canada, 1863, p. 50; and Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xix. . 36. : t See the successive Reports on the Geology of Canada, by Sir W. E. Logan and his colleagues, especially the large comprehensive Report for 1863, as well as the Descriptive Catalogue of Canadian Minerals and Rock, Internat. Exhib. 1862. t Report, 1863, p. 22. These varying triclinic felspars being anorthic in erystal- ization and approaching anorthite in composition, Delesse proposed to give them the name ‘anorthose,’ and ‘anorthosite’ to the rock-masses formed of them. § By ‘ gneiss’ is meant a rock consisting of the same materials as granite (with or without hornblende), but with a lamellar structure. 156 Bigsby— On the Laurentian Formation. the syenitic or hornblendic; thereby simply expressing what is continually taking place, the preponderance of one or other. The second form is very prevalent. ‘The beds accompanying Laurentian gneiss in the Canadas are crystalline limestone, anorthosite, quartzite, hornblende-rock, granite, and micaceous, hornblendic, and chloritic slates, relatively abundant in the order they are here set down ; the hornblendic slate is more abundant near marble, and the chloritic slate is in much smaller masses than in the succeeding Huronian formation. The quartzite occasionally interleaved with this gneiss may vary; but it is usually white, translucent, granular, and seldom conglomeratic. 2. The Crystalline Limestone.—This is either pure white or grey, and often has broad grey bars owing to finely diffused graphite. The phosphates which it holds in great abundance will be spoken of in the sequel. Its crystallization is always coarse, and sometimes ex- tremely so; single crystals being sometimes two or three inches wide. It is seldom saccharoid, and almost everywhere alternates with gneiss, in bands from 50 to 1,500 feet thick, as I have seen it near Gananoque, on the Lake of the Thousand Isles, and on the Mattawa, an affluent of the Upper Ottawa River, and elsewhere. ‘The Nor- wegian representative of this marble is in much less quantity. The bands of this Canadian marble are tortuous, and often, by bending round sharply, they return by a parallel course to within a short distance from their visible point of departure. Corrugated seams of gneiss are sometimes inclosed in the limestone. In the township of Bastard, on the River Ottawa, and of Madoc, on Lake Ontario, the Geological Commission met with two forms of conglomerates and grits, which are decisive of the sedimentary origin of the Laurentian beds of Canada, and therefore of the highest in- terest.* As an instance, in Bastard township there lies between two beds of white marble a fine-grained quartzose sandstone, with pebbles of grey calcareous sandstone, phosphatic, with others of vitreous and opalescent quartz; the mass of sandstone being at the same time in- terspersed with mica and graphite; the dip is ENE.z 30°. We have another example of this near Madoe Village, where, resting on marble bands, are two other conglomerates, totally different. One is a bluish micaceous schist, holding numerous fragments of green- stone and syenite: the other is a dolomite with large pebbles of quartz, felspar, and a few of calespar. 3. The Lime-felspars, or Anorthosite.—In the latter part of the ‘Report for 1863’ it is intimated that the anorthosite constitutes a separate, newer, and unconformable formation. The discovery in many parts of Canada of lime-felspar-rocks in large tracts is wholly due to the Government-Survey of the Colony. It is of much importance, both geologically and economically, as it explains the unexpected fertility of an extensive district to the north of Montreal, which had been previously supposed to be gneissic and comparatively barren. On the Lower Ottawa this lime-felspar-rock is 10,000 feet thick, * In 1846 Elie de Beaumont announced the sedimentary nature of the Swedish sneiss ; Bullet. Soc. Géol. France, n.s. vol. iv. p. 501, . Bigsby— On the Laurentian Formation. To in prolonged hill-ranges, twelve miles broad; it occurs at Chateau Richer, below Quebec, and from thence extends at intervals NE. into the Straits of Belleisle, and so northwardly along the eastern shores of Labrador, according to the investigations of Pro- fessor Hind, of Toronto, and as shewn by the specimens of labra- dorite, hypersthene, &c., brought from thence by Admiral Bayfield, and now in the Museum of the Geological Society of London. In the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron I found it in exclusive possession of a group of islets, five miles long. A careful analysis of anortho- site by Sterry Hunt shows* that it is a felspar with a lime-base and a small per-centage of potash orsoda. He finds from 7 to 15 per cent. of lime in most of these rocks. Being of variable composition, they have received several names—andesine, labradorite, hyper- sthene, vosgite, &c.; the difference being chiefly in the proportions of the ingredients. The anorthosite, as found in rock-masses north of Montreal, is composed chiefly of felspar, with a little black mica, green pyroxene, some epidote, garnet, ilmenite (titanitie iron), iron-pyrites, and calespar as accidental minerals. Its texture is not always the same: sometimes the mass is a confusedly crystalline aggregate, exhibiting cleavage-surfaces three or four lines in diameter; with a fine-grained paste, somewhat calcareous, in the interstices. Occasionally the whole rock is uni- formly granular, with cleavable masses of felspar at intervals ; and its colour may be greyish and bluish white, lavender- and violet- blue (opalescent), flesh-red, greenish, and brownish. The crystallization is triclinic, which, taken with the density 2°66—2-73, shews this rock to belong to the same group as albite and anorthite,—in fact, a mixture of the two (S. Hunt). The anorthosite has been seen to pass into orthoclase-gneiss (that is, gneiss containing potash- felspar). There is no doubt of the presence of these lime-felspars in Norway and Scotland ; and the rose-coloured crystals of the red an- tique porphyry of Egypt, according to the analysis of M. Delesse, have the same composition (S. Hunt). The other associated rocks of the Laurentian Gneiss of Canada, possessing no features of novelty, will be passed over here in silence; but still it seems necessary even in this very brief description to state that on the Lower Ottawa syenite forms a large boss, with a porphyritic core, in this gneiss; and that there are dykes and veins belonging to four epochs in that district,—of dolerite (going east and west), and of syenite, cutting the doleritic dykes; felsite-por- phyry, cutting the syenite; and augitic trap, traversing the Lau- rentian in all directions ;} the last, it is important to remark, in- vading the Lower Silurian rocks. Iron-ores, metallic sulphurets, graphite, fluates, and phosphates occur abundantly in the Laurentian here and in other countries. Distribution. —Laurentian rocks occur in many widely scattered localities in the United States, as in Pennsylvania,t{ Missouri, the * Geol. Report, 1854, pp. 374, 383. t Report, 1863, p 37. ~ Compare Rogers’s Final Rep. Geol. Pennsylvania, vol. i. p. 62; ii. pp. 744, 747, &e. 158 Bigsby— On the Laurentian Formation. Kansas, Texas, &c., also in South America(Brazil).* The Laurentian or fundamental gneiss of Scandinavia, with its companion beds, so singularly resembles that of Canada that, although in another hemi- sphere, it may be said to be idertical in every particular of any moment ; and, to avoid useless repetition, we shall be content only to announce the fact, on the authority of Durocher, Keilhau, Scheerer, Naumann, and Macfarlane.t Nearly the same may be said of the fundamental gneiss of North- west Scotland and the Hebrides. It, too, has its marble bands, talecose and micaceous schists, its quartzites, hornblendes, &c. ‘The eneiss which predominates and characterizes the group is usually massive and intensely crystallized. It is both micaceous and horn- blendic, as in Canada; the younger and very different palzozoic eneiss of fhe same part of the Scottish mainland is unconformable to it; and here are eruptive masses similar to those America, in the same attitudes. France contains much Laurentian, although hitherto that horizon has not been claimed for any of its crystalline deposits. It may turn out that one of the two granites of Brittany, the fine-grained and the porphyritic, is of this age, from its position and behaviour. ‘The relations of the granite of La Vendée I cannot as yet master; but the hill-ranges of Foréz and Tarare in Central France seem to be Laurentian very distinctly,|| according to the descriptions of Elie de Beaumont and Griiner. Paleozoic fossiliferous beds (the Carboni- ferous, for instance) rest upon it unconformably, and are never penetrated by it; and this, while waiting for further information, entitles me to treat of the underlying rock as Laurentian. Similar conditions take place in the mountains of the Vosges, where we have again the fine and coarse granites of differentages. . The first form is contemporaneous with gneiss, leptinite, and some schists, which support unconformably Coal-measures, Trias, &c.; while the newer and coarser rock breaks through every bed here named, and has engulfed masses of the gneiss.4] TRANSLATIONS AND NOTICES OF M EBMOtTRS. THe Fossitir—Erous NODULES IN THE Post-TERTIARY CLAY OF Norway. By Dr. M. Sars, Professor of Zoology, Christiania. [Translated by the Rey. Roprrr Boog Watson, B.A., F.R.S.E.] ee following is a summary of part of a paper by the celebrated Norwegian naturalist, Dr. M. Sars. It was published in the Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne (Christiania) for 1868, under * D’Orbigny’s Amér. Mérid. vol. iii. p. 222. + Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and Finland. { See also D. Forbes and Dahll, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe., vol. xi. p. 166, & Mise. p. 9. § Murchison, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe., vol. xiii. p. 30; vol. xvi. p. 216; and Mur- chison and Geikie, op. ctt., vol. xvii. p. 176-187. || Explic, Carte Géol. France, vol. i. p. 130; Griiner, Géol. Loire, passim. @ De Beaumont, Explic. Carte Géol. Fr., vol. i. p.£327. Fossiliferous Nodules in Norwegian Post-tertiary Clay. 159 the title, A GEOLOGICAL AND ZOOLOGICAL JOURNEY IN THE SUMMER or 1862.—R. B. W. A characteristic of the marly clay which overlies the Boulder- clay of Norway is the presence of balls of hard marl, which, from their extraordinary rounded form, almost seem artificial, and in Sweden have obtained the name of ‘Marlekor’ (Marl-cows), ‘Nickebréd’ (Nick’s bread), ‘Imatrastene’ (Imatra’s stones). They are round, oval, kidney-shaped, biscuit-like, long and straight, or bent, sometimes oblique, and always more or less flattened. The edge is often irregular and jagged; but is sometimes smoothly rounded, and often shows distinct stratification, the lamine being always parallel with the flat sides. ‘The nodules are very hard, strongly calcareous, internally blackish, bluish, or ash-grey, and contain numerous very small particles of mica. The exterior is always lighter in colour than the interior, and chiefly yellowish-grey. The origin of these lumps had been variously attributed to hardened nodules derived directly from the Silurian limestones, or to concre- tionary action in the marl. No trace of organic remains had been found in them, but Dr. Sars has at last obtained from them fossils which determine at once the time and mode of their formation. At the mouth of the Rauma River, which flows through the famous Romsdal, and falls in at Veblungsnees at the head of the Romsdal Fjord, immense quantities of these nodules are to be found, both in the marl itself, and washed out of it by the river. Of these many contain no visible organic remains; not a few, however, enclose a fossil. Dr. Sars gathered over a hundred such. The enclosed organisms are in a markedly different condition from such as are found in the Glacial formation. These latter are usually so little altered as hardly to be distinguish- able from living specimens. ‘The organic remains in the concretions, on the other hand, are completely penetrated by mineral, especially calcareous, matter; and they have perfectly the appearance of hay- ing been derived from some much older formation; so far from this being the case, however, all the organic remains belong to living species. The most frequent organisms are shells of Molluses, such as Yoldia (syn. Leda) pygmea and Nucula tenuis (var. expansa), which are characteristic of the Norwegian marls. Both of these are often found with their valves united; still oftener heaped together in masses, or packed one on another in great numbers in the spherical, oval, or elliptical, more rarely in the long, kidney- or biscuit- shaped nodules. Occasionally a single Yellina proxima occurs in a nodule. In one long elliptical concretion lay the internal eal- careous stem of a species of Pennatula or Virgularia, extending exactly through the longer axis of the nodule. In another very long, thin, and slightly curved concretion was a species of Worm, also - stretched in the length of the stone. Very remarkable was the dis- covery of a Chzetopode, or setose Annelid, in long straight elliptical nodules of the marl. Seven of these were found; one specimen in each concretion, and lying exactly in the longer axis of the stone. Finally, there was found a part of the back-bone of a Fish, which 160 Fossiliferous Nodules in Norwegian Post-tertiary Clay. occupied the longer axis of a long slightly curved, but broken, concretion. The marl extends up the Rauma for three or four miles. About three miles up Fish-remains seem to be frequent in the concretions; and some remains of Fishes of the family Gadoidei, among which is an entire Merlangus, preserved in the museum at Christiania, have probably been derived from this quarter. Other similar coneretions Dr. Sars procured from the Guuldal, in all respects like the former. In these he found: 1. A Chetopode, of the same species as that from Romsdal, occupying exactly the longer axis of an oval nodule. 2. A Chetopode, of another species, much longer than the former, found in the two fragments of an almost cylindrical concretion. 38. Seven specimens of Osmerus arcticus (Salmo), O. Fabricius (Mallotus Groenlandicus, Cuvier); all of which were entire. Each was in a separate nodule, long and narrow, generally nearly straight, but occasionally bent, slightly compressed on both sides, and a little rounded at the edge. The Fishes are from 4% to 51 inches long, and perfectly preserved. The back-bone is _blackened and brightly lustrous; the other bones light-brown and slightly lustrous; and all are as hard as stone, except the thin shell-like bone of the head, the operculum, and the extremities of the rays of the fins, which are membranous and elastic. ‘The oper- culum is light-bluish-grey, lustrous, and beset with numerous very small, but not adjacent, round black specks, as is also the case in some specimens from Greenland. ‘The number of rays in the fins could be counted, and exactly tallies with Nilssen’s and Kréyer’s description of the living Fish. Such skeletons of the Osmerus arcticus, inclosed in exactly similar marl-knots, have long been known in our museums under the Green- land name of ‘Angmarset,’ without anything being known of their particulars ; and in the ‘ Boston Proceedings of Natural Histoty’ for 1851, pp. 29, 51, it is shortly stated that Mr. Logan had received a large number of fossil Mallotus villosus, which is the same fish, from the deposits near Bytown, not far from Ottawa, in Canada, at 180 feet above the sea-level ; but in Europe they were hitherto unknown. It is therefore very interesting to know that they are also to be found in the Glacial formation of Norway, and that pretty frequently and universally distributed. In the Trondhjem Museum there are ten specimens of this Fish lying in a large piece of hard laminated clay. The Osmerus, as is well known, is an Arctic Fish occurring in incredible numbers in the Polar regions of the old and new world. Individual specimens have occasionally, though very rarely, been met with so far south as Finmark, and still more rarely at Séndmor, Bergen, or even the Christiania Fjord. In the Glacial epoch, however, it seems to have been diffused much further south than now. In regard to the concretions containing these Fish, it is deserving of notice that there is always a single and entire fish in each nodule, and that the Fish, like the previously mentioned Annelids, occupies the whole longer axis of the concretion; and further, that the outer form, though roughly yet distinctly, answers to the shape of the fish Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. 161 within; even the fins, the anal one in particular, being indicated by projections of the surface, so that the external form of the con- cretion is plainly due to the contained fossil. On the other hand, a broad very flat concretion, with an irregularly rounded circumference, contained some vertebrae and other bones of the same Fish. 4, Voldia (Leda) pygmea; in one case associated with an Anne- lid, in another with a Fish. 5. Ophiura Sarsii; one specimen in a thin flat concretion, slightly convex on both sides, and which, though very hard, seemed less calcareous than usual, and was internally of a lighter colour and contained much mica. ‘The circumference was prolonged into five flat points of different sizes, but corresponding to the arms, and presenting some of the spines and plates, from the form of which the species is determined. Judging by the thickness of the arms, this specimen must have been as large as or larger than those found living by Dr. Sarsin Finmark; and had fully attained the size of the living Greenland form, which, according to Liitken, has a body 27 mm.=1°1 inch in diameter. Here, as in the case of the Fishes, the form of the concretion was obviously determined by the shape of its contents ; and here, therefore, we have a further illustration of the singular manner in which, during the process of decomposition, the particles of car- bonate of lime contained in the clay were drawn together by the influence of the organic body, and concentrated around it in a hardened mass. Among other facts of interest which Dr. Sars mentions in con- nection with the Glacial formation is the distinct diminution south- wards of the Arctic character of the strictly Arctic Shells present in the clays. As they extend further south they fall off both in fre- quency and in size. Thus the Siphonodentalium vitreum is found living in Finmark and fossil as far south as Christiania ; and the living specimens from the north and those fossil from the south of Norway agree very closely in size, being from 2 to inch (10 to 12 mm.) long, by > inch (25 mm.) broad at the base, whereas the fossil specimens from further north, in the neighbourhood of Trondhjem, are + inch (20 mm.) long, and + inch (83 mm.) broad, and some seem to have attained even 1 or 11 inch in length, and } inch in breadth. On the other hand, it is a very curious fact that some shells extended further north in the Glacial epoch than they do now; thus Scrobicularia piperata, which has never ina living state been found further north than Floré in the Bergenstift, appears in the Glacial Clay at Surendal and at Trondhjem. Pecten maximus, too, which is unknown living further north than Christiansund, is found in the clay at Steenkjer, at the very head of the Trondhjem Fjord, and sixty miles north of that town. Sacero suLLA Costiruzionn GroLocicaA DELLA PRovinctA pI Prsa; del Prof. Cav. Paort Savi. 1863. 4to. Pisa. pp. 42, HIS account of the Geology of the neighbourhood of Pisa by its © veteran Professor is accompanied by an elaborate general map, with excellent sections, and special maps of the neighbourhood of VOL. I.—NO. IV. M 162 Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. Volterra, near which ancient town are the celebrated copper-mines of Monte Catini and the soffioni boraciferi, or hot vapours containing minerals, now conveyed into pools of water and yielding large sup- plies of the borate of soda (the borax of commerce). Few parts of Italy are more interesting to the geologist, and he could not find a guide more intelligent, lively, or trustworthy than M. Savi. Almost the whole province lies to the south of the Arno, and it includes about seventy miles of coast, the width of the belt varying from ten to twenty miles. The Arno and the Cecina cross it at right angles; the coast is generally low, and often marshy, and there are ranges of hill parallel to the coast a few miles distant. Some idea of the geological interest of the district may be obtained from the statement, that it presents marked varieties of Paleozoic rocks, together with Liassic, Jurassic, Upper and Lower Cretaceous, Upper and Lower Eocene, very varied Miocene, Pliocene, and Post-pliocene deposits. Some of these are broken through by serpentines, trachytes, and porphyries, or are penetrated by modern volcanic vapours. The whole district is subject to earthquakes. The result of a very superficial glance at the orographical struc- ture of Tuscany shows—(1) that it presents three varieties of surface-— mountains, hills, and plains ; (2) that the mountains form geologically three chains—the Apennines, the metalliferous chain, and the ser- pentine chain; (3) that the hills are also of three kinds—Miocene, Pliocene, and Recent. All of these but the Apennines exist in the province of Pisa. The Paleozoic rocks are chiefly of the Carboni- ferous period, and of the kind known locally as verrucano, consist- ing of clayslate, taleschist, &c., and they are well marked by occasional fossils, both vegetable and animal. ‘They are limited to the northernmost part of the province, where it adjoins the territory of Lucca, and the mountains enclosing the celebrated Baths of Lucca. Rocks apparently Triassic are present in small quantity between the verrucano and the River Serchio, and on both banks of the Serchio. They are covered with Liassic and Jurassic rocks to a limited extent. These recur on the flanks of Monte Calvi, at the southern ex- tremity of the province, where they are brought up by trachytic and porphyritic rocks. Elsewhere they are covered by newer deposits. The Cretaceous rocks are also exhibited on Monte Calvi; the alberese overlying the Jurassic rocks on the southern side. Other examples were seen on the flanks of the serpentines near Monte Catini, and they doubtless extend below the Miocene and Pliocene rocks to the north. They occur again to the east of Volterra in similar position, but the whole amount exhibited at the surface is small, and the rocks are almost entirely Upper Cretaceous. Eocene rocks, both Nummulitic Limestones and the rock called macigno, are much more extensively developed, and occupy large tracts in the districts south of the Cecina. It is chiefly the upper member that is seen. This rock also is called alberese; but it is quite distinct from the Cretaceous alberese. It is pierced through by the trachytes of Monte Calvi, and also by numerous smaller eruptions of serpentine. ‘These are seen in three groups—one near Abstracts of Foreign Memorrs. 163 the Soffioni, where borax is worked; another at and near Monte Catini, where copper exists in abundance ; and a third on the coast to the east of the Monte Catini group. As it is through the Kocene deposits that the serpentines chiefly appear, so the Miocene beds, which cover them towards the east, are interpenetrated by the bora- ciferous vapours, and contain gypsum and salt. ‘The Miocenes are, for the most part, recomposed rocks, derived from the serpentines and macigno. They are often highly bituminous. The Pliocene rocks occur between the alluvial valleys of the Arno and the Cecina, and the Miocene and Eocene rocks to the south and east. ‘They cover a large space, probably a third of the whole area of the province. They are chiefly sand and clay, and they are loaded with fossil shells. The newer rocks are the alluvial clays and sands of the Arno and the coast. The chain of serpentine hills, commencing a little to the south of Leghorn, with the littoral group from Montenero to Rosignano, con- tinues towards the south-east, coming to the surface at intervals, and always of the same general nature. The rocks are essentially meta- morphie, consisting of altered Upper Cretaceous and Hocene aqueous deposits, the limit betweeu the two having been determined in 1850 by Sir R. Murchison. This demarcation, says Prof. Savi, is the more important in Italian geology ‘ because the last Secondary and the first Tertiary rocks were deposited in conformable stratifi- cation at the bottom of the same sea, of which the fauna and flora changed gradually, not abruptly, insomuch that no precise line can be drawn between the two,’ p. 15. It is well known that the Num- mulitic Limestone forms this horizon; but, while it is unquestionable that the pietra-forte, immediately underlying the Nummulitic Lime- stone, and loaded with Upper Chalk fossils, is Secondary, and that everything above the Nummulitic Limestone is Tertiary, it is yet impossible to draw a precise limitary line between Upper Chalk and Lower Eocene, for the bands of schistose clay, limestone, and fine- grained sandstone among the Nummulitic Limestone are perfectly conformable both above and below, and present a mixture of fossils of the two epochs. ‘The Eocene deposits form two distinct series. Penetrating and altering these beds are erupted rocks, of probably two periods, both converting them into serpentines. ‘The older is a dark-green ophiolite, with much diallage, generally confined to the Lower Eocenes, but also reaching the Upper. Large veins of euphotide belong to this eruption, and they have altered very extensively the Upper Cretaceous and Lower Eocene rocks, chiefly producing from them a rock known as gabbro rosso, abounding with zeolitic mi- nerals, and often putting on all the characters of a plutonic rock. Argentiferous lead, copper, and zinc occur in the veins in this rock. Other veins penetrate the rocks metamorphosed by this first erup- tion. They are certainly more modern, and they affect the Miocene deposits. They present a peculiar rock, not containing diallage, but abounding with sulphurets of copper, lead, iron, and zine, which have been accumulated in some veins in great quantities. Several minerals and veins are described by M. Savi as affecting these rocks. M 2 164 Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. The Miocene chain is interesting on three accounts: it contains (1) lignite, (2) rock-salt, and (3) alabaster. Each of these is econo- nomically important ; but the reader must refer to the original memoir for a detailed notice of them. The Pliocene hills are also interesting, but they are less important. Belonging to the later Tertiary periods are numerous volcanic rocks covering the Pliocene rocks. The extinct volcanos range from north to south, and connect the existing volcanos of South Italy and Sicily with the recent movements and modifications of the rocks in Tuscany. The greater part of these phenomena seem to range parallel with the metalliferous chain and that of the serpentine hills.—D. T. A. Der Kuro in Tutrincen. Von Herrn R. Ricurer, in Saalfeld. (Zeitsch. deutsch. geol. Gesell., vol. xvi. Heft 1, pp. 155-172. 1864.) WO areas of ‘ Culm’ (or Lower Carboniferous strata) occur on the slate of the Thuringian Forest. The northern Culm strata come from under thin beds of Roth- and Weiss-liegende, which are covered by the Zechstein (Magnesian Limestone) ; their boundary reaching from Saalfeld to Weida ; the floor of the Culm consists of Upper and Middle Devonian rocks. The southern area reaches to the neighbourhood of Stockheim, where there are productive coal- measures; and the Culm here also reposes on Devonian rocks. These Lower Carboniferous strata occur on the ridges of the hills, dipping away on both sides, the strike varying from NE—SwW. to E. by S.—W.byN. The beds aremuch disturbed. The total thick- ness is not clearly indicated, but is small. ‘The rocks are throughout similar, the Culm-formation consisting chiefly of sandstone with shale-partings. There is also a conglomer ate sparingly distributed. The conglomerate consists of rounded fragments of glassy and com- mon quartz, of minerals resembling decomposed felspar, of mica, and fragments of schist. It is an irregular deposit; and the organic remains in it are rare and indeterminable. The sandstone, in beds several feet thick, is more regular. It is separated by shaly beds, loaded with fossils in good condition. Shales occur throughout the whole deposit, but they are rarely more than a few inches thick. These are composed sometimes almost exclusively of vegetable remains. ‘The author believes that the Lehesten roofing- -slates are not, as supposed by Giimbel (‘ Bavaria, IIT.), of the Lower Car- boniferous age. They seem distinctly Devonian, by the character of the vegetable remains as well as by position. Plutonic rocks are not known within the Culm-district. The fossils found are for the most part fragmentary and in bad condition. They are as follow (figured in five plates) :— | J. Proetus posthumus, sp.n.; Cythere spinosa, sp.n.; Litorina, sp.3; Cardiomorpha (?) tellinaria (?), Goldf.; Crinoidea ; several fri ag- ments, one resembling Lophocrinus speciosus, Meyer. If. Plants—Pinites Catharine, sp. n.; a small seed, not unlike ’ that of Abies alba, Mill., but larger, Several fragments of fossil Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. 165 coniferous wood probably belong to this species; Megaphytum (Rothenbergia) Hollebeni, Cotta; Sagenaria transversa, Goppert ; S. Veltheimiana, Presl; S. remota, Goppert; S. (?) eyelostigma, Goppert ; S. minutissima, Goppert ; Lycopodites, sp. ; Odontopteris Stichleriana, G6ppert ; Calamites transitionis, Gdppert (in great variety of markings) ; Fucoides bipinnatus, sp.n. ‘There are also two fossils figured, whose nature is doubtful ; one of them allied ap- parently to Harlania. The above fauna is exclusively marine; and one, at least, of the plants has had the same habitat; the rest of the plants, however, cannot have grown under water. We have thus indications of a sea not very far from land; Encrinites, belonging to deep water, being drifted up occasionally. A deposit of sand stretches up to- wards the nerth-east, from the present Thuringian Forest, as far as the outcrop can be traced; and there is a parallel formation of lime- stone at some distance. ‘Thus the ‘Culm’ of Thuringia may be the equivalent of the Carboniferous Limestone. The stratification of the Thuringian Culm is only here and there conformable, and it is faulted differently in different members ; so that it appears that it is distinct in this respect both from the under- lying Devonian and overlying Permian rocks. The Culm-sandstone is available for walls and occasionally for paving, while thin slabs are useful for oven-plates. Neither the coal nor the iron would be good for speculation. ‘The decomposed rock makes a tolerably good soil.—D. 'T. A. Dre Fauna DEr BrRAUNKOHLENFORMATION VON LAtporEF BEI Brrnperc. Von C. Grepet. pp. 93. 4 plates. (From the Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Halle. Vol. vii. 1864.) fp ete Ue ae perhaps the only memoir which has hitherto been specially devoted to a description of the strata of Latdorf is that by Herr C. Zincken in the ‘ Zeitschrift fiir gesammten Natur- wissenschaften,’* the fossils from this locality have furnished ma- terial, wholly or in part, for several papers. Thus the Bryozoa were first described by Dr. Ferd. Stoliczka,t and afterwards, with the Corals, by Dr. F. A. Roemer,{ which memoir has since been rather severely criticized by Dr. Stoliczka, in a letter to the Editors of the ‘Neues Jahrbuch,’§ these two paleontologists differing very mate- rially in their views of the limits of specific variation, and on other points. Some of the Shells have been described by Dr. Semper in the ‘ Archiv der Meklenburger Freunde der Naturgeschichte,’ || and others in Prof. Beyrich’s work on the North-German Tertiary Shells, besides which most books and pamphlets on German Oligo- cene strata or fossils contain more or less direct references to those of this very celebrated locality. * Vol. xxi. 1863, p. 530, pl. 3. Y Sitzungsberichte der k. k. Wiener Akad. vol. xlv. pp. 71-79. { Paleeontographica, vol. ix. Heft 1. § See Neues Jahrb, 1864. || Vol. xv. 1861, pp. 221-409, 166 Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. The author of the present paper has from time to time published descriptions of new species from the Brown-coal of Latdorf in the ‘Zeitsch. gesammt. Naturw.,’ and in this memoir he reproduces these descriptions, adding others of new species, with notes on some old ones, giving figures of the forms now described for the first time, and of those which, though described by him before in the ‘ Zeitschrift,’ had not yet been figured. He also gives lists of all the species of Shells, Bryozoa, and Corals that have been described from this locality, or have been noticed as occurring there. Among the new species we notice one under the name of Thecidea oblonga, and, although the figure is so bad that it shews nothing be- sides the general form of the shell, that alone is sufficient to suggest the probability of its being the same species as that referred to by Mr. Davidson* as Thecidium Mediterraneum, var. #Latdorfiense. Dr. Giebel considers it, however, a new species, but his description contains scarcely any allusion to the internal arrangements, he him- self considering that ‘the form and the condition of the surface are quite sufficient to distinguish this species from all others.’ The sur- face is described as wrinkled and punctate (wurmfrassig), and exhi- biting the lines of growth only towards the margin; the shell is said to be oblong in shape, strongly vaulted, and becoming only a little narrower towards the beak, which is very thick; the hinge- line is straight. Dr. Giebel also states that it is the only species found in the Tertiary beds of Germany.—H. M. J. Sopra 1 Deposit: pi Prante Fossrit DELL’ AMERICA SETTENTRIONALE, DELLE Inpin,E DELL’ AUSTRALIA CHE ALCUNI AUTORI RIFERIRONO ALL’ Epoca Oort- Tica; Memoria del Cav. A. pn Zicno. (From the Proceed. Acad. Sciences of Padua. 8yvo. 1863.) N every group of natural objects, or natural phenomena, which has been the subject of classification, there must be certain members having such mixed characters that it is difficult to say to which of the two or more neighbouring groups they more properly belong. Geology furnishes many such instances, some of more than usual difficulty, and especially the case of the age of certain plant- bearing strata, occurring in several distant regions, and having all a greater or less community of character, as exhibited in the facies of the fossils they contain. The Baron de Zigno, who has before written on the subject, has recently published in the paper before us a résumé of the facts and opinions current respecting the age of these several plant-bearing strata, which have been referred by some to the Oolitic Period. From the title it will be seen that the deposits in question occur in North America, India, and Australia; but strata containing similar fossils to those occurring in India and Australia occur also in South Africa, though Sign. de Zigno does not mention them. The chief conclusions of Sign. de Zigno, and the facts adduced in support of them, may be thus stated. The flora of Rajmahal * GnoLocican Macazmnn, No. 1, p. 18, Pl. L., figs. 6-9. Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. 167 (Bengal) he considers to have, on the whole, a Liassic facies, although it contains one species (Z'eniopteris ovalis) which occurs in the Oolitic strata of Scarborough, and another, which he cannot dis- tinguish from the Dictyopteris Brongniarti of the Carboniferous (!) rocks of Saxony. Some of the species of Cycads are allied to those found in the Oolite, others to Liassic species, and some to species occurring in Triassic rocks; but the Liassic forms are said to be most prevalent. Respecting the North American beds, the author evidently inclines to the opinion that they are Triassic; he denies the correctness of Prof. Rogers’s determinations of the plants, but accepts those of Dr. Heer ; the former geologist endeavoured to show that these North American deposits were comparable with the Oolitic coal-bearing beds of Whitby, while the latter referred them either to the Keuper or the Lower Lias, The Australian strata are more ditticult to deal with, for while Professor M‘Coy considers the plants to be Oolitic, the Rev. W. B. Clarke asserts that he has found asso- ciated with them a true Carboniferous Lepidodendron, with Shells belonging to the same period. Sign. de Zigno coincides and Prof. M‘Coy in believing that the Lepidodendron and the Paleozoic shells found by the Rev. W. B. Clarke came from deposits much lower in the series than the strata which furnished the remaining plants ; but he differs from the Australian Professor as to the age of the latter, believing them to be either Trias or Lias. Thus it will be seen that Sign. de Zigno considers all these deposits as referable either to the Trias or the Lias. ‘This conclusion is not new, and, excluding the Australian beds, the age of which cannot as yet be considered de- termined, it is probably right, although the author’s arguments, derived from the very conflicting evidence of the Plants, are by no means so convincing as those of Professor Rupert Jones, which are drawn from the occurrence, in the Indian and American strata, of certain species of E’stheria, a genus, by the way, which Sign. de Zigno does not even mention, referring to the Richmond specimens of E. ovata as shells allied to ‘ Postdonomya’ minuta. Not less remark- able in the Memoir is the absence of all allusion to, the remarkable Glossopteris Browniana, which is said to occur in India, Australia, and South Africa; for evenif Sign. de Zigno prefers another generic name, the specific appellation ought still to remain; but these omissions, with the absence of allusion to the South African deposits, convince us that the author has not yet got to the bottom of this very intricate subject.—H. M. J. UEBERBLICK UBER DIE TRIAS, MIT BERUCKSICHTIGUNG IHRES VORKOMMENS IN DEN Aupren. Von Dr. Frreprich von Arprrti. Stuttgart, 1864. 8vo, pp. 353. 7 Plates. : “eee object of this work is to give an outline of the present state of our knowledge of the Trias, and thus to complete or to correct the remarks made by the author in his memoir entitled ‘ Beitrag zu einer Monographie des bunten Sandsteins, Muschelkalks und Keu- pers, und die Verbindung dieser Gebilde zu einer Formation (Trias),’ 168 Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. which was published in 1834, and in which the name ‘ Trias’ was first given to this formation. The author divides his subject into three portions, to each of which he assigns a special chapter. In the first chapter he treats of the various groups composing the Swabian Trias, coupled with remarks on the mineralogical components and contents of the rocks, chiefly from a geological point of view. In the second part of the work he describes the organie remains of the Triassic strata, inclu- ding some new species of Mollusca, giving figures of the latter, and of some of the former that have not been adequately illustrated before. In the third chapter he discusses the distribution and range of the fossils in the Trias of Swabia and other countries, and com- bats some of the published classifications of this group for the Alps and other districts. The following is the classification he adopts :— SWABIA, &e. ALPS. C. Keuper. cc. Upper Keuper. Upper Dachstein. p. Tabingen Beds . malta - Kossen Beds. Lower Dachstein. Bleiberg Beds. bb. Middle Keuper. o. Coarse-grained Sandstone. nm. Gansingen Beds. : m. Fine-erained Sandstone. Foes: i, MKeuper-gypsum. : an Esino Beds. Arlberg Limestone. Hallstadt Limestone. k, Cannstatt Beds , ° 2 » St. Cassian Beds. Wengen Beds. Partnach Beds. Mendola Dolomite. aa, Lower Keuper or Lettenkohlengruppe. 2. Upper Dolomite. h, Lettenkohle and Sandstone, 5 g. Gypsum and Rocksalt, @) jf. Lower Dolomite. B. Muschelkalk. Virgloria Limestone. Guttenstein Limestone. Recoaro Limestone. d. Anhydrite Group, . . Gypsum of the Muschelkalk of Lom- bardy. e. Friedrichshall Limestone . Campiler TBeds : Seiss Beds. A. Bunter. } Grodner Sandstone. ce. Wellenkalk ‘ f b. Upper Bunter Sandstone. a, Vosges Sandstone. The author states that in the Trias there are four principal Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. 169 Coprolite-beds (‘Cloake’), besides others of less importance, namely: 1. Below the Lettenkohlensandstein. 2. Between the horizon of Beaumont and the Keuper-gypsum. 3. In the Keuper-sandstone (0). 4, In the Koéssen beds (Tabingen) immediately below the Lias. These deposits (Cloake), he observes, have all the same character ; they form great layers in the beds in which they occur, and contain teeth, bodies, and scales of various Fishes and Reptiles, mixed and cemented together with Coprolites.—H. M. J. LEONHARD UND Gurtnitz’s Nevrns JanrpucH For Mineratocm, GEOoLoGIE, UND PatmontToLtociz, Jahrgang 1864. Heft 4, ESIDES the usual notices of Mineralogical, Geological, and Paleontological memoirs, the last number of the ‘Jahrbuch’ contains the following papers :— 1. Vorlaufiger Bericht tber krystallinische Silikatgesteine des Fassathales und benachbarter Gegenden Siidtyrols, von Herrn T. Scheerer. (Preliminary notice on the Crystalline Siliceous rocks of the Fassathal and neighbouring districts of South Tyrol.) In this paper the author divides the different rocks occurring in the district under consideration into two great classes, namely, the Hochsilicirte Gesteine (or Plutonites) and the Niedrigsilicirte Ge- steine (or Vulcanites). These classes are again subdivided, so that all the rocks of the Fassa Valley are arranged as follows :— i Average per-centage I. Highly silicated rocks (Plutonites), of Silica, 1, Upper Plutonite, or Red Gneiss . : . 5 Gueiss. Quartz-porphyry (remelted gneiss). 2. Middle Plutonite, or Middle Gneiss , , Granite of Brixen. Granite of the Cima d’Asta. 3. Lower Plutonite, or Grey Gneiss ‘ , Tourmaline-granite. Quartz-porphyry. II. Subsilicated rocks (Vulcanites), A, Plutovulcanite. 1, Upper Plutovulcanite, or Quartziferous Syenite . 68 Quartz-syenite. 2, Middle Plutovulcanite, or ordinary Syenite Monzon Syenite. Syenite-porphyry. Micaceous Syenite. 3. Lower Plutovulcanite, or Melaphyr. . , » od Melaphyr. B. Vulcanite. 1. Upper Vulcanite, or Augite-porphyry , : . 48 Augite-porphyry. Uralite-porphyry. Monzon Hypersthenite. 2. Middle Vulcanite, or ordinary Basalt ; . 42 > Basalt. 3. Lower Vulcanite, or basic Basalt Basic Basalt. sf Oo ee AO » 65 ° > ° 2 36 170 Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. 2. Auszug aus der Denkschrift des Herrn Alphons Milne-Edwards iiber die eeologische Vertheilung der fossilen Vogel. Zusammenge- fasst von Herrn A. Fr. Grafen Marschall. An abstract of this paper has been already given in the GroLocicaL MaGazinr, No. 2. 3. Chemische Untersuchung einiger Gesteine von Java. Von Herrn Otto Prolss. This contains analyses and descriptions of some voleanic rocks from Java, by a young Heidelberg doctor, a pupil of Blum and Bunsen. 4, Der Erloschene Vulkan Ringgit in Ost-Java und sein ange- blicher Ausbruch 1586. Von Herrn Emil Stohr. (The Extinet Volcano Ringgit, in Eastern Java, and its pretended Hruption in 1586.) In this paper the author attempts to prove that the eruption of this extinct volcano, asserted by Houtman to have occurred in 1586, and to have caused the death of 10,000 people, did not really take place; but that an eruption of the Raun Mountain, which is still active, occurred in that year, and was mistaken by Houtman for an eruption of the Ringgit. In a letter, Dr. J. A. Roemer gives a sketch of a new classification of the Sponges, which he is about to use in his forthcoming Mono- graph of the North-German Cretaceous Sponges, to be published in the ‘ Paleontographica,’ illustrated by 18 plates. ‘The numbers after the genera indicate the number of species. 1. Family Coeloptychidea, C. Jereidea, 1. Coeloptychium, 6. 23. Jerea, 18. 2. Camerospongia, he 24. Polyierea, 6. 3. Cephalites, 8. 25. Marginospongia, 1. S Cystispongia, 7. 4. Family Lamnoreidea. 5. Porospongia, 2. 26. Limnorea, 4. 6. Lepidospongia, 1. 27. Epeudea, 1. 2. Family Cribospongidea. 28, Epithebes, 4. 29, Polenydostoma, 3. 50. Endostoma, 2. 31. Tremospongia, 4. 7. Cribospongia, 17. 8. Coscinopora, 8. 9. Pleurostoma, 7. 10. Retispongia, 4. 82. Actinospongia, a 11. Oscillaria, 12. 38. Bnaulofungia, 3. 12. Ventriculites, 10. 34, Lecospongia, 3. 13. Dendrospongia, 3. 5. Family Chenendoporidea. 14, Cylindrospongia, 11. 35. Chenendopora, 12. 15, Diplostoma, 6. 36. Verrucospongia, 4. i 5 : 37. Elasmostoma, 5. 3. Family Siphonidea. ¢ iN Endeide. a 6. Family Sparsispongidea. . Monothebes, 2. 16. Hippalimus, 2. 39, iissetee, 17. Placospongia, 4. 40, Oculispongia, 4. 18. Eudea, 3. 41, Stellispongia, 10. . Siphonia, 5. B. Siphonocechdea. . Siphonoceelia, 14. 7. Family Amorphospongidea, . Copulospongia, 15. . Meeandrospongia, 4. 21. Polyccelia, 10. 44, 'Thalamospongia, 1. 22. Hlasmoccelia, 2. 45. Amorphospongia, 12. H.M. J. Reviews —Damon’s Handbook to the Geology of Weymouth. 171 REVIEWS. poke HANDBOOK TO THE GEOLOGY OF WEYMOUTH AND THE ISLAND OF PorTLAND ; witH Notes ON THE Naturat History oF THE Coast anp NrEIGHBOURHOOD. By Ropert Damon, F.G.S., &c. London, E. Sranrorp. 1864. 8vo. pp. 199, with 33 illustrations. HIS deservedly popular Handbook was published in 1860, and we have just received the reprint in 1864. We are sorry to find that it is only a reprint; for no handbook can be in print for four years and not need re-editing, however carefully it may have been brought out at first. We have compared the two editions, and, with the exception of the title-page, no change has been made.* This is the more to be regretted on account of the evident public appreciation the book has received, which is attested by the sale of the first edition since 1860. A careful notice of this book, by one who evidently knew the geological features of the country well, ap- peared in the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for December, 1860; and the author would have done well had he pro- fited by the suggestions and corrections therein furnished. We add a few fresh suggestions to the list therein given, confining our remarks to paleontology. Among the fossils figured from the Port- land Stone (p. 79) is a curious example of a mass of Jsastrea, a coral most abundant in the Oolite, which had been bored into by a burrowing mollusk (Lithodomus). The burrows afterwards became filled with fine calcareous mud, which penetrated also between the septa of the coral. The coral was eventually in great part dissolved away, leaving the casts of the borings of the Lithodomi exposed to view, their surfaces sometimes covered by the star-like impressions of the coral. Mr. Damon says (p. 78) the coral only coated the rock in which the Lithodomi bored, whereas his figure shows that it was in the substance of the coral itself that the burrows were made. The fossils of the Portland Stone occurring in the ‘ Roach’ beds are all in the same condition of casts, Lrigonia gibbosa and Cerithium Port- landicum being the two most abundant forms. Speaking of the recent Trigonia pectinata (p. 82), the author says it occurs in ‘Swan River, New South Wales; it should be Sydney Harbour. Another variety occurs on the coast of Tasmania. At p.165 we find ‘ 7rigonellites is now regarded either as the gizzard of the animal, or the operculum or valve.’ In the ‘ Geologist’ for September, 1860, p. 328, Mr. S, P. Woodward published a figure of Ammonites subradiatus from the Inferior Oolite of Dundry, near Bristol, with the operculum in sitéi. Of their true nature we did not think any one was now ignorant. The author also quotes the exploded hypothesis of the use of the siphuncle in the Ammonite and Nautilus, as an apparatus for adjusting the specific gravity of the * A woodcut (Vertebree of Ichthyosaurus) printed upside-down, at page 168, remains still in the same position, 172 Reviews—Maurys Physical Geography for Schools. shell ‘by the ejection of a fluid into the siphuncle or pipe which passes through the chambers,—a few drops suffice to sink animal and shell, and vice versa.’ The siphuncle has no connection with the air-chambers (which are only the earlier tenements grown too small for the animal) ; its real function is to keep the shell alive, no part of an animal being dead while the animal is in a healthy state. We mention these points to show that no book of the kind, how- ever well ‘got up,’ will bear the test ’of time sufficiently well to dispense with re-editing. We hope Mr. Damon’s Guide-book may be only one of many more that will be written to illustrate the Natural History, and especially the Geology, of our coasts. PuysIcAL GEOGRAPHY FOR SCHOOLS AND GENERAL Reapers. By M. F. Maury, LL.D., &c. London: Lonemans, 1864. 8vo. pp- 141. rHYHEIS little work is rather intended for schools and young people than as an original contribution to science. It places some of the peculiar views of the author in a pleasing and prominent light; but it is rather desultory, and far from complete. It has an admir- able chart of the principal marine currents, including a few other physical phenomena, and a second as a frontispiece, whose utility to the general reader is less clear, although it no doubt represents to the eye the result of a large number of observations. In a science like Physical Geography there is much to be taught, and there are many departments, each possessed of its own special interest and importance. ‘To the geologist almost every department is necessary; but looking at the book before us as geologists, we do not find that it affords much direct help. Of the mountain-systems, their influence, history, and relative value, there is hardly anything said; and of river-basins, not much more. Of volcanos and earth- quakes there is absolutely nothing. Hydrography and certain de- partments of Meteorology are alone discussed. Still the book is not without claims to attention in this place. ‘The great problems of climate must ever possess deep interest for the geologist, for on them must ultimately depend the question as to how far the various conditions of the earth indicated by fossil remains are capable of being produced without any violent or complete change in the physical conditions of the earth as a planet. So vast and complete are the differences that now exist between the animal and vegetable inhabitants of places in similar latitudes—so varied are the conditions of climate where the mean quantity of sun-light and sun-heat ought to be identical—that every fact with regard to the modification and destruction of races cannot fail to possess deep interest; and we know that change of climatal condition and change of inhabitants are matters that always go together. Capt. Maury or Dr. Maury—we hardly know in what capacity to speak of him—has done so much good work in teaching navigators how best to direct their ships in crossing the Atlantic, that his account of the vibrations of the principal belts of prevalent winds Reviews—Ball’s Alpine Guide. 173 (Book iv. § 193, e¢ seg.) is well worth reading. From these vibra- tions it results that, wherever seasons are divided into wet and dry, ‘it is the rainy season when they have the sea to windward of them, and the dry when they have the sea to leeward of them,” p. 47. The directions of the prevalent winds in connection with the form and features of the land are shown to account for the extremely dis- cordant vegetations of Australia and South America. In the latter the trade-winds, loaded with moisture as they arrive from the sea, strike the land to leeward of them, nearly at right angles to their course, and penetrate up the great valleys to the mountains) draining as they g eo. In the former the SE. trades coast the land, and never enter far, fringing only a narrow strip near the shore with occasional showers. Further illustrations of the same nature are equally in- teresting. Considerations like these should not be lost sight of when geologists are speculating on the possible modifications of climate and the form of land at distant geological periods, when the distri- bution of land and sea may have been altogether the converse of those that exist at present in given latitudes. Tue Arpine Guipe: Tur Centrat ALPS, INCLUDING THE BERNESE OBERLAND AND ALL SWITZERLAND, EXCEPTING THE NEIGHBOUR- HOOD OF Monte Rosa anp THE GREAT St. BERNARD, WITH LoMBARDY AND THE ADJOINING PORTION OF THE Tyron. By JouN Bart, M.R.IA., F.L.S., &c., late President of the Alpine Club. London: Lonemans, 1864. 8vo. pp. 502. Me MURRAY and one, at least, of bis familiar red-books have found a formidable rival in the ‘Alpine Guide,’ of which the second part is before us. Provided with an excellent and accurate general map, on a scale of ten miles to an inch, five maps of small districts on a larger scale, and an important geological map, besides sundry views, it gives the experience of one of the most indefatigable of Alpine travellers, and one who has travelled with his eyes open and with every advantage of circumstance. For the carriageable tour of a month’s duration, and the more exhaustive pedestrian tours of three months or more, clear outlines are given, and the knowledge and experience of the ar naye ensure the strictest accuracy. The definite routes are at once so numerous and so well grouped as to include almost everything that a traveller requiring a published guide can need. Mr. Ball is well acquainted with what has been done in the Alps both by natives and foreigners, and has done much himself. The essential and, as it seems to us, the characteristie difference between the new Alpine Guide and the Swiss Hand-book is that the former is more purely suggestive and descriptive with regard to the travelling and the scenery; while the latter is more didactic, giving more notices of history and art than description. No doubt some travellers look for and prefer one method, and others the other; chacun a son gout. ‘To geologists we recommend the guidance of Mr. Ball. 174 Reviews—Hull’s New Red Sandstone, &c. It would be altogether impossible in a brief notice to give any abstract of what is in itself a:most careful abstract of everything important known of some 2,000 places, 1,500 mountain-peaks, and 250 passes. The completeness is indeed something marvellous; and though, of course, there is no such thing as a perfect work, and some accounts and statements may have to be modified by personal ex- perience, we have seen nothing, in a rapid survey of the work, that calls for complaint. We recommend it without hesitation as the best companion to the geological traveller in the Central Alps, merely suggesting that in future the colouring of the geological map should be assisted by figures or letters of reference, since in maps printed in colours it is almost impossible to compare by the eye the shades of colour used in colour-printing ; and in the repeated printing neces- DD? sary the blocks do not always exactly fall into their proper places. On THE New Rep SANDSTONE AND PERMIAN FORMATIONS AS Sources OF WATER-SUPPLY FOR Towns. By Epwarp Hutt, B.A., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. 8vo. 1864, pp. 20. (From the Mem. Lit. Phil. Soc. Manchester, 3rd sec. vol. ii.) HE red sandstones and clays of Lancashire, Cheshire, Stafford- shire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the south-west of England have of late years received much attention from the Geo- logical Surveyors, on account of their covering the coal-measures ; and in some districts the more perfect knowledge obtained as to the exact relations of these beds, which, often shifted by faults, and vary- ing in thickness over the coal, still appear to an unpractised eye as one uniform mass of ‘red ground,’ has benefited coal-owners very considerably. Not only, however, are these red rocks important as regards their relation to the coal-beds, but also with respect to the ereat water-holding properties of some of their beds. In early geo- logical days these red sandstones and clays were all comprehended under the name ‘New Red Sandstone,’ and divided into ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower;’ the latter, recognized by Phillips as having older fossils in it than those of the higher division, was divided off by Murchison and grouped, as Permian, in the palaozoic system, the other remain- ing as the New Red Sandstone formation or Trias. Now these Permian red clays and sandstones are not nearly so porous and capable of holding water as the ‘Triassic beds above, which latter readily take in rain- and river-water, filter it, and freely yield it in wells, sometimes to the amount of 13 millions of gallons a day from one well. The bleach-works, factories, and breweries of Man- chester and Salford (Mr. Hull says) pump six millions of gallons every twenty-four hours from the New Red Sandstone. Lancashire, how- ever, has a thicker set of ‘New Red’ beds than some other districts; in fact, they thin out as we go to the south-east; being about 1,200 feet thick in the north-west, they are about 600 feet in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and only 250 feet at the utmost in Leicestershire and Warwickshire; hence an enormous difference as to what we may Phillips— Geological Address. bes expect from deep wells at Rugby as compared with those of Man- chester,—at the former place the New Red Sandstone is reduced to a minimum, and the lower red marls and sandstone (Permian) hold comparatively little water. ‘The varying inclinations of these at- tenuated strata, more or less disturbed, at different places, complicate the conditions of local water-supply; but with the maps and sections of the Geological Survey in hand, the engineer has (or ought to have) little difficulty in avoiding errors and securing the object in view. Mr. Hull has carefully worked out, and drawn especial attention to, this south-easterly thinning-out of the Triassic and overlying formations, as may be seen by his paper on the subject in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p.63; and the memoir before us cleverly adapts his facts and theory to practical uses. REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. — + ApprEss TO THE SECTION oF GroLoGy AT THE OPENING OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH Mertine or tHe British Association, IN Batu, Sepremper 15, 1864. By Joun Puirrires, Esq., M.A., LL.D., F.RS., F.G.S., Professor of Geology in the Uni- versity of Oxford. HE age of geological discovery is, by many persons, thought to have passed away with Hutton and Werner, Humboldt and Von Buch, Smith and Cuvier, Conybeare and Buckland, Forbes and De la Beche; and they regard as almost final the honoured researches of Sedgwick and Murchison and Lyell. Yet in this very district, the most carefully examined perhaps of all the richly fossiliferous tracts of England, our friend Mr. C. Moore is finding a multitude of in- teresting forms of life of the later Triassic age, and is thus enriching in an unexpected manner the catalogue of fossils in Britain. Nor is the practical application of our science less actively exercised. In this very district Mr. Sanders has just completed that admirable survey of the strata on the large scale of four inches to a mile, and showing every field, which is suspended before you. Sir R. Mur- chison has informed us of the further proof of the extension of coal under the Permians of Nottinghamshire; and at this very meeting we receive through the same channel, from Mr. M‘Kenzie, the news of the finding of an additional bed of coal in Australia, thirty miles from any former known site of coal, the bed being 88 feet thick and of good quality. Nothing is better settled than the series of great events in our geological history; yet even now we are rejoicing over the large addition made to this history by the discovery of the richly fossil- iferous beds of St. Cassian and Koéssen, by which the Triassic fauna is enlarged, and the means of comparing Paleozoic and Mesozoic life augmented by some hundreds of forms, including some genera of the older, and others of the newer systems. The Director of the National Survey has decided to give to these strata in England and Wales a distinct colour on his map and a definite name (the Penarth beds). But a few years since, the varied strata of marine and freshwater 176 Phillips— Geological Address. origin above the Chalk were carelessly, if not contemptuously, classed as ‘superficial deposits;’ now they have acquired a large and regular history, embracing a great succession of organic life, in the sea and on the land, which is appropriately crowned by the works of intelli- gent man. Not long since, the ‘diluvium’ or ‘drift’ was merely an ill-understood basis for ill-considered speculation: now we have classified its parts; have begun to survey the movements of land and sea which preceded and accompanied these latest superficial accumu- lations; and have even ventured to apply to them measures of time, in a continuous chronology. The new problems opened by these researches, the inferences to which they lead, and the speculations which they suggest, require only to be named. How to explain the all but universal elaciation of the mountain-regions of Europe—once, or perhaps twice, since the era of the Crag ; how to trace the course and limits of those gelid waters which since that era rose to half the height of Helvellyn and Snowdon ; how to account for the changes of physical geography which allowed Hippopotami to be buried in the sediments of a York- shire river, troops of Mammoths to crowd the Cotswold Hills, and the mingled remains of Reindeer and Man to fill the caverns of the South of Fr ance,—these and many more questions of equal importance occupy the attention of geologists, and give a special interest to the later geological periods. In each of these cases, and in all which come before geologists for interpretation, there is one general rule :—we compare always the ancient phenomena with the most similar effects we can find of forces now in action. As in existing nature the amount of effect produced by known causes varies with the conditions of each case—as the sun’s effect varies from hour to hour, from day to night, from summer to winter, and from year to year, as the force of moving water is greater or less according to the slope of the ground, and the sea’s movement is modified by the age of the moon and the position of land—so in earlier nature the combinations of phenomena varied, and the measures of effect were modified accordingly. In another point of view the aspect of nature is found to be variable, and subject to cycles of change, periods of greater and less effect of particular forces which in their own nature are constant. The distance of the earth from the sun is not constant, the form of its orbit is not constant, it was not always nor will always be nearer to the sun in winter than in summer. From these varied conditions, which are measured by long astronomical periods, cycles of greater and less heating effect on thie: earth in general, and on parts of it in particular, arise; so that speculations as to the causes of the differences of climate during geological periods are entirely incomplete if we leave out of view these real and definite sources of terrestrial vicissitude. Whether whey are sufficient, and justly applicable to the facts established in geology, is a proper subject of deliberate inquiry. Among the facts put in evidence by geology regarding the former condition of the land and sea, none are so convincing of great change Phillips — Geological Address. 177 and systematic diversity as the remains of plants and animals. By appeals to these innumerable witnesses, conclusions of much im- portance are maintained, touching the greater warmth of the Car- boniferous land, and the colder climate of the later Canozoic seas. By the same testimony, it appears that over every part of the earth’s surface, in every class of organic life, the whole series of created forms has been changed many times. Have we measured these changes of climate, and assigned their true physical causes? Have we determined the law of the successive variations of life, and declared the physiological principles on which the differences depend? No! the variations of climate must be further investigated, the limits of specific diversity more surely de- fined, before we can give clear answers to these critical questions. Late researches, partly archeological and partly geological, both in England and France, have been held to prove the contemporaneity of Man and the Mammoth in the northern zones of the world. Have we, then, been too confident in our belief that the human period was long posterior to, and strongly marked off from, that of the Cavern Bear and the woolly Rhinoceros? Did the races of Hyzna and Hippopotamus remain inhabitants of Europe till a comparatively modern epoch, or was Man in possession of the earth in times far earlier than history and tradition allow ? The prevalent opinion seems to be, that, as variations of the forms of life are extremely slow in existing nature, for every case of con- siderable change in the predominant types of ancient plants and animals, very long intervals of time must be allowed to have elapsed. If in some thousands of years of human experience no very material change has happened in our wild plants or wild animals, or in culti- - vated grains, or domestic birds and quadrupeds, it is evident that no considerable changes of this kind can arise from such causes as are now in action without the aid of periods of time not contemplated in our chronology. Estimated in this way, the antiquity of the earth grows to be inconceivable—not to be counted by centuries, or myriads of years—not to be really compassed by the understanding cf men, whose individual age is less than a century, and whose his- tories and traditions, however freely rendered, fall short of a hundred centuries. The whole human period, as we have been accustomed to view it, is but a unit in the vast sum of elapsed time: yet in all those innumerable ages the same forces were seated in the same par- ticles of matter ; the same laws of combination prevailed in inorganic and in living bodies; the same general influences resided on the surfaces or governed the masses of the planets, in their ever-changing paths round the sun. All natural effects are performed in time, and when the agency is uniform, are in proportion to the time. And though the agency be not uniform, if the law of its variation be known, the time consumed in producing a given effect can be determined by calculation. Geo- logical phenomena of every order can be expressed in terms of magnitude, as the uplifting of mountains, the deposition of strata, the numerical changes of the forms of life. The time required to produce VOL. I.—NO. IV. N 178 Phillips— Geological Address. these effects can be calculated if we know at what rate in time, whether uniform or not, they were produced: if we know, not the true rate, but the “mits within which it must have operated, the result of the calculation will have a corresponding uncertainty; if we have no knowledge of the rate, calculations are out of the question. In applying this general view to the history of the earth, philoso- phers of eminence in physical science have employed different con- siderations and obtained a variety of results. The conclusions of two eminent mathematicians which have lately appeared may be cited with advantage. A. careful computation by Professor W. Thomson, on selected data, which determine the rate of cooling of earthy masses, assigns 98,000,000 years for the whole period of the cooling of the earth’s crust from a state of fusion to its present condition; so that, in his judgment, within one hundred millions of years all our speculations regarding the solid earth must be limited.* On the other hand, Professor Haughton finds, from the data which he adopts, 1018 millions of years to have elapsed while the earth was cooled from 212° F. to 122° F., at which temperature we may suppose the waters to have become habitable; and 1280 millions of years more, in cooling from 122° to 77°, which is assumed to repre- sent the climate of the later Eocene period in Britain. Computations of this kind cannot be applied except on the large scale here exem- plified; and they lose all their value in the eyes of those who deny the general doctrine of a cooling globe.t Much as these periods exceed our conception, they appear to be in harmony with the results of astronomical research, which contemplates spaces, motions, and cycles of periods too vast for words to express, or numerals to count, or symbols to represent. i The greatest difficulty in obtaining trustworthy results as to elapsed time is found where it was least expected—among the later Cenozoic deposits from rivers and lakes, and on the variable shores of the sea. This is the more disappointing because within this period falls the history of the human race. ‘Taking as its earlier limit the latest wide prevalence of glaciers in Europe, attempts have been made to measure its duration by several processes. Quite recently Mr. Croll} recalls attention to an astronomical cause of change of temperature— the varying excentricity of the earth’s orbit—by which in a small degree the total guwantity of heat received in the earth in a year, and in a much greater degree the distribution of this heat on the opposite circumpolar spaces, are altered.§ The effect of this at particular epochs would be, on one hemisphere an approximate equality of sum- mer and winter heat, on the other an augmented difference between them. If at the epoch of maximum excentricity the earth was in * Phil. Mag., Jan. 1863. + Appendix to a Lecture on Geology, in the ‘ Reader,’ Feb. 1864. t Phil. Mag., Aug. 1864. § Consult on this subject generally the valuable communication of Sir J, Her- schel to the Geological Society, Proc. vol, i. p. 244, for Dec. 1830. Phillips— Geological Address. 179 aphelion during our winter, a great accession of snow might arise and be continued for ages, and glaciers have a large augmentation ; under the contrary circumstances, less snow and shortened glaciers. To this latter condition the present state of the north corresponds; and by consulting the astronomical tables, it appears that a condition of extreme glaciation, dependent on the maximum excentricity of the earth’s orbit, cannot have happened within the last 100,000 years. This, it will be remembered, corresponds with the conjecture of our President regarding the possible antiquity of the fluviatile gravel- beds with flint implements at St. Acheul; and with the computation of M. Morlot, of the age of the oldest gravel-cone of La Tiniére on the Lake of Geneva, which he supposes to have followed the latest extreme extension of glaciation in the Alps. Quite a different conclusion, however, was presented a few years since by a German mathematician, Herr Adhemar,* who, reflecting on the difference of mean annual temperature of the two hemispheres of the earth—dependent on the inequality of the half-yearly periods, our hemisphere having now the advantage of position—finds that within each half ‘ tropical’ period (about 10,500 years) snows would gather and glaciers thicken round one pole, to be afterwards melted while glaciation was spreading round the other. Thus, periodical deluges, at intervals of 10,500 years, are found by this inquirer to be part of the system of nature. The opinion, however, has long been growing amoug geologists, that it is rather by rising and falling of the land and displacement of the sea, that the alternations of snows and floods must be ex- plained, which are admitted to have visited the mountain regions of the north. In Switzerland two great extensions of ice in former times have been traced by Escher and the eminent geologists of that country,—the latter one corresponding perhaps to the age of our Glacial Drift. The melting of snow and ice in the valleys of the Alps is far more rapid under the influence of certain winds than by the direct effect of sunshine. Withdraw the hot Fohn for a season, the glaciers would renew their advance ; let it cease, or lose its specific action for a century, the progress of the ice would be considerable. In many centuries the Rhone glacier might reach again to Sion, Villeneuve, and Lausanne ; in many thousands of years, all the valleys, and lakes, and borders of the Alps might be reoccupied by ice. Now the southerly wind, which so rapidly strips the alpine peaks of their snows, draws its melting power from the hot northern tracts of Africa. Were these tracts again covered, as once they were, with an expansion of the Mediterranean, the wind would lose its excessive dissolving power,—snows would gather above, and glaciers extend below to levels and distances now quite unattainable without some great physical change. Great physical change, then, is the inevitable antecedent to ex- tensive glaciation and abundant dissolution of ice round the moun- * Revolution des Meeres, Leipzig, 1843. N 2 180 Phillips — Geological Address. tains of the north. Astronomical vicissitudes returning in cycles of long duration, changes of level of the land, expansions and contrac- tions of the sea, deviations of the currents of the ocean, alterations in the prevalent direction and quality of the winds—whichever of these causes we assume, and however we combine them, it is evident that we are appealing from the existing order of nature and the present measures of effect in time, to some other combination of natural agencies, some other standard of physical energy. The con- clusion is obvious. Inductive geology refuses to accept definite periods for phenomena produced under conditions not yet really determined. I will not, by any further observations, discourage you from ex- ploring this attractive field of research, or restrain the freedom with which you will desire to discuss it. Only let me add, that to one fresh from the Alps,—from the old Pfahlbauten of the lakes, and much older monuments of overspreading snow and gliding ice, the later ages of geology and the earlier ages of mankind seem to be fairly united in one large field of inquiry. That it must be trodden with heedful steps, and demands all possible care in the scrutiny of facts, in the estimation of natural agencies, and in the choice of right measures of time, before the Pleistocene, Quaternary, or Human period can be said to be accurately known by natural phenomena, even in this the best-examined part of the world, is obvious. But the same remark applies to every one of the many perplexing questions which have been considered by geologists. By following the same good processes of strict inquiry and cautious interpretation which have settled those difficulties, we may hope to settle this. Let every one join in the effort, and bring selected materials to the crowing fabric; so that we may not erect a rude and barbarous cairn, the memorial of dead opinions, but construct a temple of well fitted stones, in which we may worship with delight the God of Truth, and be followed in the same pleasing duty by many SUCCESSOFS. The following Papers were read before the GroLogicaL SECTION of the British AssocIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, at Bath, Sept. 15—21, 1864 :— The President’s (Prof. Phillips) Opening Address. See above, p. 175, &e. W. Sanders.—A brief Explanation of a Geological Map of the neighbourhood of Bristol and Bath. Professor Phillips. —Measures of Geological Time by Natural Chro- nometers, with a communication from M. Morlot. Hf, C. Sorby.—On the conclusion to be deduced from the Physical Structure of some Meteorites. HI. Woodward.—On the family Eurypteride, with descriptions of some new genera and species. HI, C. Salmon.—On the Geognostic relations of the auriferous quartz of Nova Scotia. Reports and Proceedings. 181 F. Von Hauer.—A notice of the latest labours of the Imperial Geo- logical Institute of Austria. Sir R. I. Murchison.—Note on the occurrence of the same fossil plants in the Permian rocks of Westmoreland and Durham. W. Pengelly.—On Changes of Relative Level of Land and Sea in south-western Devonshire, in connection with the Antiquity of Mankind. C. Moore.—Remarks on the Geology of the south-west of England. H B. Brady.—On the Foraminifera of the Middle and Upper Lias of Somersetshire. Professor Harkness.—On the Lower Silurian rocks of the south-east of Cumberland and the north-east of Westmoreland. Rev. G. F. Browne.—On the formation and condition of the Ice in certain Ice-caves of the Jura, Vosgian Jura, Dauphiné, and Savoy. W. W. Sedat On the Lowest Beds of the Clifton Carboniferous series. Handel Cossham —On the geological formation of the district around Kingswood Hill, with especial reference to supposed development of Millstone-Grit in that neighbourhood. W. H. Baily.—On the occurrence of Fish-remains in the Old Red Sandstone of Portishead, near Bristol. Rev. P. B. Brodie-——Remarks on two outliers of Lias in South Warwickshire, and on the presence of the Lias or Rhetic Bone- bed at Knowle, its furthest northern extension hitherto recog- nized. C. W. Peach.—On Traces of Glacial Drifts in the Shetland Islands. C. W. Peach.—On Boulder-clay Fossils. J. Leckenby.—On the Boulder-clay and Drifts of Scarborough and East Yorkshire. Dr. Daubeny.—On the cause of the extrication of Carbonic Acid from the interior of the earth, and on its chemical action upon the constituents of Felspathic Rocks. Commander B. Pim, R.N.—Notes on the Voleanic Phenomena and Mineral and Thermal Waters of Nicaragua. J. W. Salter—On the old Pre-Cambrian (Laurentian) Island of St. David’s, Pembrokeshire. J. W. Salter.—-On some new forms of Olenoid Trilobites from the lowest fossiliferous rocks of Wales. W. H. Baily —On some new points in the structure of Palechinus. Rev. H. B. Tristram.—On a Bone-breccia with Flints found in the Lebanon. Rev. H. B. Tristram.—On the Formation of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. Rev. H. B. Tristram.—Notice of a Bitumen and Sulphur Deposit at the south-west corner of the Dead Sea. Rev. H. B. Tristram.—On the Geology of Palestine. Dr. Hector.—On the Geology of Otago, New Zealand. W. Keene.—On the Coal-measures of New South Wales, with Spiri- fers, Glossopteris, and Lepidodendron. 182 Reports and Proceedings. J. Mackenzie.—On the New South Wales Coal-field. J. Randell.—On the Position in the Great Oolite, and Mode of Working, of the Bath Freestone. HI, Seeley.—On the Significance of the Sequence of Rocks and Fossils. E. R. Lankester.—On the Species of the genus Pteraspis. Dr. T. Wright.—On the White Lias of Dorsetshire. Preliminary Report of the Committee.—On the Distribution of the Organic Remains of the North Staffordshire Coalfield. Sir W. Logan, Dr. Dawson, and Dr. Sterry Hunt.—On Organic Remains in the Laurentian Rocks of Canada. W. A. Sanford.—Notice of Carnassial and Canine teeth from the Mendip Caves, which probably belong to Felis antiqua. W. Boyd Dawkins.—On the newer Pliocene Fauna of the Caverns and River-deposits of Somersetshire. Dr. Falconer.—On Fossil and Human Remains of the Gibraltar Cave. Professor Phillips.—On distribution of Granite blocks from Wasdale Crag. Professor Phillips.—On excavation of Valleys near Kirby Lonsdale. Professor W. B. Rogers.—On a cast of a peculiar fossil found in the Mesozoic Sandstone of the Connecticut Valley. W. Bristow.—On the Rhetice (or Penarth) beds of the neighbour- hood of Bristol and the south-west of England. Professor Hennessey —On Geological Climate. Dr. T. Hodgkin.—Notice of some Geological Appearances in the north-west of Morocco. Dr. R. N. Rubidge—On the Relations of the Silurian Schist with the Quartzose rocks of South Africa. Dr. T. Wright.—On the Development of Ammonites. H, Seeley.—On the Pterodactyle as evidence of a new sub-class of Vertebrata. M. Hébert.—Note on some of the Oolitic strata seen at Dundry. W. W. Smyth.—On the Thermal Water of the Clifford Amalga- mated Mines of Cornwall. A. Bassett.—On the South Wales Mineral Basin. ES. Higgins.—On Otolites. H. C. Hodge.—On the origin of certain Rocks, and on the Ossiferous Caverns of the South of Devonshire. Dr. P. Carpenter.—On the connection between the Crag formations and the recent North Pacific Faunas. THe SEvERN-VALLEY Narvurauists’ Firip-cLtus.—The second Field-meeting this season was held in the Forest of Wyre on the 30th June last. The place was chosen chiefly for the benefit of Botanical and Entomological members, being the habitat of many rare plauts and insects; but it is not without interest to the Geologist. The Forest was formerly much more extensive than it is at present, and nearly entirely stands on Carboniferous strata. These are almost horizontal ; but in the cuttings of the newly made Reports and Proceedings. 183 railway from Bewdley to Tenbury, and in the gorges of streams which traverse the Forest, good sections are to be seen ; and from “them it appears that the beds are those of the Upper Coal-measures, very rich in Plant-remains, and much fractured; and the coal-seams are very thin and of poor quality. Few (if any) sinkings have been made in the present Forest; but, from pits and trial-shafts in neigh- bouring parts of the same field, it would appear that the lower and more productive coals are wanting, and that the measures rest on the Old Red Sandstone; the Carboniferous Limestone and Millstone- grit being absent, though well represented in the Oreton beds of the Titterstone Clee Hill Coal-field not seven miles distant. A sinking at a place called Shatterford on the north-west margin of the Wyre Forest Ceal-field, made some few years ago, may perhaps afford a type of the whole field ; the undertaking was a most enterprizing one, but resulted in sad disappointment and loss to all concerned ; the depth actually attained was upwards of 450 yards, in the course of which eight seams of coal were met with, the aggregate thickness of which amounted to only about seven feet; one thin nodular bed of limestone was met with in the upper part of the sinking, and no ironstone worth mentioning. The shaft finally terminated in a mass of basaltic greenstone, said to be very similar to that of Kinlet Hill, another outlying spot in the same Field. The day’s proceedings consisted of an examination of the sections in the railway-cuttings, and concluded with dinner at Bewdley, after which an address was given on the passage-beds and overlying Carboniferous Limestone of Farlow and Oreton, and in illustration of the fine collection of Mr. Weaver Jones, of Cleobury Mortimer, from those beds adverted to in the GrotogicaL Macazine for August. Subsequently, Mr. Busk, F.R.S., handed round for the inspection of the company a variety of flint and other implements from Denmark, the Somme Valley, and elsewhere, and gave a very clear and able address on the subject of the evidences of the ‘ Anti- quity of Man.’ On August 4th the third meeting of the Club was held at the Stiper Stones. ‘The day’s proceedings commenced with an examina- tion of the Snailbeach Lead-mine, worked in the Llandeilo beds on the western slopes of the hill. In this mine the lead-ore is found in great purity and abundance; and associated with it occur sul- phide of zine, sulphate and carbonate of baryta, and, though rare, bisulphide of iron, and other minerals. On the summit of the hill an address was given by the Rev. J. D. La Touche, M.A., on the ceological features of the district, in the course of which he adverted to the remarkable difference and want of conformity between the Lingula-flags, which crop out on the eastern side of the hill, and of the Llandeilo beds, which formed its western slopes, and argued that, in accordance with Professor Ramsay’s views on ‘ Breaks,’ which he freely endorsed, there must be a considerable break in time between the two formations. ‘The singular quartzose rocks which form the summit of the hill, so well described by Murchison, and which constitute the dividing line between the Lingula and Llandeilo beds, he was inclined to refer to the Lingula-flags, although 184 Reports and Proceedings. some considered them a lowermost band belonging to the Llandeilo series. Descending by one of the pretty dingles on the western side of the hill, the party returned to Minsterley, where, after tea, an interesting paper was read by the Rev. Fred. Smithe, M.A., F.G.S., on ‘ The’ Trilobite and its affinities :’ it was illustrated by a variety of specimens, foreign and native, chiefly from Lower Silurian rocks and their equivalents, including several from the very Llandeilo beds that day visited.—C. J. C. A field-meeting of the DupLry anp MipLanp GroLoeicat So- ciety was held on the 3rd August at Dudley and the neighbour- hood, in connection with the WaRwickKsHIRE NATURALISTS’ CLuB. The party assembled at the Dudley Geological Society’s Museum, and spent some time in examining the Silurian and other fossils con- tained in that collection. ‘They proceeded thence to Windmill Hill, near Shaver’s End, where some interesting examples of artificial metamorphism were noticed, caused by the combustion of the coal- measures many years ago. From this point the geological features of the western portion of the Dudley coal-field are well displayed, particularly several knolls of greenstone, of which the most impor- tant is Barrow Hill. The next point of interest was the Lower Ludlow measures of Parkes’s Hall, where a considerable number of organic remains. chiefly shells, were obtained. The peculiar fossils found showed clearly that these beds have been correctly laid down as the equivalent of the Ludlow rocks. ‘The reservoir of the Old Dudley Waterworks Company is situated in the same measures, and has yielded valuable specimens of the Upper Silurian fossils. The Wren’s Nest Hill was gained at the northern extremity, and some time was spent in examining the contorted measures now being worked. Several faults here intersect each other, and one in parti- cular appears tocut off the limestone to the north-west of the hill. The party descended into the lower workings, which Mr. Hollier lighted up with coloured fires, and by this means the vast proportions of the excavations were well displayed. After this the upper line of caverns was examined; and, though but few fossils were here obtained, the remarkable inclination of the beds and the facilities afforded for studying the physical geology of this dome of Silurian upheaval, made the walk extremely interesting, to the visitors especially. Near the southern end of the hill many characteristic Dudley fossils were found, and a few valuable specimens, chiefly Corals. After exa- mining the southern extremity of the hill, a careful search was made along the deep ravine on the eastern side, and here numerous Corals (some very large and perfect), Shells, and fragments of rarer remains were obtained. Several fine specimens of Heliolites, Favosites, Cheetetes, Thecia, and Acervularia were found; but the majority were too massive to be easily bagged, though one or two enthusiastic geologists carried away a good spoil for their day’s work. The last point visited was the new sinking at Old Park, where the Ludlow beds have again been penetrated. A long halt was made at this place, as the fossils, though not particularly numerous, are highly important and characteristic. ‘The examples procured were true Lud- Reports and Proceedings. 185 low forms, especially Serpulites longissimus, ChitonGrayii, Theca, &c. The near approach of the dinner-hour compelled the party to abandon their field-work, and a most welcome adjournment was made to the Dudley Arms Hotel. After the usual loyal toasts, the Secretary of the Warwickshire Club read an interesting account of their recent meeting at Cleobury Mortimer and the locality. The President then proposed the health of the ‘ Dudley Society,’ and in doing so invited them to hold a meeting at Warwick at an early date. Mr. Hollier expressed the pleasure the Dudley Club had felt in being favoured with a visit from the Warwickshire Society, and was glad that the visitors had been able to see the principal fossils of the Dudley rocks in the Museum, which he hoped would, ere long, become a most valuable scientific collection. He hoped that on some future occa- sion the Warwickshire gentlemen would inspect the district again, and look at the coal-measures of the locality. Mr. Jones, in pro- posing the health of the Warwickshire Club, said that he thought a field-meeting at Warwick would be most acceptable to the Dudley Club; and hoped that early next year such a gathering might be held. The meeting then broke up.—The third general field-meet- ing of the same Society for the present year was held on August 15, at Cheltenham. The party, including several ladies, proceeded by special train, which reached Cheltenham about nine o’clock. After examining the various points of particular interest in the town itself, the party took conveyances to Seven Springs, pass- ing through Charlton Kings, and over the spur of Leckhampton. At the head of the classic Isis, which commences its course in the once-sequestered dell known as the ‘Seven Springs,’ a considerable halt was made. Unfortunately the hand of a ruthless innovator has been at work here of late, and the crystal streamlet, doomed to labour so nobly before it reaches its parent ocean,—the little brook destined to bear upon its broader waters the merchandise of the world, has been turned to a utilitarian purpose ere it has well come to the light of day. The little wooded dell, where once grew the rare Llymus Europeus and Thesium linophyllum, has now given place to glaring red brick houses, potato-plots, gas-works, and a pond, apparently for machinery-purposes, while overlooking all is the mansion of a northern cotton-spinner, who has made this classic spot his home, but who has failed in a singular degree to produce anything in keep- ing with the association of the place. ‘The party next proceeded in the direction of Leckhampton, picking here and there a rare plant, though the recent hot. weather has robbed the botanist of many of his best treasures. The Ragstone quarries on the summit of the hill afforded the first work for the hammers. ‘This division is the upper layer of the Inferior Oolite, and abounds in organic remains, particularly Oysters, which crowd almost every lump of stone, T'ri- gonia, Ammonites, Belemnites, Pleurotomaria, Terebratula, Rhyn- chonella, Nucleolites, Serpula, &c. Were, among the débris from the workings, grow the Anagallis cerulea, Papaver Argemone, Galeopsis ladanum, Lycopsis arvensis, &c. A short walk from this point led to the brow of the hill overlooking the extensive plain of North 186 Reports and Proceedings. Gloucestershire, with the town of Cheltenham in the foreground, situated as it were in a sheltered bay of the Cotswold Hills. The scene was bounded on the north-west by the faint outlines of the Malvern range, which, though infinitely older in a geological point of view than the Cotswolds, is intimately associated with them as forming at no very remote period the western boundary of the sea which then rolled from what is now the British Channel to the Irish Sea. Indeed the ‘ancient Straits of Malvern’ is now an expression with which few geological readers are not familiar. Had the day been fine, the Old Red Sandstone hills of the Black Hills, and the blue outlines of many Welsh peaks, would have been discernible. The interesting geological features of the extensive scene were here laid before the party in a remarkably distinct manner. The flat, agricultural, and well-wooded district is Lower Lias Clay, which beneath Cheltenham is said to be about 600 feet in thickness. Above this, just at the fork of the hills, a gentle slope leads up to a well- defined platform. These are the two divisions of the Middle Lias, the upper or rock-bed forming the terrace above mentioned, while the sandy beds shade off gradually into the plain below. ‘The next member of the Lias is a layer of blue shale and clay, which on the other side of the hills throws out the ‘Seven Springs,’ and may be generally traced better by the water which escapes from the line of junction with the upper strata than by any evidence to be obtained from the face of the hill. ‘The overlying deposit, only a few feet in thickness, is a most remarkable bed, and one which has afforded a considerable number of organisms which do not pass upward into the Oolite rocks above. This has been termed by some the ‘Ammonite- bed,’ but it is now familiarly known to geologists as the ‘Cephalopod- bed,’ and is now taken as the upper member of Liassic formation, and as one of our best illustrations of the breaks which frequently occur in the rocks, and where a total change in the fossil remains, even within a few inches of vertical space, indicates a vast lapse of time which must have intervened between the formation of adjacent deposits. This peculiar bed has been traced from Cheltenham to the Dorsetshire coast, and also into the North of France. The Oolite series, well seen in the Leckhampton quarries, consists, in ascending order, of (1) pea-grit, so called from the large particles of carbonate of lime of which it is composed; (2) lower freestone, a considerable thickness of softish, white stone, easily worked, and showing the oolitic character very clearly; (3) a thin layer of marl; (4) the upper freestone, much similar to the lower; and (5) the ragstone, already mentioned. But not only are the above geological features presented to view from the summit of this eminence; the evidences of the nature of the changes by which the present configuration of the district was originally produced are clearly exhibited. The Lias plain is dotted here and there by rounded, isolated hills, having the same structure as the typical Leckhampton mass, and evidently due to denudation. At one time no doubt they existed as islands in the ancient sea whose eastern beach was on the flanks of what is now the Cotswold Range. But attractive as was this vantage ground Reports and Proceedings. 187 both in a scientific and merely picturesque point of view, the party had to descend as best they could the steep incline which leads to the quarries in the freestone. Here again stone-chipping became the order of the day, and some very interesting and perfect specimens were obtained, amongst which Terebratula fimbria appeared to be the most abundant. Several good plants were also procured, as Arabis hirsuta, Hypericum hirsutum, Hieracium sp. (?), Epilobium angustifolium. ‘The last point examined was the junction-beds of the Inferior Oolite and the Upper Lias, but no good exposure could be found. The Lias Clay was, however, easily found 2” sité with the brown sandstone of the ‘Cephalopod-bed’ overlying it, and several characteristic fossils were obtained. At five o’clock a cold collation was provided at the Queen’s Hotel. On the removal of the cloth, a few business-matters were discussed and arranged, after which the Rev. J. H. Thompson gave a short account of his recent visit to the Tyrol and Northern Italy. He alluded to the great facilities which will be afforded for giving ready access to this highly picturesque locality, owing to the formation of railways. He had found the dis- trict particularly rich in botanical treasures, and it was no uncommon thing to be able to collect in a single day upwards of fifty species unknown in the British flora. He noticed also the remarkable tenacity of plants to their habitats, especially with reference to alti- tude.. He had met with numerous plants at a height of 9,000 feet, just on the confines of perpetual snow, that he could not find a few feet lower down. Ranunculus glacialis indeed grows only where it can spread itself over the ice of the mountain-glacier. The geological features of many portions of the Tyrol are also exceedingly remark- able and interesting. In one district there is a wide tract of country composed for miles of columnar basalt. He trusted that members of the society would be induced to visit the Tyrol instead of ‘doing’ Switzerland several times. In conclusion, he promised that at some future time he would exhibit the flora of the Tyrol at one of the evening-meetings of the society. After a vote of thanks to the rev. gentleman for his address, the day’s proceedings were brought to a close, and the party returned shortly before eight o’clock.—J. J. Tue East Kent Naturar History Society met at Folkestone on August 30th, under the command of the president, Major Cox, to examine the well-known eliff-section. A field-lecture was given by Mr. Whitaker (of the Geological Survey of Great Britain), the sub- stance of which will be given in our next number. The members and their friends dined together at the Pavilion, after a pleasantly spent afternoon. The fourth excursion for the present session of the BrLrast FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB was made to Colin Glen on the 6th of August. In the walk up the Glen, the great development of the variegated marls of that portion of the Triassic series known as the Keuper formation was passed over. The principal point of interest was a natural section, by the stream, of the Avicula-contorta-beds, which contain a thin stratum known to geologists as the ‘Fish- 188 Reports and Proceedings. bed,’ containing abundant Fish-remains. A detailed account of these beds was read before the Society during the last session, by the late Secretary, R. Tate, Esq., F.G.S. — its fossils being named and its proper place in the geological scale assigned. Those, how- ever, who desired to see the stratum for themselves, and obtain some of its fossils 7m sité#, were disappointed, as it was covered by débris, the bank having lately fallen. A number of fossils were obtained characteristic of the Avicula-contorta-zone, as Ostrea liassica, Modiola minima, Axinus cloacinus, Pecten Valoniensis, Cardium Rheticum, and Avicula contorta. Ascending the Glen still higher, the party came upon the Upper Greensand formation, and the hammers were set to work with sue- cess ; many relics of the life of this period being exhumed. The only rare fossils found here were the limbs and claws of a new Crustacean species, probably a Karnassia (?). Good specimens were obtained of Pecten equicostatus, Ostrea semiplana, Exogyra columba, and Cucullea fibrosa. The Upper Chalk reposes here upon the Upper Greensand.—R. T. Tue Bristot Naturatists’ Society.—The third and concluding excursion for this season took place on August 15th. The locale chosen was the well-known Aust Cliff, especially interesting to geo- logists from its containing a thin bed with fossil bones, which has also been discovered cropping out at Axmouth, in Devonshire, and Westbury, places fully sixty miles distant. On this occasion the number was more limited than usual, only twenty-four members being present, and no ladies. ‘They left by the 12.30 train for the New Passage, and, after a slight lunch at the Hotel, walked along the shore in the direction of the cliff. On account of the drought scarcely any plants of interest were found, and the hardness of the ground prevented the beetles peculiar to such localities from making their way to the surface: the scientific interest of the walk therefore was solely geological. At the distance of a mile the clearness of the air enabled the various strata to be readily discerned, the cliff presenting the appearance of a coloured geological sectional map. On arriving at Aust, the President, Mr. W. Sanders, F.R.S., F.G.S., gave a description of the strata thus admirably displayed. ‘These comprise the highest beds of the New Red Sandstone, and the lowest of the Lias formation. The red marls at the base support about 10 feet of pale greenish marls, including a six-inch bed of marly sandstone. Resting on these marls the Lias commences with a thin bed containing remains of Fish. The next 12 feet consist chiefly of black laminated shales, and they include three thin beds yielding remains of Fishes, Insects, and various Bivalve Molluscs. The following 25 feet are composed of alternations of thick marly clays and thin beds of limestone—the highest of which is known as Cotham Marble. This portion of the Lias formation has received various appellations: the older geo- logists called it the Lower Lias Clays; next it was termed the Avicula-contorta-beds, that shell being limited to these strata ; sub- sequently it has received the name of Rhetic beds, on account of its Reports and Proceedings. —- Correspondence. 189 geological affinity with strata which occur in great force near the Rhetian Alps. At the distance of a half-a-mile further along the shore the red marls presented a thickness of nearly 100 feet, at about 60 feet below the upper limit of which abundance of fibrous gypsum (sulphate of lime) occurs in horizontal layers, intersected by nearly vertical veins and threads; strontian, too, occasionally occurs in this stratum. At this part of the cliff it was observed - that the fish-bed resting on pale green marls, which at the southern end of the cliff was seen to be very thin, had gradually expanded to a thickness of eight or ten inches, and consisted of a conglo- merated mass of rounded portions of the subjacent marly sandstone, coprolitic nodules, detached vertebrae and other bones of the Plesio- saurus, parts of Fishes, especially teeth, and some Shells. It is this bed which is famous in all text-books on geology under the name of the Aust Bone-bed. In the course of the walk three examples of dislocation of the strata were seen; the nature of these faults were explained, and they were shown to possess all the characteristics of normal faults as they occur in coal-mining. Many of the party worked hard with hammers and chisels, and were fortunate in obtaining good illustra- tions of the Bone-bed, and other specimens. A portion of a vertebra and other bones of a Plesiosaurus, a spine-bone of a fish, Wemacan- thus; teeth of Ceratodus, Saurichthys, and Hybodus were found, together with various fossil shells, as Pecten Valoniensis, Cardium Rheticum, Modiola minima, Anatina, Avicula longispinosa—a very rare shell in this locality, and Ostrea liassica. On the return to the New Passage, that characteristic pheno- menon of tidal rivers possessing a rapid down stream, the bore, or aeger, was well seen, like a perpendicular wall of water, about three feet high, advancing up the river. At the New Passage Hotel a most comfortable dinner awaited the party, and when they had done justice to it the members returned to Bristol by the 6.45 p.m. train. We understand that the Council of the Society are endeavouring to form Geological, Botanical, and Chemical sections, for the special advancement and study of these branches of science. ‘The first meeting of the next session will take place on the first Thursday in October.—W. W. S. CORRESPONDENCE. ——— + - ON ESKERS OR KAIMS. To the Editor of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. Tue Kaims, or Eskers, as we call them in Ireland, seem to be receiving attention, as I find them mentioned in nearly every recent geological publication ;* but the observers all seem to examine only * See GrotocicaL Macazinn, No. 1, pp. 34, 45; and No, 2, p. 89. 190 Correspondence. a part, and not the whole system of Kaims. In Ireland the Esker systems extend sometimes for over a hundred miles, but are modified by local circumstances. On low ground they are well defined ridges, which break into Shoal-eskers (consisting of irregular mounds and short ridges), crossing high ground, but again be- coming well defined when the high ground is passed. If a hill occurs, the Esker will be either deflected and form a Fringe-esker round it, or there will be a break in the Esker system, as it ends ~ on or near one side of the hill, but sets on again at the other side. The Esker-drift seems to be washed Boulder-drift, or ‘ Post-drift Gravels ;’ and in sections which expose the two kinds a well-marked line of demarcation will be observed between them, which would seem to prove that they are different kinds of Drift. Of course if the ‘ Post-drift Gravels’ were formed by the washing of the Boulder- drift, we shall not always find the latter entirely washed, as some- times the washing power would not have been strong enough ; and in these places the two kinds of Drift would seem to blend one into another. This is not the proper place to examine the ‘ Post- drift Gravels;’ but where they are well developed they always have a marked boundary. In the basal beds of an Esker, or in an Esker in which the gravel is unstratified, blocks will be found that are striated and polished ; but this does not prove that they are of the same age as the Boulder-clay; since these blocks may have been polished before they were removed from the Boulder-clay, and were not afterwards rolled enough to obliterate the old marks. That this is the case seems likely, as the marks on them are not nearly as fresh as if they were taken direct from a bank of Boulder-drift. | I would suggest to observers that they should trace Kaims or Esker Systems across a wide expanse of country, and that they should carefully note the different changes that occur ;—what effect high land has on the Esker Systems; what is the height of the Jand on which they are in well defined ridges; what the height when they break into Shoals ; when they break into shoals, is the Drift ‘ Post-drift Gravels’ or Boulder-drift, denuded into ridges and mounds, or partly one and partly the other? They should also note carefully all junctions between the two kinds of Drift. The ‘Post- drift Gravels’ sometimes form a gently undulating country, and do not break into ridges; and an observer ought to be careful not to confound it with a much older gravelly Drift which underlies the Boulder-clay (the Drift of the country before the Glacial Period), for which I would propose the name ‘ Preglacial Drift.—Y ours, &c., 3 G. H. Kinanan. EXELISSA v. KILVERTIA. To the Editors of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. Mr. Lycerr* has given to Cerzthia having an entire aperture the generic title of Kdlvertia; and has referred C. strangulatum, D’ Arch., * Supplementary Monograph, Moll. Great Oolite, p. 98. 1863. Correspondence.— Miscellaneous. 191 and three new species to that genus. C. strangulatum, D’ Arch., had been previously used as a type-species by Piette * for his new genus Exelissa.t The characteristics of the genus, as pointed out by Piette, are—Shell scalariform ; aperture orbicular, entire ; last whorl cylin- drical, contracted at the base, with a tendency to separate from the axis. Ailvertia is therefore a synonym of Ezelissa. All the shells of this genus, which is allied to Rissoa and Scalaria, are very small; they occur in the Inferior Oolite and upwards to the Great Oolite.—Yours, &c., Ratrew Tate, F.G.S. Coronet G. GREENWOOD has favoured us with a letter on the improbability of the existence of real Meteoritic stones. The study of the subject of Meteorites in a good Cyclopzedia, or in Somerville’s ‘Connexion of the Sciences,’ or, better still, if possible, in the many papers in the ‘ Philosophical Magazine,’ and an examination of the specimens themselves in the British Museum, will serve our corre- spondent far better than putting his doubts on paper. MISCELLANEOUS. ———>—_ Tur GroLtocicar Society oF FRANCE will hold its Extraordinary Meeting this year at Marseilles, commencing on the 9th of October. Excursions will be made to localities where a considerable portion of the Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary formations can be studied. It is also purposed to examine the porphyritic masses of Esterel (Toulon). The well-known geologists MM. Coquand and Matheron will act as local guides. AMONG THE PRIZE-QUESTIONS proposed by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Vienna, at the Anniversary Meeting, May 30, 1864, the following relates to Geology. The Academy requires ‘a precise mineralogical and, as far as necessary, a chemical investigation of the greatest number of Eruptive Rocks occurring in the Secondary deposits of the Austrian Empire, and a parallel of these rocks with known older and younger eruptive rocks of Austria and other coun- tries. The papers are to be transmitted to the Academy before December 81, 1866; the name of the prize-holder is to be pro- claimed at the Anniversary Meeting in May 30 of the following year. The prize is 200 Imperial ducats in gold (about £100 sterling). A BED OF COAL, said to be eight feet thick, and supposed to be of Oolitic age, has been found in the bed of a stream running into the Kawa-kawa River, in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The coal burns freely, with a bright flame, very little smoke, and scarcely any residue.— Daily Southern Cross, Auckland, N.Z., April 30, 1864. * Bull. Soe. Géol. France, 2° sér. vol. xvill. p. 14. 1861. { From ’EfeAicow, I unfold. 192 Miscellaneous. Gotp In Nova ScotiaA.—The ‘Report of the Chief Gold-com- missioner for the Province of Nova-Scotia, for the year 1863’ (Svo. Halifax, 1864), shows that the total yield of gold for the year, according to the official returns, is 14,001 oz. 14 dwt. 17 gr., equiva- lent, at §18°50 per oz., to §259,032°06; very nearly doubling the yield of 1862. ‘This is the product of 877 men, whose labour was also directed to the formation of roads and to the works preparatory or accessory to mining; and ‘the yield to each man engaged during the year (averaging $296) is very much higher than has yet been attained in quartz-mining in any other country.’ The yield per ton from crushing was nearly (average) 16 dwt. 12 gr. THE GREENSAND OF VORARLBERG, NortH-west Tyrot, is highly developed and far spread in Western and Eastern Switzerland, becomes subordinate in the Vorarlberg, until, at last, it disappears completely in its eastward range. The only known locality for Greensand fossils in the Vorarlberg is the Margarethenkopf, near Feldkirch, where Mr. T. Sholto Douglas collected some, which he presented to the Museum of the Imperial Geological Institution. . Among them are :—Ammonites Milletianus, and Discoidea Rotula (already quoted by Escher from this locality), also Belemnites semi- canaliculatus, Blainv., Ammonites Mayorianus, D’Orb., A. dispar (2), D’Orb., Terebratula Dutempleana, D’Orb., besides some others not yet determined.—Count M. Mereoric Iron From Catirornia.—Director Haidinger (Pro- ceed. Imp. Acad. Vienna, Oct. 8, 1863) states that the city of San Francisco (California) has presented to the Imperial Museum of Vienna a portion of the Tucson Meteorite, weighing 13 ounces, together with a photograph of the whole block, which was brought by General Carleton from Tucson (Avizana Territory, U.S.) to San Francisco, and presented to that city. The length of the block is 4 feet 1 inch (English); its weight 632 pounds. This meteorite, containing, like other meteoric irons, minute particles of silicates disseminated throughout its mass, is conspicuous for its peculiar texture, which gives it the aspect of a genuine granular iron-rock. Another block from the same place, weighing between 1200 and 1600 pounds, has for a long time been the property of the Ainsa family at Hermosillo (Sonora), and is to be offered to the Smith- sonian Institution at Washington.—Count M. M. Lirotp (Proceed. Imp. Geol. Instit. Vienna, Dee. 1, 1863) describes the Coal of Berzaska, Military Frontier, Austria, as having been opened eighteen years since, and having been worked to a maximum depth of 300 feet. It overlies gneiss, striking NNE. —SSW., and dipping westward. The three coal-seams hitherto penetrated can be worked in a thickness of 2—3 feet. The roof is a fossiliferous limestone, cropping out in a great number of localities, and containing Cardinia concinna, Mytilus decoratus, M. Morrisi, Pholadomya ambigua, Pecten liasinus, P. equivalvis, Terebratula Grossulus, T’. Grestensis; it may the reforebe considered as Liassic. In 1868 the quantity of coal extracted reached the amount of 22,200,000 Vienna pounds (about 9,900 tons).—Count M. THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. V.—NOVEMBER 1864. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. sens Fane J. On Ivvoxurina Lrassitca (NouMMULITEs Lrassicus, Rupert Jones). By Henry B. Brapy, F.L.S. [Plate IX.] N the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for Oc- tober, 1853 (2 ser. vol. xii. p. 272), there appeared a short memoir on the Lias at Fretherne (Gloucestershire) by the Rev. P. B. Brodie, and to it is appended a Note by Mr. T. Rupert Jones relative to certain Foraminifera which had been obtained from that formation. One of these Foraminifera, an organism of some interest and importance in a paleontological poimt of view, was partially described by Professor Jones in the Note alluded to, with the provisional name Nummulites Massicus. The general form of the shell is similar to that of the Nummu- lite, though its average size is somewhat less than even the smaller fossil varieties of that genus; and the way in which the specimens are crowded together in some portions of the strata, as though the rock was almost composed of them, may have suggested by its appearance an analogy to the Nummulites in the Nummulitic limestone. In working over the Foraminifera of the Lias formation, I have met with the same organism in various localities and under different circumstances. The specimens from Fretherne Cliff, which, through the kindness of Professor Jones, I have now before me, are too firmly embedded in the compact lime- stone to admit of their easy examination except in thin sections of the rock itself; but in the Lias Clays of Worcestershire the same species exists in considerable abundance, and the character of the matrix offers unusual facilities for procuring specimens in VOL. I.—NO. V. O 194 Brady— On Involutina Liassica. a condition suitable for study. Again, in certain shales which abound in Warwickshire, these little fossils are so loosely im- pacted that they can be easily picked out; and the largest specimens I have seen were collected in this way near Rugby by the Rev. Fred. Smithe, F.G.S., of Noake Court. The structure of the organism and its relationships are most easily recognized in the middle-sized and smaller specimens washed out of clays. It consists essentially of a tube, somewhat increasing in diameter, coiled upon itself in a horizontal plane,—or perhaps, more correctly speaking, of a tube, with a portion of its periphery cut out, coiled upon itself, as it is only a tent-like covering for the sarcode, increasing in length with the growth of the animal. The shell-wall is not double between the successive coils of the spire, as is the case in the true Rotaline. Much exogenous deposit of shell- substance takes place upon the dise thus formed, sometimes covering the entire surface, but more usually leaving the outermost circle of the tube bare. This thickening does not occur with evenness or regularity; but, in addition to its general tendency towards the centre of the disc (which gives the bi-convex contour), it takes the form of irregular tubercles, which sometimes almost cover the sides. The peculiar structure of the shell-walls may be seen in the outer- most whorl of the spire, or in any portions which remain free from external deposit. Microscopical examination shows that it is not homogenous in texture, but composed of arenaceous grains embedded in the calcareous shell-substance, indicating, together with certain other characters shortly to be mentioned, a much lower organization than that possessed by the Nummulitic group. The open end of the tube seems to act as the general aperture ; but if a horizontal section be made, by grinding away a portion of the two sides of a specimen, we have distinct traces of pseudopodial perforations on the inner surface of the walls, though these are con- cealed externally by sandy particles, more or less incorporated in the shell-substance (see Pl. IX. fig. 6). A glance at the same section also shows the very partial and irregular development of the septa; indeed many specimens appear to be almost devoid of any division into chambers. Some horizontal sections seem to indicate that the septa, or imperfect partitions, are not formed on the same plan that prevails in the higher forms of Foraminifera, but that they are essentially plaits or infoldings of the outer shell; and their irregu- larity in number, extent of development, and position, are dependent on their peculiar mode of growth. The accompanying wood-cuts explain more fully what is meant. Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic repre- sentation of one of the sections alluded to; and fig. 2 is a more highly magnified diagram of a portion of the shell-wall, showing the mode in which the infolding occurs, forming the septa. The transverse section (Pl. IX. fig. 5) gives evidence only of the course taken by a simple tube, rounded or more or less semicircular in section, as it forms the central disc of the shell, the remainder being, at any rate in the Fretherne specimens, occupied by irregularly Brady— On Involutina Liassica. 195 crystalline masses, giving no evidence of structural peculiarity. There are, however, some few transverse sections which present a series of ill-defined parallel lines running from the median line to the upper and lower surface; an appearance which has doubtless been associated with the ‘columnar’ structure of the Nummulite when the organism was supposed to belong to that group. ORC Ve Fig. 1. Diagram-outline of the horizontal section Fig. 2. Diagram-outline of the shell-wall of Involutina Liassica, showing how the infold- of Tnvolutina forming the septa by in- ings of the semi-tubular shell form the im- foldings. perfect septa. One of the most important characters in the true Nummulite (Nummulina) is the mode in which the chambers are prolonged laterally into two alar processes, which completely embrace the row lying immediately within them; we also find in the various members of the group evidences of a higher type of organization in the system of canals which traverse the shell-substance. It will be seen that these peculiarities are entirely wanting in the specimens before us. There seems little difficulty in placing the Foraminifer in question in Dr. Carpenter’s family Zitwolide; and in its struc- ture and mode of growth it has obvious affinities to the genus Trochammina, P. & J., falling into its place most naturally between the lower Rotaline and the sandy free-growing Tro- chammina squamata, P. & J. We constantly notice in Forami- nifera a tendency in some of the members of a group, especially the lowermembers, to simulate in appearance those of correspond- ing development in other and distinct groups. ‘The result is that varietal forms have often a greater general resemblance to varieties of genera from which they are far removed than to their own immediate congeners. In this way Jnvolutina liassica may be regarded as an isomorph of Pulvinulina vermiculata in its exogenous deposit. This latter peculiarity, which, as far as I have been able to observe, is invariably present to a greater or less extent, is sufficiently characteristic to distinguish it from Trochammina, the genus to which I have said it has nearest affinity. I will now refer to M. Terquem’s second paper on the ‘ Fora- minifera of the Middle and Lower Lias’ (Mém. de l’Acad. Imp. de Metz, 1860-1861), in which two species of Foraminifera are 0 2 196 Brady— On Involutina Liassica. described and figured under the names respectively of Involutina silicea, Terq., and Involutina Jonest, Terq. & Piet. The first of these seems to be Trochammina incerta, d’Orb. sp., a very variable species, not uncommon in the Lower Lias, though sel- dom showing the septa so regularly or so completely developed as they are given in the figure. To the character indicated by the specific name ‘stlicea, appended to the description, but little importance need be attached; for, though the original shell-substance is calcareous, the amount of siliceous sand em- bedded in it may easily be sufficient to preserve the form of the shell even after it has been treated with strong acid. The latter, Involutina Jonesi, is the little shell to which Professor Jones had previously given the name Nummutlites liassicus; but, as I have shown that it is not in any respect a Nummulite, it must bear the generic name assigned to it by M. Terquem. I have as yet met with the species only in the Lower Lias, The specimens vary in size from =; down to +5 of an inch in diameter. I cannot close this notice without acknowledging the kind assistance I have received from my friend Mr. W. K. Parker, F.Z.S8., whose many suggestions have been invaluable in de- termining the history of the little organism which has formed the subject of the present notice. EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX. Fig. 1. Involutina Wiassica, Rupert Jones sp. Large specimen from the Lias Shale near Rugby, Warwickshire; side-view; magnified 33 diam. 2. Similar specimen from the same locality; end-view; magnified 33 diam. . Young specimen, out of Lias Clay from Defford, Worcestershire ; magnified 53 diam. Specimen from the same locality, having the exogenous deposit covering the entire shell; magnified 33 diam. Transverse section, in a piece of the rock of Fretherne Cliff, Glou- cestershire; magnified 44 diam. 6. Horizontal section of a specimen from Worcestershire, showing irregular septation and indications of pseudopodial perforations on the inner surface of the shell-wall; magnified 44 diam. me 09 Or II. Descriptions oF some New Patmozoic CrusTacra. By Henry Woopwarp, F.G.S., F.Z.S. [Plate X.] EK are indebted to Mr. David Page for having first pointed out two very well marked genera of Paleozoic Crustacea of the family Hurypteride, namely, Slimonia and Stylonurus. I gave a description of Slimonia in the ‘ Intellectual Observer’ HB Brady del.ad nat . Hanhart imp INVOLUTINA LIASSICA (magnitted ) HH. Woodward—Descriptions of New Paleozoic Crustacea. 197 for November, 1863; and I now propose to point out the cha- racters of Stylonurus. Since Mr. Page figured Stylonurus Powriei in 1856,* then the one only species known, much better specimens have been found by Mr. James Powrie, of Reswallie, in Forfarshire, and Mr. Robert Slimon, of Lesmahagow, in Lanarkshire. A specimen of a new species of this genus, from the last-named locality, furnishes us with such interesting details that I subjoin a detailed description. 1. StyLonuRvus Loeani. Sp. nov. Pl. X. fig. 1. Only one specimen, from Lanarkshire (Logan- Water, near Lesmahagow), is known of this genus, the ¢ntaglio half of which is in the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, and the relievo half in the collection of Mr. James Powrie, of Reswallie. It is from the latter half that our figure (Plate X. fig. 1) is taken. The specimen exhibits the carapace and the body-rings, as far as the 10th segment, united, and one of the long slender eight-jointed swimming-feet in s7té on the right side; whilst on the left are seen the bases and portions of two more long appendages. Lying upon the slab, in various positions around the head, are four spiny eight-jointed palpi, or foot-jaws, one of which still retains its at- tachment tc the carapace, although twisted and bent from its natural position. Upon referring to the figure of Stylonurus Powriei in Page’s ‘ Advanced Text-book’ (8rd edit., p. 190, fig. 1), it will be seen that it has ¢wo pairs of long slender swimming-feet upon either side of the head. In the specimen here figured, from Logan-Water, there is also evidence of a second pair of long limbs, making, with the spiny palpi, four pairs of appendages ; the fifth pair (absent), being the antenne, were probably much smaller, as in Kurypterus (see GHOL. Maa., Pl. V. figs. 7-9). The form of the carapace in Stylonurus is well marked, and very different from any other genus in this sin- gular family. In the Logan-Water shales, although the finest and most delicate markings are often preserved, yet the specimens are so compressed as to give scarcely any idea of their original contour, except by comparison with those from the Old Red Sandstone of Forfarshire and elsewhere. ‘The eyes are situated upon the surface of the cara- pace, somewhat near the anterior angles. ‘They were reniform, and raised upon round prominent bosses; but these are now squeezed flat to the surface of the head. The carapace is quadrate, with the anterior angles rounded; the sides present a slightly waving outline, contracting towards the posterior angles. ‘The margin is double, having an inner ridge which circumvents the sides and front, and terminates in a rounded * See Page’s ‘ Advanced Text-book of Geology.’ 198 H. Woodward—Descriptions of New Paleozoic Crustacea elevation at the posterior angles. An inner border-line also passes up each side and around the front of each eye; reminding us of the cheek-sutures in the Trilobites. No sculpturing is noticeable upon the surface of the carapace ; but (as is the case with all the Logan-Water specimens) impres- sions of portions of organs are seen, the position of which is beneath the surface of the head. The basal joints of several of the palpi are visible; and, under- lying the Ist and 2nd thoracic segments, may be discerned the median appendage of the thoracic plate. The body is extremely slender, as compared with Péerygotus ; and the segments in this species (as in Sé. Powriet) had very small epimeral portions. The 11th and 12th segments, which are not preserved, were doubtless still narrower; and the telson was pro- bably a long styliform appendage, as in S¢. Powriet. Dimensions of Stylonurus Logani. —Swimming-foot : — Basal joint, 6 lines in length, and 5 broad ; 2nd joint, 2 lines long, 4 broad ; 3rd, 1 inch long, 2 lines broad ; 4th, 10 lines long, 2 lines broad ; 5th and 6th, each 8 lines long, 2 lines broad; 7th, 6 lines long, 1 line broad ; 8th, 5 lines long, 1 line wide, terminating in a fine point. Carapace :—Greatest anterior breadth, 1 inch 3 lines ; greatest length, 1 inch 2 lines; width between the eyes, 5 lines ; breadth of inner raised margin, 1 line. Thoracic segments :—Ist segment, 2 lines long, and 1 inch and 1 line wide; 2nd and 38rd, 3 lines long, and 1 inch wide; 4th, 4 lines long, and 1 inch 1 line wide; 5th, 3 lines long, by 1 inch wide; 6th, 2 lines long, and 11 lines wide. Abdominal segments :—7th segment, 2 lines long, by 10 lines wide ; 8th, 8 lines long, by 9 lines wide ; 9th, 3 lines long, by 8 lines wide ; 10th, 3 lines long ;—here the specimen is broken, and the 11th and 12th segments and telson are wanting. The posterior margin of each segment is ornamented by a row of minute spines along the border. The form of the carapace and the position of the eyes are two very well marked features in this genus: these, and the two pairs of long slender oav-like feet, sufficiently separate them from the rest of the family; but even the long tail-spine is peculiar. From the extreme rarity of its occurrence in a formation where other genera are so numerously represented, I am strongly inclined to believe this form to have been a larval condition of some other genus of the same group. I have named it Logani after my friend Sir William Logan, the Director of the Geological Survey of Canada. 2. STYLONURUS ENSIFORMIS. Sp. nov. Woodcut (nat, size). A. tail-spine of Stylonurus, 32 inches in length (probably longer when perfect), 2 of an inch in width, and deeply chan- nelled through its entire length, from 2 at its widest part to 4 of an inch at its extremity, was found in the Old Red Sand- stone, at one of the Turin Hill Quarries in Forfarshire. H, Woodward—Descriptions of New Paleozoic Crustacea. 199 This spine is so peculiar in its form, and so distinct from any other specimen as yet met with, that I have ventured to name it Stylonurus ensiformis. ‘The specimen is in the collection of Mr. James Powrie, F.G.S., of Res- wallie. 3. PTERYGOTUS MINOR. Sp. nov. Pl. X. fig. 2. Associated with the great Pterygotus anglicus, |||| in the Old Red Sandstone of Farnell in Forfar- || # shire, Mr. Powrie has discovered the smallest Pteryg otus known. The specimen is only 2} inches in length, by 2 of an inch in breadth. It is evidently a new species, as it presents a re- markable difference from all other forms of this genus. The eyes are within the margin; whilst in other species they are placed upon the latero-anterior angles. The position of the eyes has been considered by some palzontologists to be of generic importance; but I am inclined to believe it only of specific value; for in the larval stages the eyes do not occupy the same position as in the adult animal. The specimen is entire, and exhibits the relative proportions of the head, thorax, and abdomen, as well as the telson or tail-joint, with its strong median ridge flattened down upon the surface of the shale. The swimming-feet can also be seen in site. Dimensions of Pterygotus minor.—Greatest length of carapace, 4 lines, width 6 lines; space between the eyes 2 lines. lst segment (thoracic=I1st to 6th), 1 line long, 6 lines mide: 2nd, 2 lines long, and 7 wide; 3rd, 4th , Syfonmusensiformis, and Sth, 13 ines long, and 8 dines wide ; 6th, 12 lines are Gla eae long, and 7 lines wide; Bae seement (abdominal Sandstone foray, =7th to 12th), 1? lines long, and 6 lines wide; 8th, 13 lines long, and "5 lines wide; 9th, 1? lines long, and 4i wide; 10th, 2 ‘lines long, by 4 lines wide; 11th, 2 ‘lines long, and 8b wide; 12th, 3 lines long, and 3 wide; telson, or tail-plate, 7 lines long, and 2 lines wide. Total length of swimming-foot, 6 lines. The impress of the specimen is so exceedingly delicate, that it pre- sents rather the appearance of a ‘ghost’ than of an actual reality, and requires to be held obliquely in a good light in order to make out even these details clearly. The eyes are the only parts slightly elevated above the surface of the shale. The specimen which is here described is unique, and was obtained from the indurated shale overlying the ‘Arbroath Paving-stone,’ and from which Mr. Powrie has obtained so many new and interesting species of Fishes. ‘The shale is very finely laminated, and breaks up throughout into cuboidal fragments. 200 H. Woodward—Descriptions of New Paleozoic Crustacea. 4, EKuryprerus Brewstert. (Powrie MS.) Sp. nov. Jee Dy ites, oe This new species of Hurypterus was obtained by the Rev. Henry Brewster, of Farnell, near Brechin, from the Old Red Sandstone of Kelly Den, near Arbroath, and it has been named after its discoverer by Mr. Powrie. Tt consists of a carapace and a portion of the Ist thoracic segment, slightly displaced; close to which is seen an ovisac, in which are more than 20 ova, more or less compressed (fig. 3, @). The carapace measures 2 inches 2 lines in breadth at its posterior border, and 2 of an inch in length. The sides curve rapidly inwards, leaving the front border only 8 lines broad. The eyes, which are 1 line in length, are reniform, and within the anterior half of the cara- pace; they are 4 lines apart, and have their convex surfaces directed outwards. The margin of the carapace is slightly striated; and there is an inner elevated border in front, 1 line in breadth, which thins out and disappears on the lateral border. The surface of the carapace is slightly wrinkled, but not ornamented in any way. This species agrees most nearly in general form with Eury- pterus lacustris of Harlan,* from the Upper Silurian of New York; but the relative proportions differ considerably. Interesting as this carapace is, it is rendered still more so by the ovisac associated with it. The so-called Parka decipiens may include many widely-different organisms; but I fully be- lieve that the oviform bodies from the Old Red Sandstone are chiefly the eggs of Crustacea. EXPLANATION OF PLATE X. Fig. 1. Stylonurus Logant, sp. nov. From Logan-Water, Lanarkshire.. Fig. 2. Pterygotus minor, sp.nov. From Farnell, Forfarshire. Fig. 3. Eurypterus Brewsteri, Powrie MS. sp. nov.; a, Egg-bag. From Kelly Den, near Arbroath, Forfarshire. All three specimens are in the collection of Mr. James Powrie, F.G.S8., and are figured of the natural size. : IlJ. On ter Laurentian Formation.| By J. J. Biassy, M.D., ¥F.G.S.—Parr II. Tue Restpuary ELEMENTS oF LIFE IN THE LAURENTIAN GROUP. HE Laurentian Group is as complex in its composition as the younger fossiliferous metamorphic rocks ; silica, alumina, lime, and carbon compose its beds, together with phosphorus, fluor, barytes, &c.; and it develops the same accidental minerals—staurotide, gar- net, pyroxene, metallic compounds, &c. Why then should there not be in it the buried forms of life? It is found that, as we descend in the great sedimentary column, the organic remains gradually lose * See Hall’s ‘ Paleeontology of New York,’ p. 407, pl. 81, fig. 3. + Continued from p. 158. (af1s gou) VAIVLSOUD DIOZOW'Vd. dur qaryuey NeW yeu pe UpyT 462 M~4) ah Raper ke eVGCas TLOOT AD UTANAA J : : ae ee i he} ; uu uy Bigsby— On the Laurentian Formation. 201 substance and form, until they wholly disappear, so that in the group with which we are now concerned (the very earliest we know of ) not only has the original substance of the animal and its habitation vanished, but, for the most part, the very form also: and we have the residuary elements of the organisms—lime, phosphorus, &c., in masses sometimes extraordinarily large, corresponding with the ex- tent and thickness of this great group, at least 30,000 feet in Canada (Logan), and 30,000 feet in Norway (Durocher). The principal of these residuary elements, such as lime, silica, alumina, carbon, phosphorus, sulphur, fluor, iron, azote, exist in many forms and combinations in these rocks—as beds, seams, and veins, or minutely diffused in streaks, bars, or clouds, or altogether invisible, throughout certain mineral masses. According to Delesse,* a chief authority on this subject, all these elements are essentially original; although sometimes they may be contemporaneous with, or posterior to, the rocks containing them. Lime.—The aggregate thickness of the great limestones of the Laurentian series of Canada and the northern parts of the adjacent State of New York is about 5000 feet, in bands of from 400 to 2500 feet, coarsely crystalline, rarely saccharoid, and slightly mag- ~nesian. In Scotland it is in considerable quantities; and in Norway and Finland Durochert found it in beds and lenticular masses 1000 feet thick (often more), and traceable along the strike for many miles. This rock occasionally can only be distinguished from the newer fossiliferous marble (Silurian or Devonian) by its being more largely crystallized. On the north side of the Lower Ottawa Valley Sir W. E. Logan finds the marble to emit, on being struck, an overpowering smell of carburetted hydrogen;—a fact taken to prove the presence of life at the time of deposit. { Almost all, if not all, the Laurentian beds, granite, gneiss, horn- blende, anorthosite, &c., have lime in their composition. Bischoff § and Hunt|| agree with Delesse that lime had taken its place in the crust of the earth before the creation of animals and vegetables; and we infer the same from the observations of Sir C. Lyell (Princip. p- 797). So there always has been a rich provision of this element for organic purposes. Silica and alumina are most abundant in the rocks of all ages. The important chemical services which these substances are now known to perform in some geological operations are clearly laid down by Dr. Percy in the Lectures already referred to. The subject is too manifold for present discussion. * Annales des Mines, 6 ser. vol. xxi. p. 165. f+ Mém. Soe. Géol. France, 2™¢ sér. vol. vi. p. 34-88; and Bullet. Soc. Géol. Fr., n.s. vol. ii. p. 619, &e + Dr. Perey, in his ‘Swinian Lectures’ of 1863 (Dec. 19), mentions a similar occurrence in the manufacture, by the humid way, of carbonate of magnesia from pure dolomite (so determined by chemical analysis)—so strong and unpleasant an odour arose in the process that it had to be abandoned, as a commercial failure. § Geological Chemistry, Engl. edit. vol. ii. p. 183. || Observations on some points in American Geology. 1861. 202 Bigshy— On the Laurentian Formation. Carbon.—This substance is indispensable to organic structure, and is in very great quantity in the Canadas, almost always near to, or imbedded in, marble, which is often at the same time rich in phos- phate of lime, and contiguous to deposits of magnetic oxide of iron (forming small hills). Four of the principal constituents of animals and plants are thus brought together in the Laurentian group; and with every probability that they have been employed as such. The presence of carbon in the state of graphite, wnoxidized, in meta- morphic rocks, was first urged by Sterry Hunt on the attention of geologists as showing that a temperature of ignition was not required for metamorphism. Sir W. Logan* found carbon so largely dis- seminated in the marbles of the Lower Ottawa (Grenville, Chatham, and Gore Counties) that he proposes to call them ‘plumbaginous marbles.’ Durocher mentions four places in Sweden and Norway in which graphite is collected for economical purposes.f Carbon in all its forms is derived from vegetables, and usually by aqueous means. Therefore there must have been vegetation before the Laurentian rocks assumed their present condition. Phosphorus is found in many shapes, and in great quantities in the Laurentian rocks, in union with lime, alumina, silica, fluor, lithia, soda, iron, copper, and zinc. This element presents an aggregate of combinations which must have taken much time to produce, if we are to apply to mineral processes the same reasoning that we do to the vital, inferring from the number and variety of organic remains in any given bed that it had endured long as a stage. Phosphorus is plentiful in almost every geological formation, excepting, perhaps, the Mid-silurian, the so-called Cambrian, and the Huronian. It seems to be a ubiquitous element, being found in iron, coal, granite, lava, most sedimentary rocks, soils, and all waters. (In the Appendix is given a list of its principal formations and locali- ties.) Phosphorus generally occurs as a phosphate of lime, mi- nutely disseminated through nearly all rocks, and in a vast quantity, viewed in the large. ‘Chemical tests may be required for its detection; but sometimes the rock-surfaces are roughened with crystals of apatite. It is in the marbles of Canadat{ that this phos- phate particularly abounds. In the coarse red marble of Burgess Township (River Ottawa) it forms (diffused as apatite) one third of the whole deposit, being intermixed with other common minerals. Beds similarly charged with phosphates are in the vicinity. The low country about the River St. Lawrence, south of these Laurentian deposits, as well as that between the Ottawa and Lake Erie, is strewn with blocks of phosphatic marbles. Near Prescott, I broke up one, weighing a ton, full of beautiful druses of apatite. Phosphate of lime occurs in the white marble of St. Paul’s Bay and Malbay in Lower Canada, This mineral§ is found in the marbles of Norway; ae Geol. Survey, 1853-56, p. 641. Loe. cit. p. 39. t Report, 1863, p. 26. I allude to the two following deposits of this phosphate only with the view of showing the great quantities in which it occurs almost pure. At Logrosan, near Costanoza, in Spain, phosphorite (so called) occurs in vertical layers, 2-22 feet mn Bigsby —On the Laurentian Formation. 203 but not in the same profusion as in Canada. In the Isle of Pargas, near Abo, Gulf of Bothnia, it is sky-blue and green, disseminated in whitish marble.* Sulphur.—tits existence prior to animal life is doubtful. It appears to be derived in a free state from the animal kingdom.f It is an after-formation, says Coquand.{ We have it in the Laurentian rocks of Canada§ and Scandinavia in the sulphurets of copper, lead, and iron; while the Norwegian beds contain also the sulphuret of zinc, with the sulpharseniurets of iron and cobalt. || In Canada both marble and gneiss are largely charged with iron- pyrites, the presence of which in metamorphic rocks is inimical to their having been altered by great heat, unless we suppose it to have been brought in by subsequent infiltration. Iron.—According to Sterry Hunt,{ one of the most successful labourers in chemical geology, and as confirmed by Bischoff, Ebel- men, and others, the presence of iron indicates the existence of organic substances when the oldest metamorphic rocks were being deposited ; and in them the quantity in Canada, the United States, Norway, &c., is known to be immense. Azote.—The remarkable investigations of Delesse on the relations of azote, or nitrogen, to rock-formations and their contents have led to important results. It is shown by him that the proportions of this gas in any mineral substance indicate, within certain limits, the age of any fossil it contains, animal or vegetable. Delesse says that, all things being equal, rocks and minerals have so much less of azote and of organic matters according as they belong to a more and more ancient period. He proves that azote is nearly universal through- out nature, and highly influential, especially as affecting the stability of organic substances.** All rocks contain more or less,—among others, tf granite, gneiss, marble, basalt, obsidian (voleanic rocks usually having the least). In soils it is very plentiful. In two specimens of Laurentian rock,{{ one of mica, the other of black porphyry with crystals of labradorite, the proportion of azote was found to be low—0:07 and 0°10 in 1000; and a granite from the Vosges (probably Laurentian) gave 0°15 in 1000. This ratio is, as Delesse expected, from the antiquity of the rocks examined. A Triassic dolomite gave 0°26, and bitumen from the lake in Trinidad thick, alternating with clay-slate (Silurian ?) and a coarse quartz-rock. When pure it contains 81 per cent. of basic phosphate of lime. It is not worked. By far the most widely spread and continuous bed of this phosphate is that seen by Count Keyserling at the base of the White Chalk in Russia (Bull. Soe. Géol. Fr., n. s. vol. iv. p- 11); although only a few inches thick, it extends, with a varying breadth, to the distance of 550 miles. * Durocher, (oc. cit. p. 37. f Bischoff, Chemical Geology, vol. ii. p. 344. { Traité des Roches, p. 182. § Logan, Geol. of Canada, 1862, pp. 26, 37. || Durocher, oc. cit. p. 41. { Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xv. p. 498; Bischoff, Chem. Geol., vol. i. p. 42; Ebelmen, Bull. Soc. Géol. Fr., n.s. vol. ix. p. 223. ** Delesse, Mémoire de l’ Azote, p. 17. yt Annales des Mines, 5° sér. vol. xviii. pp. 196, 808, 309, 3165. tt Mémoire, pp. 170, 171. 204 Bigsby— On the Laurentian Formation. 0:26 of azote. Delesse states, moreover, that this azote, generally speaking, is not the product of infiltration, but existed in the rocks’ at the time of their being laid down.* Conclusion.—It appears, then, from the foregoing statements that there is in Laurentian rocks an abundance, both diffused and segre- gated, of the prime ingredients of organic structure,—lime, phos- phorus, azote, carbon, and the like. How is it that no life- forms, no half-consumed relics of individual existences have been met with, or very few, and those obscure, in the greatly varied strata of Laurentian age? How is it that the Lingula-flags of Wales, the ‘Primordial Zone’ of Bohemia, the lowest beds of the Silurian of North America, are often full of remains of highly organized beings, while, if we descend the vertical scale only a few feet, there is little or no evidence of life? A little above us numerous groups, societies, and dynasties of living beings are represented, flesh-eaters and plant- eaters, that exercised the very functions of the present day ; here, however, we meet a blank, sudden and almost perfect. It is difficult to account for this: mere metamorphic action does not explain it ; for abundance of instances are known where strong indications of past life are seen in the midst of intense meta- morphism ;f and although in general the Laurentian metamorphism is powerful, in parts it is weaker, necessarily so in a process dependent for its effects on the composition of the rock it attacks. An active search among the beds near the conglomerates may pos- sibly be successful. Those who have hitherto been locking for traces of fossil life in rocks of this epoch may have been faint-hearted and unexpecting. Some have been ill-informed and unskilful ; and it is as true in field-geology as in other pursuits, that a man will bring home with him according to what he takes out. It now remains to add that in the Laurentians of Canada marks of life are supposed to have been met with in three separate places. The one is from a crystalline limestone of the Carrying Place of the Grand Calumet (River Ottawa), found by Mr. J. M‘Mullen (Canada Geological Commission). ‘The specimens from this place ‘ present parallel or apparently concentric layers resembling those of Stroma- topora rugosa, except that they anastomose at several points. The layers are composed of crystalline pyroxene, while the interstices are filled with crystalline carbonate of lime.’t Secondly, Dr. James Wilson, of Perth, some years ago found loose masses of limestone in the vicinity of that town (65-67 miles SSE. from the Grand Calumet), which contain similar forms to those just described. ‘They are ‘composed of dark-green con- cretionary serpentine, while the interstices are filled with crystalline dolomite.’ ‘If both are to be regarded as the results,’ says Sir W. Logan, ‘ of unaided mineral arrangement, it would seem strange that identical forms should be derived from minerals of such different * Mémoire, p. 162. + See a paper on Metamorphic yar | in the Edinb. New Phil. Journ. n.s. April, 1863." + Report Geol. Canada, 1862, p. 48. Bigshy— On the Laurentian Formation. 205 composition. If the specimens had been obtained from the altered rocks of the Lower Silurian series, there would have been little hesitation in pronouncing them to be fossils.’ The third instance I found in the course of a geological excursion on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, at the base of Cape Tour- ment, a massive headland, 2000 feet high, and 36-40 miles below Quebec. Within 200 yards of a cascade, 400 feet high or more, and the only one for many miles in any direction, is a vertical face of a close-grained quartzose gneiss, which, in the body of the rugged headland, sometimes becomes granitoid. At 3 or 4 feet above high- water-mark is a circular, cup-like, organic (?) body, two or three inches in diameter, with much of the look, as well as the size, of a Maclurea, not, however, with gyrations, but with concentric rings, one within another ; the summits are rounded and not sharp-ridged ; no radiating striz nor reticulations were observed in it, but they may exist. It might be very loosely compared to Spongarium in- terlineatum, or to a Chetetes. At first we took it for the effect of friction by pebbles ; but its position forbids the idea. It is pro- bably organic ; and Sir W. Logan intends to examine the locality carefully. Near this fossil (?), and for some hundred yards around, the gneiss contains many small wandering veins of calespar (tested); and here and there ragged scraps of dark blue limestone, of Lower Silurian age, adhere loosely to the Laurentian rock. Whatever may be the importance to which these appearances on the south base of Cape Tourment are entitled, they seem well worthy of some notice. Nore.—Since the above was written, the hope of recovering some traces of organic life has been realized in Canada, that geologically ancient and instructive land. Practised observers announce that a fossil has been detected, beyond all doubt, far down in the great Laurentian series. This is a discovery which concerns the deepest recesses of time, and points to extensive assemblages of life in primeval ages, instead of the blank desolation hitherto supposed. Principal Dawson’s determination of this newly discovered, but most ancient fossil (Hozoén Canadense) as a Foraminifer has been already alluded to in the GroLtoeicaL MaGazine, No. 1, p. 47; and I will only add the few following remarks, which are of great interest to naturalists, who know that somewhat similar changes in the structure of recent Foraminifera have been shown by Ehrenberg and Bailey to be taking place in the ocean in the present day. ‘'The calcareous septa, says Sterry Hunt, ‘which form the skeleton of this Fora- minifer are unchanged, while the sarcode has been replaced by certain silicates, which have not only filled up the chambers, cells, and septal orifices, but have been injected into the minute tubuli, which are thus perfectly preserved. The replacing silicates are a white pyroxene, serpentine, and a dark-green alumino-magnesian silicate, near chlorite and loganite.’ AppENDIx.—The presence of Phosphoric Acid and Phosphates in Rocks. Igneous Rocks.—Phosphorie acid abundant in augite-rock, porphyry, and vesicular lava (Rhine); white trachyte (Drachenfels); dark-red scoriaceous 206 Bigsby— On the Laurentian Formation. lava (abundantly) and an ancient lava (Vesuvius); nepheline rock ; toadstone (Derbyshire); Rowley-rag (Dudley): Bischoff, Geol. Chem., Kngl. edit. vol. ii. p. 25. Phosphate of lime in basalt and dolerite (Vogelsberg): M. Bromeis, Ann. Mines, 5° sér. vol. iii. Laurentian —Apatite in granite, zircon-syenite, hornblende-rock, marble, talcose, micaceous, and chloritic schists, dolerite, metalliferous veins traversing granite, in gneiss, diorite, porphyry, clay-slate, and beds of magnetic iron-ore; in various parts of Europe: Bischoff, bcd. vol. ii. p. 28. Also in marble in Westmeath and other townships on the Ottawa, Canada, and in St. Paul’s Bay and Murray Bay, NE. of Quebec, and in Laurence County, State of New York: Rep. Geol. Surv. Canada, 1848-49, 62. Stlurian: Primordial.—Phosphatic shells of Lingule; Canada, Minnesota, &e. (Logan, D.D. Owen, and J. Hall). Black phosphatic nodules at R. Onelle, Lower Canada, in a calcareous conglomerate: Can. Geol. Rep. 1851, ii. p. 106. — Calciferous Sandrock. Dark phosphatic nodules (coprolites) in a conglome- rate, resting transgressively on gneiss, Lake Allumettes: Geol. Rep. Canada, 1851, ii. p. 110.—Chazy Limestone. Black phosphatic nodules; Lochiel, Hawksbury, R. Ottawa: ib¢d.— Trenton Limestone. Phosphatic fossils in blue shell-limestone of Kentucky: D. D. Owen, Geol. Rep. Kentucky, p. 98. Lower Silurian (?).—Immense deposits of Phosphorite in Spain (Logrosan, - Estremadura): Bullet. Soc. Géol. Fr., n.s. vol. xvii. p. 15. Carboniferous—Phosphate of lime in clay-slate, Fins (Allier, France): Meugy, Ann. Mines, 5° sér. vol. xi. p. 150. In the many and large beds of iron-ores and of clay-iron-stone of Kentucky, 29°5 per cent. of phosphate in one of the latter (at Crittenden): D. D. Owen, Geol. Rep. p. 378. Mesozoic—Phosphoric acid very distinct in ten different Jurassic and Tri- assic limestones, none of it in others: Fehling, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. vii. Mise. p.90. Phosphate of lime in the marl-beds of the Lias (Calvados, &c.), in Jurassic, St. Thibault (Coté d’Or): Meugy, Ann. Mines, 5° sér. vol. xi. p- 150. Phosphate of lime, in a thin bed 550 miles long, under Chalk, Russia: Count Keyserling, Bullet. Soc. Géol. Fr., n.s. vol. iv. p. 11. In Lower Chalk, Greensand, and other rocks of nearly the same age; Wissant, Havre, Rethal near the Ardennes: Meugy, Comptes Rendus, vol. xlii. p. 755. The phosphatic beds of the Lower Greensand, Gault, and Upper Greensand of England. Tertiary.—Phosphate of lime in the Lower Tertiary beds of the Paris Basin, particularly in the Plastic Clay of Auteuil: Meugy, Ann. Mines, 5° sér. vol. xi. Recent.—Phosphate of lime exists in all waters running into the sea. The springs of Carlsbad, Bohemia, would, if it were collected, yield 55:6 pounds a year. Phosphoric acid in the sea-water of Copenhagen (Forchhammer). In the incrustations from steamboat-boilers (Volcher), Bischoff, vol. i. p. 109; ii. p. 27, Common in the soils of Kentucky (D. D. Owen). ABSTRACTS OF FOREIGN MEMOIRS. = On THE BacurirE-BEDs oF Boumiscu-Kamnitz, Nortu-Wrstrrn Bonemia, By Dr. Laur. (Proceed. Imp. Geol. Instit. Vienna, Feb. 16, 1864.) HESE strata, the youngest of the Cretaceous Period, are rather extensively spread East of the Elbe, until above Bohmisch- Leipa and Reichenberg, overlying the Quader-Sandstone, without the interposition of the Planer beds except at three localities, where Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. 207 they are but very imperfectly developed; so that local disturbances in the level of the Cretaceous sea must be supposed to have taken place even before the deposition of the Baculite-beds. The thick- ness of these strata, generally clays and argillaceous marls, very poor in organic remains, varies from a few to sixty feet. Nucula striata, Roem. (NV. pectinata, Sow.), Leda semilunaris, and Ostrea Proteus, Reuss (O. minuta, Roem. ?), have been found in them. They are best developed and richest in fossils near Boéh- misch-Kamnitz, a locality already mentioned by Geinitz and Reuss. They are partly genuine clays, of yellowish-grey tints, laminated and soft, not plastic, nor adhering to the tongue, and partly argil- laceous marls, greyish-blue, soft, and slightly adhering to the tongue. In their chemical constitution, the clays differ from the marls by being destitute of carbonate of lime, poorer in alumina and water, and richer in silica. These Baculite-strata, strikingly recalling to the mind the Gault of Folkestone (from which, however, they totally differ as to their paleontological character), rest immediately on Quader-Sandstone, without any intercalation of the Pliner. Their fossils, especially the Gasteropods, are generally in avery bad state of preservation. Sixty species (2 Fishes, 2 Annelids, 5 Cephalo- pods, 13 Gasteropods, 39 Bivalves, 2 Brachiopods, and one Coral), have been determined among the fossils from Bohmisch-Kamnitz. Of these 60 species, the number of those occurring in other Creta- ceous localities is in the following proportions :— Germany: Priesen, 36 ; Luschiitz, 33; Postelberg, 21; Strehlen, 19; Aix-la-Chapelle, 12; Kieslingswalda, 9; Quedlinburg and Coesfeld, 7 each; Hal- dem, 5; Koschiitz, Goslar, and Isle of Rtigen, 4 each; Gosau, 2. Galicia: Nagorzany, 15; Lemberg, 13. Switzerland: Perte du Rhone and Ste. Croix, 4 each; Geneva, 1. Sweden: Képpinga, 9; Inegnaberg, 5. Netherlands: Limbourg, 8 ; Maestricht,4. France: Rouen and Uchaux, 5 each; Tournay and Ervy, 2each. England: Lewes, 8; Sussex, 7; Folkestone and Isle of Wight, 2 each. Counr M. Une Reconnatssancr Ghorociaun av Nepraska, par M. Jures Marcov. 8yo. pp. 15. 1864. (From the Bullet. Soc. Géol. France, 2° sér. vol. xxi. p. 132, &e.) EBRASKA is a new Territory of the American States, lying towards the Rocky Mountains, west of Iowa and Missouri, and occupying about the central part of North America. M. Marcou, who had visited Wisconsin to the north and New Mexico to the south, desired to examine the intervening country, and, in spite of trouble from civil war and Indians, he and his friend M. Capellini crossed the country in two directions in 1863, and gives the result of his traverse to the French Geological Society. As in 1862 Dr. Hayden, the State-Geologist, published the result of a great amount of detailed work in the same district, M. Marcou’s observa- tions are chiefly interesting in so far as they suggest modifications of Dr. Hayden’s results. The Dyas (Permian) and the existence of what M. Marcou describes as islands in the Dyassic sea, are believed by him to be present in a highly characteristic form in Nebraska, 208 Abstracts of Foreign Memoirs. with two members corresponding to the Rotheliegende and Zechstein respectively, and in true contact with the American Trias. Instances, he thinks, will be found in Kansas and also near Beavertown on the Canadian River. M. Marcou also asserts his discovery of a true Miocene flora at the bottom of the Cretaceous series in Nebraska. The fossils occur in a freshwater formation, in which is a Cyrena, formerly found by the author in New Mexico; and he especially identifies Laurus primi- genia, Unger, and a Fern, ‘near the Lycopods,’ among the fossils. This deposit is ‘No. 1’ of the Cretaceous series of Hayden, con- taining lignite, fossil wood, impressions of dicotyledonous leaves, Equisetum (?), Pectunculus Siouxensis, &c. Lastly, M. Marcou objects to the use of Brachiopoda as character- istic fossils, and believes that their place in the animal series in this respect is even lower than that of Corals !—D. T. A. REVIEWS. —+—— Man anp NATURE; oR, PHystcAL GEOGRAPHY, AS MODIFIED BY Human Action. By Georce P. Marsu. 8vo. pp. 560. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston. HIS volume is one of considerable interest to the geologist, al- though it does not profess to communicate original matter or new views. It is a somewhat expanded account by an exceedingly in- telligent American writer, well acquainted with Europe and Euro- pean literature, of various operations in nature, chiefly connected with human influence, by means of which the surface of the earth is now undergoing such changes as would be recognized hereafter among geological phenomena. Something of this has already been done by Sir Charles Lyell in his great work on the Principles of Geology; but other considerations, not less important, are here introduced, and numerous facts and inferences are put forward for the first time. That climatic changes, in countries entirely or very largely occu- pied by man, have, in the course of time, been brought about by the various changes in the face of nature, induced by human wants and tastes, there can be no doubt; and it is certain that, of all these, the removal of forests has been the most important, both directly and indirectly. No one can travel in Greece or Asia-Minor, none can visit the North African shores, no one can even run through Italy, without being aware of modifications of the surface and of climate in places once very thickly peopled, but now almost without inhabit- ants. ‘There is equally little difficulty in proving, that not only there, but generally throughout Central and Southern Europe, the climate on the whole, and within the historic period, has become more extreme; and the rivers have assumed more and more the character of torrents. ‘This is well exemplified in the case of the Seine, a river which, owing to its great distance from any mountain~ Reviews— Marsh's Man and Nature. 209 chain, can only be subject to the influences acting widely over France. In the fourth century, the Seine was a regular and gentle stream; it now varies its level to the extent of thirty feet. Yet more striking examples may be found in reference to the Var, and other rivers coming down from the Alps to the Mediterranean. The denudation of the mountains has in all cases been followed immediately by the destruction of the plains; and this to avery serious extent, and permanently. Much useful and detailed information on this head will be found in Mr. Marsh’s book, and references are given to the authorities. More than half the volume before us is devoted to the subject of forests, their influence on climate, and the inevitable result when they are destroyed. The author then proceeds to the consideration of changes produced by operations having for their object the re- claiming of marsh and other useless lands, whether from salt or fresh water. Great results of this kind have been produced in England, and much greater in Holland, by systems of dikes, whose total length is many hundred miles. By these means vast tracts of land have been retained or reclaimed. ‘The recent case of the Lake of Haar- lem is described. That body of water, about fifteen miles long by seven wide, was constantly encroaching, reaching even to Amster- dam and Leyden, and threatening to destroy much of Holland. In 1840, the first steps were taken for draining it. A ring of canal and dike was formed round it by 1848 ; and by 1853 the waters were pumped out by steam. The total cost exceeded £750,000. The changes thus effected, and generally the changes that have taken place since Holland began to be cultivated, have unquestionably been accompanied by great and increasing alterations of climate. These must in some measure tend to bring back the former climate, when the forests of Germany had not been removed. In Italy, the lowering of lakes, and the alteration made in some swampy districts by draining off the waters of upland valleys, has rendered the climate much less unhealthy than it previously was. So aqueducts, reservoirs, and canals may all be traced to have had climatal effects on the surrounding country. Draining and irriga- tion are both important agents; and in Mr. Marsh’s volume several remarkable and authenticated instances are quoted. Lastly, our author treats of dunes and sand-plains,—of the mischief effected by them when shifting,—of the means of forming and pro- tecting them artificially,—of their uses and general results. He concludes with a speculative chapter on the probable result of great engineering works, such as cutting through isthmuses, con- necting lakes, and diverting rivers, very few of which have yet been really completed. On the whole, we may safely refer to this book the physical geographer and geologist in search of trustworthy information as to the actual measured quantity of results obtained in the prosecution of some of the most important alterations of the physical features of the earth, that have been brought about by the agency of man, whether directly or indirectly. VOL, I.— NO. V. P 210 Reviews --Hunt’s Coal-Produce Statistics. Tit YIELD OF THE TEN-YARD-COAL, AND THE BEST MODE OF INCREASING IT, HAVING REGARD TO THE SAFETY AND Economy or THE WorkinGc. By Rupert Kettiz, Esq. 8vo. pp. 23. Dud- ley, Mitzs, 1864. (From Proceed. Dudley and Midland Geol. and Scient. Soe. and Field-club.) HIS is a paper read, April 13, by the Vice-President of the Dudley and Midland Geological Society, at a Conference of Mill-owners, Colliery-proprietors, Mine-agents, and Members of the Society. Assuming from the ordinary data that there are 48,400 tons of the Ten-yard-coal per acre in the earth, Mr. Kettle estimates that 24,498 tons only, or little more than half the quantity, is got by the present method of ‘square -work;’ and he complains that the working is carried on with extreme want of system and great irregu- larity. He urges that the adoption of the ‘long-wall’ system would give a much larger proportion, with better ventilation, and greater safety both against accident from fire and falling of roof. Few who are familiar with coal-mining in different districts will doubt that South Staffordshire has long been behind the rest, and that the neglect of intelligent and systematic mining leads to mischief of every kind. CoaL-PrRopuck oF THE UNITED Kinepom For 1863.* E turn with interest to the yearly statements collected and arranged by Mr. Hunt, of the Mining Record Office, regarding the Mineral Produce of our country, in order to see whether we are still advancing in mining industry, or have at length reached that state of equilibrium between the powers of production and extent of demand which will certainly arrive sooner or later. Though we confine our observations here to the section of Coal-produce, Mr. Hunt’s labours only stop short with the number of different minerals raised in these countries, from gold down to clay, comprising tin, copper, lead, silver, zinc, pyrites, wolfram, uranium, gossans, arsenic, iron, and coal ; and the enormous mass of statistical information under these heads is truly amazing, and of great value to the country at large. The quantity of coal raised in the United Kingdom in the year 1863 amounted to 86,292,215 tons; an increase of 4,653,877 tons as compared with 1862, but a decrease of 125,726 tons as compared with 1861, the year in which the production reached the highest point yet attained. ‘This was the year preceding the cotton-famine; and there can be no question that this national calamity has sensibly affected the raising of coal in Lancashire, and is in part the cause of the decrease in the quantity during the two years following. Under ordinary circumstances, the quantity would have been in- creased for 1863 by one million of tons, which would have made the produce for that year greater than any preceding it, and thus have shown an advance. We are of opinion that this advance may con- * Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1863, with an Appendix. By Robert Hunt, F.R.S., &e. 8vo. London: Longman & Co. 1864. Reviews— Hunts Coal-Produce Statistics. 2h tinue, with occasional oscillations, until the amount reaches one hundred millions of tons; but at this point (or thereabout) a maxi- mum caused by the capabilities of the coal-fields for producing will in all probability have been attained. ‘The following are the results for the last three years :— Coal-produce for the years 1861 to 1863 inclusive. 1861. 1862. 1863. England and Wales . . 72,809,871 70,434,838 75,064,665 Scotland . . . . . . 11,081,000 11,076,000 _‘11,100,500 olamdn ai ec Ge teas 123,070 127,500 127,050 Burnt or wasted* . . 2,404,000 86,417,041 81,638,388 86,292,215 The number of collieries open in 1863 amounted to 2,634 for England and Wales, 480 for Scotland, and 46 for Ireland. This gives for the first three countries an average of 27,670 tons for each colliery yearly; or, taking the number of working days at 260, a daily out-put of 107 tons; and for Ireland, of 103 tons, which is a larger average than might have been expected; but in all proba- bility the number of working days in that country approaches nearer 300 in each year. Taking the last ten years, the increase in the quantity of coal raised in the United Kingdom has been about 23 millions of tons,t being at the rate of about 2°3 millions yearly. In the same period the number of collieries has increased by 783, or at the rate of 78 yearly ; and, while (as above stated) the out-put for each colliery in 1863 was 27,670 tons, for each colliery in 1853 it was only 26,491 tons; showing that, on an average, there is a gradually increasing quantity raised by each colliery—a fact we might have inferred from the increasing depth at which the seams of coal are reached, and the consequently larger scale on which collieries are now laid out than formerly. Of the coal-producing counties, Durham and Northumberland, embracing what is called ‘The Great Northern Coal-field,’ takes the lead, 22,154,146 tons having been there raised in the past year. Since the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and up to the last quarter of a century, London has been entirely dependent on this district for fuel ; but since the opening of the railways, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lei- cestershire, Warwickshire, and South Wales have poured in of their abundance into this great market. Next in importance, in point of production, are Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Notts; then Scotland, which raised 11,100,500 tons; after this ranks South Wales and Monmouth, all one coal-field, and the others in succession, until we come down to Warwickshire, which raised only 685,500 tons. This * In the Returns for the year 1861 the estimated quantity of coal burnt or wasted is given separately ; in the following years it is included in the quantities raised. { Taking 63,500,000 tons as the produce for the year preceding the publication of the first number of the ‘Mineral Statistics.’ PQ 212 Reports and Proceedings. coal-ficld is remarkable as being the nearest to London, and being capable of enormous extension, by mining beneath the Permian Beds. There are four principal heads under which the consumption of Coal may be arranged. 1. Household, including gas ; 2. Manufac- tures; 8. Ironworks; 4. Export. During the past year, the con- sumption under the first three of these has increased, and under the last declined; so that we conclude that the enormous supply raised from our mines, which is valued by Mr. Hunt at more than £20,000,000, has been employed in warming and lighting our homes, turning our machinery, and developing our manufactures. REPORTS AND PROCEEDINGS. ——_+-—— A soInt meeting of the CorrEswoLp and MALverN Fre_p-CiLuss was held at Cheltenham on the 17th of August. The party proceeded in a ‘drag’ to the Seven Springs, where the Thames takes its rise, and thence walked to the Leckhampton section. In the absence of Dr. Wright, Mr. Etheridge, of the Royal School of Mines, very kindly explained the character of the strata, and their position in the In- ferior Oolite. After dinner at the Queen’s Hotel, Mr. Beach read an interesting paper, very well illustrated, ‘On Fungi, and on some of the esculent species found near Cheltenham.’ He made some remarks on the strong prejudice which exists against all kinds of Fungi except the Mushroom, and on the immense quantities consumed by all classes on the Continent, where they are weil understood and appreciated; and then enumerated the best kinds he had found in the district. The President of the Cotteswold Ciub, Major Guise, who has paid particular attention to Fungi, spoke in high praise of Mr. Beach’s paper. Dr. Bird read a paper on some Mam- malian remains found in the Drift-gravel at Beckford, near Eves- ham ; and, at Major Guise’s request, Mr. Etheridge gave an address on the district visited in the morning, which was rendered very inte- resting from the admirable series of seetions he exhibited, shewing the Lias and Oolite of Lyme, Yorkshire, and Gloucestershire.—W. C. L. East Kent Naturau History Socrety.—The following is the substance of a Field-lecture, On the Cliffs at Folkestone, given to this Society on August 80th, by Mr. W. Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey, and Hon. Mem. of the E. Kent Nat. Hist. Soc. :— The formations shown on the coast near Folkestone belong to the ‘Cretaceous’ Series, including (in ascending order) the Lower Green- sand, the Gault, the Upper Greensand, and the Chalk, all sea- deposits. There is a slight northerly dip, so that higher and higher beds come on in that direction. The Lower Greensand forms the cliff from Hythe to Folkestone. As a general rule, the beds of which this formation consists are not green ; but it owes its name to the fact that in some places it is deeply teports and Proceedings. oF Report. l P, d: PALS} éoloured by green sand, which, however, is present in many other formations. In this neighbourhood there are four divisions of the Lower Greensand, the lowest of which is known as the ‘Atherfield Clay,’ whilst to the others the following names have been given by the Geological Survey :—the ‘ Hythe Beds,’ the ‘ Sandgate Beds,’ and the ‘Folkestone Beds.’ Of these the Hythe Beds are the most important, as containing the layers of grey limestone known as ‘ Kentish Rag,’ and much used for building. The overlying Sandgate Beds are gene- rally of a loamy nature and formadamp soil. The highest division, the Folkestone Beds, consists of sand, sometimes containing concre- tionary limestone. The junction of this with the Gault above is well shown at the foot of the cliff at Copt Point, where there is at the very top of the Lower Greensand a hard bed, from six inches to a foot thick, of concretions of iron-pyrites. After the deposition of this formation, some change in the sea- bottom (most likely an increase of depth), and in the nature of the deposit, took place. The Gault consists for the most part of a stiff bluish-grey clay, sometimes with many and beautiful fossils, especially at this spot, which is indeed the most noted place for them. These fossils, how- ever, are somewhat hard to find; and when found they are hard to get out of the clay. Insome places the Gault contains small phos- phatic nodules, which are largely worked for the manufacture of manure. It is this formation that has given rise to the rough slopes of the cliff here, as it constantly gives way and slips down in large masses. The upper part of the Gault is rather sandy. The Upper Greensand is again a deposit of more shallow water ; indeed many geologists think it nothing more than a shore-deposit belonging to the Chalk. Here it is said to be some 25 feet thick; but it can rarely be seen in place, owing to the great falls of the over- lying Chalk. The upper part of this formation is a true green sand, whilst the rest of it is a sandy sort of chalk. The Chalk is so well known as to necd no description of its com- position. It must have been deposited in a deep sea, in like manner that a chalky mud is now being deposited in the depths of the Atlantic. The section of the Chalk from Folkestone to Walmer is one of the finest in the kingdom; and the total thickness here shown has been given as more than 1000 feet. This formation may here be divided into the ‘Grey Chalk’ or ‘Chalk-marl,’ the ‘ White Chalk without flints,’ and the ‘White Chalk with flints.’ Connection of Geology and Physical Geography.—All these for- mations occur in the same order inland, each giving rise to some distinct ‘form of the ground,’ by which it can easily be known by the practised eye. The most marked of these features is that of the Chalk ridge of the ‘North Downs,’ with its gracefully sweeping curves and bold scarp, which runs westward through Kent and Sur- rey into Hampshire, where it bends round and again runs eastward through Sussex, forming the ‘South Downs,’ to the sea. Now there can hardly be a doubt that these chalk-hills once joined together, and that those millions of millions of cubic feet of solid matter have 214 Reports and Proceedings. been removed, by some sort of denudation, from off the country that now forms the ‘ Weald’ of Kent and Sussex. How this denudation took place, and what was the agent of it, have long been debated questions in geology. ‘There is a tendency at present to think that this great work, or rather the latter part of it (which has given the present form to the country), has been done by the long steady action of the many streams which now wander through the district, and which once perhaps were larger than now. Certain it is that the streams do now, and must always, wear away the rocks, though such wearing may not be apparent to our eyes. One of the most marked features of this coast is the ‘undercliff,’ where huge masses of chalk have fallen from the top to the bottom of the lofty cliffs, forming a rough broken picturesque surface. This has been caused most likely in the following way :—The Chalk allows a passage to water through its countless small fissures, and the underlying Upper Greensand is also permeable; but the stiff Gault clay next below stops the water, which then flows out seawards. The sandy top of the Upper Greensand is of a yielding nature, and is perhaps slightly carried away by the water; the moist Gault forms a slide; and down therefore comes the massive Chalk. Newer Deposits. Besides the Cretaceous beds there are traces of much later deposits, resting unconformably on the former. The older Tertiary formations, which come on above the Chalk near Can- terbury, &c., are not now present here (their absence being caused simply by denudation); but at the higher parts of the Chalk cliffs there may be seen irregular patches of reddish sand, filling ‘ pipes’ in the Chalk, and contrasting strongly in colour with the glaring white of that rock. This sand has been thought to-belong to the ‘ Crag, a formation of late Tertiary age, which occurs in Norfolk and Suffolk. One cannot, however, yet feel sure of such being the case, as the evidence is not conclusive. ; A still newer bed has been found at Folkestone, namely, a ‘brick- earth,’ with remains of Elephant, Mastodon, Horse, Stag, and Oz, and most likely of the same age as those valley-beds in France and England which have been of late so much talked of, from their yield- ing those peculiar ‘ flint-implements,’ that were most surely made by the hand of man. Note.—A detailed account of the beds below the Chalk, by Dr. Fitton, may be seen in Trans. Geol. Soc., 2nd ser., vol. iv. p. 105, &e., and of the Chalk, by Mr. W. Phillips, in Trans. Geol. Soc., 1st ser., vol. v. p. 16 (or in Conybeare and Phillips’ ‘Geology of England and Wales,’ p. 90). The Crag (?) has been described by Mr. Prestwich in Journ. Geol. Soe., vol. xiv. p. 8322; and the Brick-earth, in vol. vii. p: 257, by Mr. Mackie, who has also published notes on the Geology of Folkestone and its vicinity in the ‘Geologist.’ A description of the Geology of Folkestone and the district to the south will be given n the ‘Geological Survey Memoir on Sheet 4,’ now nearly through the press, by my friend and former colleague Mr. Drew, who sur- veyed that neighbourhood. Remarks on the denudation of the Weald have been lately published by Professor Ramsay in the 2nd Reports and Proceedings. 215 edition of his ‘Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain;’ and the writings of Lyell, Hopkins, and Prestwich should also be consulted.—W. W. Berrast Firip-NAtTuraALists’ Crus.—The Fifth Excursion was made on the 17th September; Shane’s Castle Park, Antrim, was the lecality visited. ‘The park was traversed, and the course of the River Main followed, reaching the shore of Lough Neagh, the members occupying themselves during the ramble (which was con- tinued as far as the ruins of the old castle) by a search after the rare plants reported to grow there. At the Quarry Head, near the Castle, the highly interesting lignite-bed, so strangely interstra- tified with the basalt, was visited. It is one of those carbonaceous deposits which occur so frequently in the Co. Antrim in connection with the trap-rock. A bed of this kind, 2-6 feet thick, is regularly worked at Killymorris, Ballymena, and sold by the ton for fuel; a thicker band, but not so available, is found at the Giant’s Causeway ; and beds of less importance occur in several other localities. ‘The bed of carbonaceous matter or lignite occurring at Shane’s Castle is not very clearly marked, being mixed up with a thick bed of decom- posed trap; but the solid semi-columnar trap-rock that overlies this bed is remarkable for the quantity of small globular fragments of jet that it contains. Silicified wood, also derived from the basaltic rocks, was found upon the shores of the Lough. The Sixth and last Excursion of the season was made on the 8th of October, to the Cave Hill. Belfast is one of the finest geological centres in the British Isles, for there is presented within an area of 15 miles radius an epitome of most of the formations; only the Upper Silurian, the Oolitic, and the Eocene deposits being absent. In the short distance embraced in the walk in the line of the Cave Hill Railway, the following formations were passed over and studied :—Newer Pliocene deposits, on the shore between Belfast and Greencastle,—these constitute shell- banks uncovered at mid-tide ; Glacial drift, at the Reservoirs, at an elevation of about 40 feet,—resting on the New Red Marls, which continue up the hill to an elevation of 546 feet ; the Rhetic series, consisting of Black Shales, with Aviewla conturta and Gyrolepis, sueceeded by indurated marls, with Cardium Rheticum, Modiola minima, &c.; the Upper Greensand, the lithological divisions of which are well exposed in the quarries,—1. Glauconitic sands, in which were found, in profusion, Kxogyra conica, var. levigata, Sow., and Pecten orbicularis,—2. Grey marls, in which Ostrea carinata was almost the only fossil found,—38. Chloritic sandstone, the ‘mulatto’ of the workmen, in which was found, hitherto unknown as a British fossil, Eptaster crassissimus, Defr., together with Ostrea canaliculata, Pecten quinquecostatus, &c. Also the Upper Chalk, the common fossils of which were obtained in plenty—Ammonites Gol- levillensis, Belemnitella mucronata, Rhynchonella octoplicata, Tere- bratula carnea, Ananchytes ovatus, and Paramoudras. ‘Trap-dykes, here of unusual size, are seen intersecting the formations, giving 216 Reports and Proceedings. rise to faults, of a minor character, and alteration of the strata in immediate contact. Lastly, the basalt is seen superimposed, with the intervention of a bed of rolled flints in an ochreous paste, on the Upper Chalk. The Summer-session having now terminated, the Committee have to make arrangements for the vigorous prosecution of the work for the Winter-session, which consists of papers on scientific subjects, read fortnightly by the Members. The Council of the Natural His- tory and Philosophical Society have kindly granted to the Club the use of one of their lecture-rooms in the Museum for the evening- meetings.—R. T. GuLascow GEoLogicAL Socrety.—The Annual Meeting of this Society was held in the Andersonian University on the 6th October ; Mr. E. A. Wiinsch, vice-president, in the chair. ‘The Treasurer’s state- ment showed — Receipts, chiefly Members’ subscriptions for the year, £61 38s. 8d.; Expenditure, including cost of Books and Diagrams, &c., added to stock, £52 10s. 6d.; leaving a balance of £8 13s. 2d. in hand. The Chairman, in a short sketch of the proceedings of the past season, referred to the Introductory Lecture delivered by Mr. D. Page, the subject of which had since been expanded, and published by him, under the title of ‘The Philosophy of Geo- logy,’ a work which could not fail to familiarize students of Geology with the broad principles, and the truly philosophic basis for enquiry, laid down for their favourite science. The other lectures for the Session had been conceived with the intention of forwarding the knowledge of the Members in Geological subjects; and although cir- cumstances, over which the Council had no control, had prevented some of them being delivered, it was matter for congratulation that the ‘Elementary Class-meetings,’ instituted last winter, had proved so complete a success as to compensate in a great measure for the disappointment thus experienced at the hands of some of the lec- turers. ‘These meetings, ably conducted by Mr. John Young, had succeeded beyond expectation, had imparted a confidence never expe- rienced before as to the efficiency of the Society in conveying useful practical knowledge to the Members, and would be continued this Session with unremitting zeal. The Excursions of the Society during the summer months had not been so well attended as they might have been; and it would be for the Council to consider whether this feature in their programme could be made more attractive and successful. Various Members of the Society had, however, been zealously engaged during the year in those explorations of the Carboniferous Strata of the West of Scot- land, by which in former years they had succeeded in greatly extend: ing the lists of Seottish Carboniferous Fossils. The Monthly Meetings—a new feature in the proceedings of the Society—for the reading of short papers, illustrative of local researches and discoveries, and for the exhibition of new or rare specimens of Fossils, Minerals, &c., would doubtless prove that some progress had been made during the past season. These meetings would be specially cared for by the Rey. H. W. Crosskey; and any of the Members of Reports and Proceedings. Dileg the Society having material for them were desired to communicate with him or with Mr. Young. The Chairman stated, that the arrangements for the exhibition of the Society’s Collection of Rocks, Fossils, &c., within the Museum of the Andersonian University, the accommodation of which had recently been largely increased, were all but completed. He also referred to the approaching Introductory Lecture by Mr. Geikie, on ‘The Origin of the Present Scenery of Scotland ’—a subject which, in his hands, could not fail to interest the Members of the Society, and to prove attractive to the general public. The Meeting then proceeded to the election of office-bearers; and the following were declared duly elected :—President; James Smith, of Jordanhill, F.R.S., F.G.S. Vice-presidents; Edward Alfred , Wiinsch, Rev. Henry W. Crosskey, James Thompson. Hon. Secre- tary; James Farie. Hon. Treasurer; James Horne. Council; James Armstrong, Andrew Armour, Peter Halliday, Angus Kennedy, C.E., J. W. Young, John Young, Thomas Naismith, James Dairon, John Dougall, Joseph Kerr, John Dennison, M.E., John Sutherland. Hon. Librarian; James Armstrong. The Rey. H. W. Crosskey briefly explained the mode in which the Monthly Meetings would be concluded, and urged the Members to do their best to support them, by preparing short papers, and bringing forward specimens to illustrate subjects of local interest. On the motion of Mr. John Young, it was resolved to subscribe to the Paleontographical Society, and to complete the Society’s set of the Monographs, so far as published,—also to subscribe for the ‘Geological Magazine. Communications from Mr. Henry Wood- ward, relative to the latter publication,—from Mr. Simons, of White- inch (a member of the Society), in reference to his work on ‘Oar Stones, Metals, and Minerals,’ about to be published,—and from Mr. Croll, of the Andersonian University, with a copy of his receut paper, “On the Physical Cause of the Change of Climate during Geological Epochs,’ were then laid on the table; and, after a vote of thanks to the Office-bearers, for their services during the past year, the Meeting separated.—J. F. Liverroo, GeroLocicaL Socrety.—The members of this Society held a field-meeting at Bidstone Hill, near Liverpool, on August 27th. The chief object of interest was the base of the Keuper for- mation, which is there very weil exposed, and consists of a coarse conglomerate. Beneath itis the Bunter Sandstone; and Mr. Morton, the Honorary Secretary of the Society, pointed out the very strong appearances of unconformity between the two formations. He referred to the instance described by Mr. E. Hull as occurring near Ormskirk, in Lancashire; and, having carefully examined that section, was of opinion that the one at Flagbrick (which is close to Bidstone) is in every respect as conclusive as the other. ‘The same general descrip- tion applies to both localities; for in each section there are false- bedded yellow sandstones, without any very distinct dip, with a flat surface, covered by the conglomerates of the Keuper. The site of the glacial marks discovered at the same place was 218 fieports and Proceedings : shown; but the rock is now almost covered up: and, after some time spent in the quarries, the proceedings terminated with tea at the village inn. The first Evening-meeting of the Session was held on October 11th - last, at the Royal Institution, Colquitt Street. Mr. G. S. Worthy presided. The Honorary Secretary read the minutes of the concluding meeting of the previous session, reports of the field-meetings held during the summer months at Llangollen and Bidstone, and also a list of works presented to the Library of the Society. A letter was read from the Rev. Henry Griffiths, stating his regret at leaving Liver- pool and being obliged to withdraw from active fellowship with the Society. Several members having spoken of the loss sustained by , the President’s retirement, the ballot commenced, and the following officers were elected :—Mr. Henry Duckworth, F.G.S., F.L.S., presi- dent; Mr. R. A. Eskrigge, vice-president; Mr. 8. B. Jackson, treasurer ; Mr. G. H. Morton, F.G.S., honorary secretary ; and Messrs. Marratt, Moore, Worthy, Hall, and Dr. Ricketts, members of the council. The Treasurer read his report for the past year, from which it appeared that the Society is in a very good position; and several new members were proposed. Mr. Gregson exhibited a beautiful pair of perfect horns of Cervus elaphus that he had lately obtained from the old land-surface projecting from under the sand-hills at the mouth of the Alt, Formby. Several other members exhibited fossils of interest; a tooth of the Labyrinthodon, by Mr. Worthy, being perhaps the most important. ‘The paper of the evening was then read by Mr. G. H. Morton, F.G.S., ‘On the Records of Geological Time.’ The author reviewed some very important conclusions regarding the earth’s past history. He referred to the many instances of uncon- formity throughout the stratified series of geological formations, and considered them to prove that no country presented a perfect and continuous series of deposits ;—that in every quarter of the world there are formations representing successive, though isolated, periods of time; but they would seldom be, if ever, exactly co-ordinate; and, consequently, the strata in one country may represent the breaks in the succession of the rocks in another: so that it is only by an examination of wide regions of the earth’s surface that we can hope to obtain a tolerably correct history of geological progress. G. H. M. MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT BATH, SEPTEMBER, 1864. In his ApprEss to the Bririsn Association, Sir CHARLES LYELL, Bart., the PresIpENT, briefly referring to the neighbourhood of Bath as of high interest to the geologist, at once took up the subject of its thermal and mineral waters, ‘to the sanatory powers of which the city has owed its origin and celebrity. The great volume and high temperature of these waters,’ he said, ‘render them not only unique in our Island, but perhaps without a parallel in the rest of Europe, when we duly take into account their distance from the nearest British Association. 219 region of violent earthquakes or of active or extinct volcanos. The historical evidences of Saxon and Roman occupation were then briefly alluded to, especially the coins, pavements, monuments, and - temples of the imperial troops and rich colonists from Rome sojourn- ing at ‘Aque Solis’ for some 300 years. Then, as now, and probably long before, the hot-springs here, as at Aix-la-Chapelle, Baden- Baden, Naples, Auvergne, and the Pyrenees, had a persistent tem- perature, constant volume, and identity of mineral ingredients (as remarked by Daubeny), though exceptions have at times occurred, especially with earthquakes. ‘How long has this uniformity pre- vailed ? Are the springs really ancient in reference to the earth's history; or, like the course of the present rivers and the actual shape of our hills and valleys, are they only of high antiquity when con- trasted with the brief space of human annals? May they not be like Vesuvius and Etna, which, although they have been adding to their flanks, in the course of the last 2000 years, many a stream of lava and shower of ashes, were still mountains very much the same as they now are in height and dimensions from the earliest times to which we can trace back their existence? Yet, although their foun- dations are tens of thousands of years old, they were laid at an era when the Mediterranean was already inhabited by the same species of marine shells as those with which it is now peopled; so that those volcanos must be regarded as things of yesterday in the geological calendar !’ Thermal waters in the Pyrenees, Alps, and elsewhere spring forth along great rents in the earth’s crust; just as volcanos, active and extinct, have burst out on similar great lines of fissure; hot springs and emanations of gas and steam abound, too, ‘in regions where vol- canic eruptions still occur from time to time ;’ and where the fiery energy has ceased, as among the extinct volcanos of Eifel and Auvergne, such springs exist, and, like the rain-furrowed cones and river-worn lava-streams, ‘indicate that the internal fires have become dormant in comparatively modern times.’ Thus connected with volcanic phenomena, the issue of thermal waters is comparable with ‘the vast clouds of aqueous vapour which are copiously evolved for days, sometimes for weeks, in suc- cession, from craters during an eruption.’ Their power, too, of raising solid matter, and of transferring gases from the interior to the surface, ‘is far more considerable than is commonly imagined. .. . Professor Ramsay has calculated that if the sulphates of lime and soda, and the chlorides of sodium and magnesium, and the other mineral ingredients that the Bath Waters contain, were solidified, they would form in one year a square column nine feet in diameter, and no less than 140 feet in height.’ According to Daubeny, 250 cubic feet of nitrogen, besides carbonic-acid, is evolved daily from these waters. Both of these gases escape freely also from volcanos. The former may be derived largely from the nitrogen of atmospheric air carried down by percolating rain-water, and deoxidated at great depths, as well as to some extent from organic matter in the rocks. ‘If we adopt the theory already alluded to, that the nitrogen is 220 Reports and Proceedings : derived from the deoxidation of atmospheric air carried down by rain-water, we may imagine the supply of this water to be furnished by some mountainous region, perhaps a distant one, and that it descends through rents or porous rocks till it encounters some mass of heated matter by which it is converted into steam, and then driven upwards through a fissure. In its downward passage the water may derive its sulphate of lime, chloride of calcium, and other substances from the decomposition of the gypseous, saline, calcareous, and other constituents of the rocks which it permeates. The greater part of the ingredients are common to sea-water, and might suggest the theory of a marine origin; but the analysis of the Bath springs by Merck and Galloway shows that the relative proportion of the solid matter is far from agreeing with that of the sea, the chloride of mag- nesium being absolutely in excess, that is, 14 grains of it per gallon for 12 of common salt; whereas in sea-water there are 27 grains of salt, or chloride of sodium, to 4 of the chloride of magnesium. That some mineral springs, however, may derive an inexhaustible supply, through rents and porous rocks, from the leaky bed of the ocean, is by no means an unreasonable theory, especially if we believe that the contiguity of nearly all the active volcanos to the sea is connected with the access of salt water to the subterranean foci of volcanic heat.’ With respect to the presence of carbonic-acid at great depths, Sir Charles referred to Bischoff’s belief that its action on the deep-seated silicates, giving rise to carbonates, must tend to an increase of bulk in the altered rocks, causing local expansion and compression, with alteration and displacement of the neighbouring strata; but, accepting this agency as probable, he still looks on alternate heating and cool- ing of the rock-masses as the chief cause of oscillations and other movements in the earth’s crust. ‘The temperature of the Bath Waters varies in the different springs from 117° to 120° F. This, as before stated, is exceptionally high, when we duly allow for the great distance of Bath from the nearest region of active or recently extinct voleanos and of violent earthquakes. The hot springs of Aix-la-Chapelle have a much higher temperature, viz. 135° F., but they are situated within forty miles of those cones and lava-streams of the Eifel which, though they may have spent their force ages before the earliest records of history, belong, nevertheless, to the most modern geological period. Bath is about 400 miles distant from the same part of Germany, and 440 from Auvergne-- another volcanic region, the latest eruptions of which were geologically coéval with those of the Eifel. When these two regions in France and Germany were the theatres of frequent convulsions, we may well suppose that England was often more rudely shaken than now; and such shocks as that of October last, the sound and rocking motion of which caused so great a sensation as it traversed the southern part of the island, and seems to have been particularly violent in Herefordshire, may be only a languid reminder to us of a force of which the energy has been gradually dying out.’ British Association. 221 The President then pointed out that the known and the probable dislocations in the strata in the environs of Bath are numerous; one of them ‘has shifted the strata vertically as much as 200 feet.’ The rent through which the hot water rises traverses in its upper part, 300 feet of horizontal beds of Lias and Trias, and, lower down, inclined and broken strata of the subjacent Coal-measures; as deter- mined by William Smith in 1817. The fissure existed in the lower rocks long prior to the formation of the unconformable horizontal beds above; and these have been broken, along the old line of weak- ness, by a shock, perhaps, at a not very remote period, geologically speaking. Among the solid contents of the Bath Waters, Professor Roscoe has lately discovered, by means of spectrum-analysis, minute quan- tities of copper, strontium, and lithium; and after mentioning this interesting fact, and explaining the nature of the process in which the spectroscope is so successfully used, Sir C. Lyell described a remarkable hot spring issuing deep down in the Clifford Amalgamated Mines (formerly the United Mines), near Redruth, in Cornwall, from a metalliferous fissure known as the Wheal-Clifford Lode, which had been pierced at the depth of 1350 feet from the surface. Mr. Waring- ton W. Smyth found the temperature of the spring to be 122°-F, (possibly 124° F. a little further east), and the lode, from 6 to 12 feet wide, to have elvan on one side and killas on the other, with a vein-stuff composed chiefly of cellular pyrites of copper and iron, through which the hot water freely percolates ; whilst higher up the vein is filled with ‘quartz and other impermeable substances which obstructed the course of the hot spring, so as to prevent its flowing out on the surface of the country.’ Professor W. A. Miller finds the quantity of solid matter in this hot mineral spring to be four times as much as that in the Bath Waters. ‘Its composition is also in many respects. very different; for it contains but little sulphate of lime, and is almost free from the salts of magnesium. It is rich in the chlorides of cal- cium and sodium, and it contains one of the new metals—czsium, never before detected in any mineral spring in England; but ‘its peculiar characteristic is the extraordinary abundance of lithium,’ which constitutes ‘no less than a twenty-sixth part of the whole of the solid contents.’ ‘According to a rough estimate which has been sent to me by Mr. Horton Davey,’ observed the speaker, ‘the Wheal- Clifford Spring yields no less than 250 gallons per minute, which is almost equal to the discharge of the King’s Bath or chief spring of this city... As to the gases emitted, they are the same as those of the Bath Water—namely, carbonic-acid, oxygen, and nitrogen.’ Had the Wheal-Clifford Spring reached the surface, Sir Charles calculates that it would have issued with a temperature little inferior to that observed in the mine; and its poorness in magnesium, he regards as an objection to its being supplied by sea-water, unless the magnesium is ‘left behind in combination with some of the elements of the de- composed and altered rocks through which the thermal waters may have passed.’ Some remarks were incidentally made on the probability of the 222 Reports and Proceedings : several widely disseminated metals, the presence of which in mineral waters has only of late been discovered by the spectroscope, having real therapeutic value. The infilling of fissures with mineral matter by hot springs was next touched on; and it was suggested that metallic substances may possibly be given off by the highly heated waters at profound depths, there forming the metalliferous portions of lodes, which, in course of time, when lifted upwards with the enclosing rock-masses, and exposed by denudation, come within the miner’s reach. The metamorphism of sedimentary rocks, on which the study of thermal waters has thrown some light, was the subject which next engaged attention. Metamorphic rocks are largely composed of minerals that are now regarded as having been derived from liquid solutions of far less temperature than that of the state of igneous fusion from which they were once supposed to have crystallized. Thermal waters are known to be ‘ powerful causes of decomposition and chemical reaction in rocks through which they percolate ;’ and their partial interference with strata at different horizons (the pos- sibility of which Sir Charles illustrated by reference to the obstructed hot spring in the Wheal-Clifford lode) was alluded to as a probable cause of alternate altered and unaltered rock-masses. Sir C. Lyell mentioned Sénarmont, Daubrée, Delesse, Scheerer, Sorby, Sterry Hunt, G. Rose, and Bunsen as investigators of the effects of hydro- thermal agencies; and he warned geologists not to be too ready to impugn ‘the Huttonian doctrine as to the intensity of heat which the production of the unstratified rocks, those of the plutonic class especially, implies.’ In a few words, the shifting of volcanic areas, thought by some to be a proof of the general distribution of internal heat, was then doubtfully associated with the local chemical changes with which mineral waters are concerned. Referring to the comparatively modern date at which he had in-. timated that the Bath Waters may have sprung forth, Sir C. Lyell explained that ‘mighty changes’ had come over the western part of Britain even within the period during which the existing species of Testacea had inhabited the British seas, lakes, and rivers. Of Sir R. Murchison’s ‘ Malvern Straits,’ hypothetically spoken of by him a quarter of a century ago, actual proofs had lately been seen in marine shells of recent species found in Drift on that area, deposited when the site of Bath was water-covered at the foot of islands which are now the Cotswold Hills. The uprising of land that gave the present relation of sea and land was not so striking as that manifested, for the same period, by upraised marine shells on the top of Moel Tryfaen, on the flanks of Snowdon; where Mr. Trimmer, in 1831, found fossil Arctic shells, of existing species, at 1360 feet above the present sea-level. Lately this interesting bed has been again exposed. Sir Charles, who has seen this deposit lately, with Mr. Darbyshire and the Rey. W. Symonds, said that ‘a con- siderable portion of what is called the Glacial. Epoch had already elapsed before the shelly strata in question were deposited on Moel Tryfaen, as we may infer from the polished and striated surfaces of British Association. 223 rocks on which the Drift rests, and the occurrence of erratic blocks, smoothed and scratched, at the bottom of the same Drift.’ The great cold of this Glacial Period was next treated of; and full justice done to Escher von der Linth’s hypothesis, advanced eleven years ago, that, the region of the Sahara having but recently dried up (as Ritter had suggested), the Alpine Glaciers, and Europe in general, have felt the effects of a southern dry hot wind, the Sirocco or the Féhn, in place of the cool water-laden wind that came over that region, then a sea, within Post-tertiary times. ‘The researches and observations of Desor,* Martins, C. Laurent, Denzler, Escher, Irscher, and of Sir Charles himself, bear on this subject; and the Rev. H. B. Tristram has traced evidences of old sea-margins in Northern Africa; the ancient sea stretching from the Gulf of Cabes, in Tunis, to the north of Senegambia, with a width here and there of perhaps 800 miles; the high lands of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis, being then connected with Spain, Sicily, and South Italy, but separated from the rest of Africa by sea. So also Egypt shows a succession of river-terraces (Adams and Murie), and the Red Sea has ‘raised beaches,’ that point to alterations of level in the same Post-tertiary times. The hydrographic arrangements of North Africa will thus have tended to increase the cold of Europe; and there are reasons for supposing the Alps to have been 2000 or 8000 feet higher then than they are now—another cause for greater glaciers there; the Gulf- stream also probably had not the same course as at present: and Sir Charles reminds us further ‘that the height and quantity of land near the north pole was greater at the era in question than it is now,’ and thus ‘go far to account for the excessive cold which was de- veloped at so modern a period of the earth’s history.’ That period, though full of great changes, in a long eventful succession, was but brief, geologically speaking,—‘a mere episode in one of the great epochs of the earth’s history; for the inhabitants of the lands and seas, before and after the grand development of snow and ice, were nearly the same.’ Though it has not been proved that Man existed in the Glacial Period, yet evidences of his existence are found in early Post- glacial times, when the climate was colder than now, and when the configuration of the surface differed much from that which now pre- vails. ‘Valleys have been deepened and widened, the course of subterranean rivers, which once flowed through caverns, has been changed, and many species of wild quadrupeds have disappeared’ since the Flint-folk left their implements of stone to be mingled, in the fluviatile Drifts of the Somme and elsewhere, with the bones of the extinct Elephant, Rhinoceros, Bear, Tiger, and Hyena. Flint implements of the same old fashion have been found near Madrid, by De Verneuil and L. Lartet, with fossil teeth of the African elephant, which species lived also in Sicily, probably with Man (Baron Anca). ‘ We have now, therefore, evidence of Man having co-existed in * See Guoroaican Maaazinn, No. 1. 224 Reports and Proceedings : Europe with three species of Elephant, two of them extinct (namely, the Mammoth and the Llephas antiquus), and a third, the same as that which still survives in Africa.’ The immensity of time to be allowed for even the Post-glacial and Glacial Periods is so great that Sir Charles warned his hearers that they must not be fettered by old traditional beliefs, but be ready to make liberal grants of time to the Geologist. The President, in conclusion, alluded ‘to two points on which a gradual change of opinion has been taking place among Geologists of late years. First, as to whether there has been a continuous succession of events in the organic and inorganic worlds, uninter- rupted by violent and general catastrophes ; and secondly, whether clear evidence can be obtained of a period antecedent to the creation of organic beings on the earth. I am old enough,’ he said, ‘to re- member when geologists dogmatized on both these questions in a manner very different from that in which they would now venture to indulge. I believe that by far the greater number now incline to. opposite views from those which were once most commonly enter- tained. On the first point it is worthy of remark that although a belief in sudden and general convulsions has been losing ground, as also the doctrine of abrupt transitions from one set of species of animals and plants to another of a very different type, yet the whole series of the records which have been handed down to us are now more than ever regarded as fragmentary. They ought to be looked upon as more perfect, because numerous gaps have been filled up, and in the formations newly intercalated in the series we have found many missing links and various intermediate gradations between the — nearest allied forms previously known in the animal and vegetable worlds. Yet the whole body of monuments which we are endea- vouring to decipher appears more defective than before. For my own part, I agree with Mr. Darwin in considering them as a mere fraction of those which have once existed, while no approach to a perfect series was ever formed originally, it having never been part of the plan of Nature to leave a complete record of all her works and operations for the enlightenment of rational beings who might study them in after-ages. ‘In reference to the other great question, or the earliest date of vital phenomena on this planet, the late discoveries in Canada have at least demonstrated that certain theories founded in Europe on mere negative evidence were altogether delusive. In the course of a Geological Survey, carried on under the able direction of Sir Wil- liam E. Logan, it has been shown that northward of the River St. Lawrence there is a vast series of stratified and crystalline rocks of gneiss, mica-schist, quartzite, and limestone, about 40,000 feet in thickness, which have been called Laurentian. They are more ancient than the oldest fossiliferous strata of Europe, or those to which the term “primordial” had been rashly assigned. In the first place, the newest part of this great crystalline series is uncon- formable to the ancient fossiliferous or so-called primordial rocks which overlie it; so that it must have undergone disturbing move- British Association. 225 ments before the latter or primordial set were formed. Then again, the older half of the Laurentian series is unconformable to the newer portion of the same. It is in this lowest and most ancient system of crystalline strata that a limestone, about a thousand feet thick, has been observed, containing organic remains. These fossils have been examined by Dr. Dawson, of Montreal, and he has detected in them, by aid of the microscope, the distinct structure of alarge species of Rhizopod. Fine specimens of this fossil, called Eozoén Cana- dense, have been brought to Bath by Sir William Logan, to be ex- hibited to the Members of the Association. We have every reason to suppose that the rocks in which these animal remains are included are of as old a date as any of the formations named “azoic” in Kurope, if not older : so that they preceded in date rocks once supposed to have been formed before any organic beings had been created. ‘But I will not venture on speculations respecting “the signs of a beginning,” or “the prospects of an end,” of our terrestrial sys- tem,—that wide ocean of scientific conjecture on which so many theorists before my time have suffered shipwreck. Without tres- passing longer on your time, I will conclude by expressing to you my thanks for the honour you have done me in asking me to pre- side over this meeting. I have every reason to hope, from the many members and distinguished strangers whom I already see assembled here, that it will not be inferior in interest to any of the gatherings which have preceded it.’ Notices oF GEOLOGICAL PAPERS READ BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. On THE OccURRENCE OF ORGANIC REMAINS IN THE LAURENTIAN Rocks oF CANADA. By Sir W. E. Logan, F.R.S., F.G.S.; with communications by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., ON THE Structure, and by T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S., ON Tun MINERALOGY OF THE SAME ReMAINs. HE Laurentide Mountains in Canada, and the Adirondachs in New York State, are composed of the oldest known rocks in North America ; and these have been recognized by the Geological Survey of Canada as a great metamorphosed mass of crystalline strata, quartzose, aluminous, calcareous, and magnesian, divisible into two groups, the Lower and the Upper Laurentian rocks, probably more than 380,000 feet thick. These also, though not recognized separately, occur also in North Britain, as well as in Norway. In both the Upper and Lower Laurentian groups are limestones, of great thickness, as well as bands of graphite and iron- oxide,—all of which have been referred by the Canadian Geologists, on hypothetical grounds, to an organic origin. Something like fossil Corals had been observed years since in the Laurentian limestone of the Grand Calumet and of Burgess; but no definite organic structure was found in them. Lately, a marble from the Lower series in Canada has yielded to the microscope evidence of organic structure, which Dr. Dawson identifies as being represented among known organisms—Istly, by small, cellular, sessile shell-growth, like that of VOL. 1 —— NO Vie Q 226 Reports and Proceedings : the Foraminifera known as Polytrema and Carpenteria ; and, 2ndly, by radiating and otherwise arranged tubuli in the shell-walls, only represented in recent or fossil forms by the ‘vascular system’ of the shells of some Foraminifera. Hence, although the organism that has given mass to the limestone in question had a wide-spread growth, with layer after layer in considerable thickness, forming a reef by itself, yet Dr. Dawson finds it to be Foraminiferal in its character, and therefore refers it to the Rhizopods, with the name of Eozoén Canadense. ‘The structure of this fossil is often lost in the altered limestone, especially when dolomitic; but in some cases magnesian silicates (augite, serpentine, &c.) have replaced the sar- code or jelly-flesh of the Rhizopod, even in the tubuli or ‘ vascular system.’ Hence the order and shape of the chambers are more or less distinctly traceable, and the tubuli are replaced by threads of mineral matter, remaining after the calcite has been removed by dilute acid. Dr. Dawson, however, in transparent slices under the microscope, made out the structure of Hozodn, before specimens that could be dissected by acid had been experimented upon; and the latter confirmed the results he had arrived at. The silicates replacing the sarcode of the original animal are white pyroxene, serpentine, loganite, and pyrallolite or rensselerite. The pyroxene and serpentine are often found in contact, filling con- tiguous chambers in the fossil, and were evidently formed in con- secutive stages of a continuous process. Sometimes the shell- skeleton has been replaced by dolomite, and then the finer details of structure are lost. . The infilling of the chambers with the silicates in Kozo6n is strikingly analogous to the replacement of the sarcode of recent and fossil Foraminifera by glauconite. In one of the limestones (Grenville), the thin wavy lamine of calcite and serpentine are traceable in patches, about a square foot in extent, and 6 or 6 inches thick. Beyond these, a granular mix- ture of the two substances, sometimes with the peculiar minute structure, represents, 1t would appear, ruined masses of Eozoén, passing off into calcareous rock; whilst the whole is both based on and covered by white pyroxene in irregular masses, some of them 20 yards long by 4 or 5 yards wide, full of small patches of calcite, also showing the structure of Kozodn. The upper surface of each pyroxenic band generally bears a layer of serpentine, from 5}, inch to 6 inches thick. Sometimes other modifications of these minerals occur, together with lenticular quartzites, 1 foot thick and several yards in diameter, containing flakes of graphite. ‘The pyroxenic masses characterize a thickness of about 200 feet in the marble, which is one of the lowest bands in the Grenville zone, 1500 feet thick altogether, but subdivided by great bands of gneiss. The authors state that the structure of this serpentinous marble suggests that it has been built up as a great Foraminiferal reef; the pyroxenic masses repre- senting the older portions, successively broken up and worn down, and covered by new growths of Kozodn, represented by the calcareo- serpentinous portions. Mr. Sterry Hunt observes that this marble shows that the formation of magnesian silicates was not incompatible British Association. 227 with the existence and preservation of organic forms, and that these silicates have resulted, not from subsequent metamorphism at great depths, but from reactions going on at the earth’s surface, as he has already pointed out in published papers, with regard to the deposition of silicates from natural waters,—the Tertiary beds of sepiolite with neolite, and the formation of glauconite (hydrous silicate of protoxide of iron and potash, often with alumina), in all ages from the Silurian upwards, especially in company with organic forms (Foraminifera, &c.), as observed by Ehrenberg, Mantell, Bailey, and Pourtales. When dissolved silica comes in contact with iron-oxide rendered soluble by organic matter, the resulting silicate (glauconite) is formed in the cavities of minute sea-shells; so, probably, the magnesian sili- cates associated with the Hozoén may have been formed, Mr. Hunt suggests, by the direct action of alkaline silicates, either dissolved in surface-water or in those of submarine springs, upon the calcareous and magnesian salts of the sea-water; and he is now conducting experiments towards the elucidation of the facts. On THE MrAsurE or Groxocican Timm py Natura Curonometmrs.* By Pro- fessor Putitries, F.R.S., F.G.S. ISTINGUISHING, in the first place, between the history of operations in the sea and on the land, by which the succession of ancient phenomena is determined, from the attempts to ascertain, first the relative, and finally the absolute chronology of these events, the author noticed several orders of natural effects which, being traceable through the later geological periods, and still in progress, seemed the fittest to be employed in the measure of Cenozoic time. Examples are found in the action of streams wearing away their channels, or depositing sediment ; in the formation and growth of peat-moor ; in the filling up of lakes ; and, finally, in the accumu- lation of detritus in conical mounds at the foot of precipices by fall- ing of rocks or torrents of water. ‘The last case was illustrated by drawings, and a description of the remarkable mounds of La Tiniére on the Lake of Geneva, near Villeneuve, which have been investigated by M. Morlot. At this place one of the mounds, the least ancient, has been cut through by the railway to a depth of between 20 and 30 feet. The section exposes the materials usually found in such mounds—large and small pebbles and sand; but, in addition, three bands of loamy nature, six to eight inches thick, are seen to range parallel to the general surface, one 4 feet below the surface, another 10 feet, the third 19 feet. The bands contain charcoal, and have rather the aspect of vegetable earth, in part stained yellow. With the upper one were found Roman reliquize—fragments of tiles and a coin ; the middle one yielded no such objects, but some bronze ar- ticles ; the lower one, coarse pottery, also fragments of bones of men and animals. Professor Phillips was so fortunate as to obtain from this lowest band, by his own research, a portion of cranial bone, which, by the help of Mr. C. Robertson of the Oxford Museum, * “The Reader,’ Oct. 1, 1864. Q2 228 Fieports and Proceedings : he finds to be, as he had conjectured, part of the occipital bone of man. From these facts M. Morlot inferred that at three successive epochs the action of the torrent spread the reliquie of human oc- cupation over the growing delta of La Tiniere,—that the epochs may be approximately calculated at 1600, 8800, and 6400 years ago. And he refers these dates to particular points in the ‘Roman,’ ‘ Bronze,’ and ‘ Stone’ periods ; so that the earliest trace of man in this delta is between 6000 and 7000 years old. No stone imple- ments occurred in this mound. ‘The age of the whole mound is estimated at 10,000 years. M. Morlot also applied the same method of computation to the earlier and larger conical mound of La Tiniere, which was deposited while the Lake of Geneva was maintained at’a higher level. ‘The result gives for this cone one thousand centuries ; and M. Morlot regards it as a fair approximation to the length of ‘Post-glacial’ time—the term ‘ Post-glacial,’ as we employ it in England, being supposed to agree with the end of the last great extension of ice in the Alps. On Guactat Distribution or Granite Biocxs. By Professor Purrres, F.R.S. Bes more than thirty years the attention of the author has been earnestly fixed on the remarkable facts which have been ob- served by Professor Sedgwick and himself in regard to the dispersion of granite blocks, from Wasdale Craig, over high and low ground across Yorkshire and certain tracts of neighbouring counties. While in the drainage of the Eden and the large tracts embraced by the northern and eastern branches of the Humber, and the long depres- sion on the western side of the Carboniferous chain of Yorkshire and Lancashire, these blocks occur even plentifully, they are quite unknown in every part of the country to the westward of the parent rock. In tracing the course of the blocks from the extreme south- east of Yorkshire back to their origin, it is found that they by no means follow the valleys and avoid the heights, but that, on the contrary, with little or no difference, they occur alike on hills and dales, though not on the very highest, until on Stainmoor, at the extremity of Yorkshire, they appear on surfaces raised 1,400 feet above the sea. Through this Pass of Stainmoor, which, though so much elevated, is in fact a great transverse depression in the Car- boniferous chain, the blocks have passed on through a strait of an ancient sea. At no other point have the blocks crossed the chain. Turning now to the west, we remark that in all the intermediate country, whether elevated to about 1,000 feet above the sea, or only to about 500, blocks of the granite are frequent; and on approach- ing the site from which all have passed, they grow so numerous as even to be counted by hundreds and thousands. The blocks are often of very large size: some within two or three miles of the Craig are 12, 14, 18 feet, and even more, in the largest dimensions; and at Thirsk, 70 miles off, a block was found 13 feet in diameter. ‘They seldom appear to have been rolled, but yet, perhaps by ordinary surface-waste, they have often become blunted at the angles. On the whole, the author is convinced, by his British Association. 929 frequent examination of the phenomena, that the distribution to such great distances, in directions not conformed to natural courses of drainage, can be best explained by the agency of ice; 2. That it cannot be effected by glacier-movement on the land at its pre- sent absolute elevation; 8. That it cannot have been performed by iceberg-flotation in an ocean, if the present relative eleva- tions of the country were then the same as now; 4. That the excessive abundance of blocks near the Craig, and in the region fronting it to the east, seems to require the supposition of a con- siderable disturbing force, which greatly shattered the Craig, and provided a large quantity of removable blocks before the ice-action came on. On the whole, the author supposes that during the Gla- cial Period such a disturbance took place; that the Lake-district was depressed; that icebergs formed from shore-ice, and at moderate depths in the sea, carried away many of the loosened blocks, over the region far away to the east, while that was relatively lower than it is at present, and that afterwards the distribution of the blocks near Wasdale Craig took place while the land was rising. He com- putes roughly, that if the blocks now visible in the region round Wasdale Craig were restored to it, and placed in the granitic area now exposed, they would cover it in every part to the depth of about three feet. The blocks of stone now seen to be loosened around the Craig, and lying against its steeps, would not amount to 1000th of this quantity; from which the author draws an argument in support of his views, of the preparatory concussions necessary to provide enough masses for the ice to transport. On another point of some difficulty he offered a few remarks. Both near the Craig, and at small distances from it, the quantity of other stones distri- buted with the granite is relatively very small, and the masses are of small magnitude. At very great distances, as 60 or 80 miles away in Yorkshire, this disproportion as to quantity is less remark- able; but the granite blocks are still usually the largest. The author believes that the difference of magnitude between the granitic and the schistose blocks may be understood by the much greater pre- valence of joints in the latter, which produces now, on some slopes near Wasdale Craig, pretty extensive ‘screes,’ while the sides of the granitic cliffs are encumbered with large rock-masses. The difference of quantity he supposes to be explicable by the peculiar conditions of the formation of the ice, which he conceives to have generally picked up the blocks by adherence to the lower surface of the freez- ing mass, and not, as in glaciers, to have received them on the upper surface. On THE FoRMATION oF CERTAIN VALLEYS NEAR Krrpy Lonspatz. By Professor Puiurs, F.R.S., F.G.S., &e. HE author desired to call the attention of geologists, who were engaged in considering the theory of the origin of the valleys, to the necessity of keeping in view, not only all the real causes which have been concerned in changing the level and modifying the surface of the solid land, but also the peculiarities of the rocks themselves, in regard 230 Reports and Proceedings : to the resistance they might offer to the waste occasioned by the mechanical and chemical agencies of water. He proposed to show, in regard to certain great ridges and hollows which limit the drainage of the Lune and its branches, that these were plainly sketched out by ancient subterranean movements; that in regard to particular streams, as the Lune and the Rother, there must have been valleys on part of their course before the age of the Old Red Sandstone; and that the courses of others, as Leck Beck and Bar- bon Beck, were marked out by great faults; while others, not in directions of such faults, were yet traceable to lines of weakness in rocks, occasioned by joints, having a determinate relation to these fractures. The conclusion from the whole being, that the main features of the inequalities of the earth’s surface were always refer- able to displacements of the rocks and lines of weakness dependent on them; and that the agencies of waste along these directions were ancient operations of the sea, at the rising and filling of the level of the land, and other operations, sometimes very ancient, but often still in force, depending on atmospheric vicissitudes. In reference to the latter, the author gave proof, from the upper part of Leck Beck, that the narrow rocky limestone glen which runs up toward the ‘County-stone’ is nothing else than a line of ancient subterranean caverns, of which the roofs have fallen in; and that this process is still in progress, the water being received in ‘ swal- lows’ at higher levels on the slope of the moors, and employed in dissolving the calcareous rocks on its passage. ‘Thus the valley in question, and many others similarly situated, were not excavated from the surface, but, after long ages of underground action of water, were formed by the falling in of the unsupported roofs. After this had occurred, the usual surface-action of running water had modi- fied the sides and the slopes. On THE TurrMat Waters oF Batu.* By Dr. Davupuny, F.R.S., F.G.S., Professor of Botany, Oxford. pe uee alluding very briefly to the mineral constitution of the Bath Waters as affording no adequate explanation of the me- dicinal virtues ascribed to them, the author proceeded to one point of scientific interest connected with their appearance—namely, the large volume of gas which they have gone on constantly disengaging, apparently from time immemorial. ‘The nature and amount of this were made the subject of the author’s examination, in the year 1832, during an entire month ; and the result arrived at was that the gas consisted mainly of nitrogen, which is present, indeed, in most other thermal waters, but in none so copiously as at Bath. Judging from the circumstance that the majority of these springs are associated with volcanos, and likewise that the same gas is freely evolved from the latter both in an active and in a more dormant condition, we may fairly infer that the evolution of nitrogen at Bath is in some manner or other connected with the same widely spreading and deep- * Read before the Chemical Section. ‘The Reader,’ Oct. 1, 1864. British Association. 2am seated cause. And, if this be the case, the phenomenon in question acquires an additional interest, as affording a possible clue to the true nature of the processes which give rise to volcanos as well as to thermal springs. Now this evolution of nitrogen seems best to adm‘t of explanation by supposing a process of combustion to be going on in the interior of the globe by which oxygen may be abstracted from the common air which penetrates to these depths, whilst the residuary nitrogen is evolved. What may be the nature of the bodies by which this process of combustion is maintained must, from the depth at which the latter is carried on, be ever shrouded in mystery ; but it is at least certain that, whilst they cannot belong to the category of those which supply fuel for the ordinary processes of combustion of which we are ourselves eye- witnesses, there is nothing in the nature of the products resulting from voleanic action inconsistent with the idea that metals possess- ing a strong affinity for oxygen, but not already combined with it, might, if they existed in the interior of the earth, be instrumental in producing the supposed combustion. And, if we indulge in specu- lation, it may be maintained, with some show of probability, that the bases of the earths and alkalies which constitute the present crust of the globe would have existed originally uncombined with oxygen, and therefore must at one time have been subjected to that very process of oxidation and combustion which we imagine to be at the present time continued. The author therefore suggested that volcanic action may be owing to certain chemical reactions proceed- ing in the interior of the globe between the constituents of air and water, on the one hand, and the metallic bases of the earths and alkalies on the other. After developing this theory, the paper con- cluded with pointing out a practical use to which the waste waters of the thermal springs of Bath might be applied after they had fed the several baths; suggesting that, if, instead of being at once dis- charged into the river, they were first conveyed through under- ground pipes a few ‘eet beneath the surface within a given area, the warmth imparted to the soil would prove highly favourable to the culture of tender exotics, and that, if the ground were further protected from eold by a glass roof, a winter-garden might be obtained with scarcely any further expense beyond that of the original outlay. On tHe Cause oF THE ExtTRICATION OF CARBONIC-ACID FROM THE INTERIOR OF gun EARTH, AND ITs CHEMICAL ACTION UPON THE CONSTITUENTS OF FerL- spaATHic Rocks. By Dr. Daupeny, F.R.S., F.G.S., &e. HE author made some comments upon a theory advanced by Professor Bischoff, of Bonn, in his work entitled ‘Elements of Chemical and Physical Geology,’ in which the elevation and dislo- cation of certain rocks were attributed to the decomposition of fel- spar, through the agency of carbonic-acid, disengaged from the interior of the earth, seeing that the products of the decomposition of granite are found to possess a lower specific gravity, and there- fore occupy more space than the original materials of the rock. 232 Reports and Proceedings g Such a change would doubtless occur in granite and trap, if acted upon by carbonic-acid at temperatures below 212°; but above that point the very opposite would be obtained, inasmuch as silica would then take the place of carbonic-acid, and, consequently, if brought into contact with earthy or alkaline carbonates in the interior of the earth, would preduce silicates and expel carbonic-acid; as, indeed, was long ago pointed out by the author of this paper, in his work on voleanos, and is insisted upon by Professor Bischoff himself, in other parts of his volume. It seems difficult, therefore, to attach much importance to the cause assigned by Professor Bischoff for the elevation of strata; especially considering that the loss of substance incurred through the removal of its alkali by the agency of carbonic- acid, would go far towards counterbalancing any expansion due to the lower specific gravity of the kaolin resulting, and moreover recol- lecting that no theory which professes to account for the elevation of certain portions of the earth’s surface ought to be accepted, if it does not embrace likewise the corresponding phenomenon of the sinking or depression of others. In a note ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE SAME Fossil PLANTS IN THE PERMIAN Rocks oF WESTMORELAND AND DuRHAM, Sir R. I. Murcuison stated that certain forms of fossil plants not previously known in the Permian Rocks of the NE. of England have been found by Mr. Lyall in the Marl-slate under the Magnesian Lime- stone of Westhoe, Durham. These, one of which is a well-known species (Ullmannia selaginoides), were all identical with those found by Professor Harkness in the plant-bearing shales of the Permian rocks of Westmoreland (see Journ. Geol. Soce., vol. xx. p. 154). Sir Roderick further remarked, that, by the occurrence of these plant-beds, the sandstones and conglomerates of Westmoreland have been shown to be the true equivalents of the calcareous Permian rocks in Durham. On THE RELATIONS OF THE SILURIAN SCHISTS WITH THE QuaRTzZOSE Rocks or SouTH Arrica. By R. N. Rupes, B.M. Lond. {pee quartzose sandstones of Table Mountain rest unconformably on slates and schists, and are continuous with ranges of like lithological character in the Eastern Province, where, however, they are interstratified with schists. ‘This diversity of relation had led former geologists to separate the clay-slate of Cape Town from the schists of the East and the Interior ; but the author had conjectured some years ago that the schists and slates throughout the Colony belonged to one great formation. Evidence had been brought forward before to show that this was probably the case ; but only now was it clearly established by the production of Devonian fossils from many localities both in the Eastern and Western divisions of the Colony; and a species of Anorria from Swellendam, closely re- sembling one from the Kowie Mouth, proved the identity of the schists of those two localities. A map was exhibited, which showed British Association. 23a the changes necessitated by these discoveries in the geological map of the Colony. Yet Dr. Rubidge considered this correction of slight importance in comparison with the principle which led him to. establish it as a truth. This principle was the change of rocks of different ages into continuous quartzites. This change, he gave reasons for thinking, was due to molecular action with the aid of water, and was chiefly superficial. ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE Provincr oF Oraco, New Zuatanp. By Dr. Jamzs Hector, F.G.S. N a letter to Sir R. Murchison, with maps, sections, and photo- * graphs of fossils, Dr. Hector briefly described the geology of the Province of Otago. On the west rise mountains of metamorphic rocks, cut into by fiords at the coast, and furrowed by long, deep lakes on their eastern ranges. The base rocks are foliated and twisted gneiss, granite, syenite, and diorite (m,l,k); and are flanked by hornblendic slates, micaceous and hornblendic gneiss, clay-slate, and quartzite, with felstone-dykes, serpentine, and marble (h), which support sandstones, slate, and porphyritic conglomerates (g), possibly of Lower Mesozoic age. Further to the east, beyond a great valley, grey and blue gold-bearing schists (2) form a wide flattened boss, and are seen to throw off the hornblendic slates (4) and sandstones (g) to the west, and only g to the east. These old slaty rocks (2), often micaceous, quartzose, or chloritic, were described in some detail, as forming a triple series; they bear ancient lake- deposits (d), with brown-coal, and the great gold-drift, as shewn by special maps and sections. East of the schistose country are—l. inclined sandstones with estuarine shells and excellent brown-coal (e); 2. marine clays with septaria (¢) ; and 3. the white crag (6)— ‘ Ototara limestone’ of Mantell. Some marine beds, possibly con- temporaneous with d, also occur near the coast. The carbonaceous beds e may possibly be Upper Mesozoic, the others (d—6) are Tertiary. There are also extensive alluvial deposits. Volcanic rocks occur at Otago Harbour and elsewhere near the eastern coast, and are of late Tertiary age. The author thinks that the country was higher, and glacial action greater, in Post-tertiary times than now, but that no great or general submergence has taken place since. On tHE Coat-mHAsuRES oF New Sour Watss, with Spirirer, GLossoprenis, AND Lerrpopenbroy. By Wititam Kurenn, Esq., Examiner of Coal-fields and Keeper of Mining Records, New South Wales. A GEOLOGICAL map of the country as far as examined by the author, and a generalized section, illustrated this paper, which referred, firstly, to the existence of Belemnites (indicating Secondary rocks) near the River Belliando, in Queensland; 2nd, the sili- ceous fern-shales with dicotyledonous leaves, from the southern part of N. S. Wales, which the author thinks to be older than the Coal-measures ; 3rd, the ‘false coal-measures’ or ‘Wyanamatta Shales,’ in the upper part of the ‘Sydney sandstone ;’ 4th, the ex- istence of eleven workable seams of coal in the true Coal-measures 234 Reports and Proceedings : of N. S. Wales, and the occurrence of Vertebraria and Glossopteris throughout the entire series. Pachydomus and Bellerophon (abun- dant) and Spirifer (rare) are fouid towards the lowest seams ; and here, as well as lower down, Spirifer, enestella, and Orthoceras abound. A Heterocercal Fish has also been ‘ound in the shale above the‘ Yard Seam.’ Siliceous grits underneath the lowest seam con- tain Lepidodendron (Pachyphleus) ; 5th, the author alluded to the volcanic phenomena of the Peale Ranges, which have been upheaved since the Coal-period ; indeed, in some os the lavas Mr. Keene found a fresh-water mrssel of a probably existing species; 6th, re- ferring to the auriferous quartz-rocks, shales, and fossiliferous lime- stones, on which the Coal-measures lie unconformably, the author stated that he believed these older rocks were mutually connected, and belonged to one and the same system of strata; and that, besides gold, the quartz was rich with copper- a idiron-ores. An illustrative series of specimens accompanied the paper; and the author referred to a still finer collection deposited in the Bath Museum in 1862. In a letter addressed to Sir Roperick Murcurtson, Mr. J. Mac- KENZIE indicated that a coal-seam thirty-eight feet thick, and of good quality, had lately been discovered in New South Wales, thirty miles distant from any known coal, and that it belonged to the true Carbonifcrous age. A Brier ExpLaNaTION OF A GEOLOGICAL Map or tHe Neteu- BOURHOOD OF BristoL anp Batu, by W. Sanpers, Esq., F.R.S., ¥.G.S., was a very clear and concise description of his large map of the district, prepared by reducing 220 parish-maps to the scale of 4 inches to the mile, or 20 chains to the inch, with the colouring in accordance with that used by the Government Geological Survey. The area represented is 36 miles long from N. to S., and 80 miles wide from E. to W., including the Tortworth, Clevedon, Wraxall, Mendip, and Cotswold Hills; and presents the general features of a disturbed coal-basin, with its boundaries well defined on all sides ex- cept the eastern. Some tracts of limestone project from its western border. Nearly the whole of its interior is occupied by strata of Mesozoic age. Exterior to its northern boundary, Silurian strata appear. On the east and south the country is covered by strata of the lower and middle divisions of the Mesozoic or Secondary system. On the extreme south-eastern corner a small tract of the Greensand formation is seen, ‘Thus, the map comprises a large portion of the geological series, ranging from the Lower Silurian up to the lower division of the Cretaceous system. The author then proceeded to point out the position of each geological formation, and their relations with the hill-ranges and valley-systems. ‘The Coal-measures, opened up by the Kingswood, Nailsea, and Radstock pits, were especially men- tioned, as being 5000 feet thick, and divisible into lower and upper series, separated by the Pennant Grit, and containing about 90 feet of coal-seams, of which the half is more or less workable. Only British Association. 235 one half of the Coal-beds of the northern part of the basin, and less than a tenth of the southern portion, come to the surface. The absence of the Permian Beds, and the unconformability of the New Red Sandstone were also duly noticed; as well as the distribution of the Penarth Beds (formerly thought to be part of the Lower Lias). The superficial alluvium, with peat, was alluded to; and, lastly, a brief mention of the greenstone and vesicular trap-rock traversing the Lower Silurian strata and the Carboniferous Limestone at eight spots, concluded this geological history of the prominent features of the country. On THE GEOLOGY oF THE SoutH-Wrst or Enexanp.* By C. Moors, Esq., F.G.S. HE author pointed out certain physical features which led him to the conclusion that the Mendip Hills had performed an im- portant part in modifying the physical geology of the West of Kngland, and that it was probable that that range of hills had proved a barrier to the incursion of the Secondary seas which washed their southern slopes. He then observed that, whilst the Secondary rocks outside the coal-basin were generally deposited conformably, those on the outer edge, and within the Somersetshire coal-basin, afforded evidences of general unconformability, and were found under very abnormal conditions ; his view being, that the Mendips were at times only so far depressed as to admit of occasional irruptions of the sea within the coal-basin ; the deposits of the New Red Sandstone and the Rhetic and Liassic seas being very thinly represented therein. The Rhetic beds are a group of strata intermediate between the Trias and the Lias. Though thinly represented in this country, as compared with the Continental beds, they were shown to be of great interest in a paleontological point of view. Mr. Moore described the contents of three cartloads of deposit of this age, that he had found washed into a fissure of Carboniferous Limestone near Frome. From this he exhibited twenty-nine teeth of the oldest Mammals, three only having been previously found ; together with relics of nine genera of Reptiles, most of them new to this country, and fifteen genera of Fishes. Mr. Moore produced to the meeting 70,000 teeth of the Lophodus alone as the result of his labour, and stated that the three loads of clay had yielded him probably one million specimens. He then referred to the ironstone of the Middle Lias in the North of England, and remarked that one land-proprietor alone possessed there a quantity which, it had been calculated, when converted into iron, and sold at the present price of iron, would bring in money enough to pay off the national debt. ‘The same beds, he remarked, occurred around Bath and in the West of England ; but, from their not containing quite so much iron, and from their being thinner, the Fair City of the West would be spared the mortification of finding blast-furnaces springing up around. Passing to the Upper Lias, Mr. Moore described a very remarkable bed containing remains of Insects, * «The Reader,’ Oct. 1, 1864. 236 Reports and Proceedings : Fruits, Crustaceans, Fishes, and Reptiles. In doing this he produced a number of nodular stones, and riveted the attention of the audience by afiirming that he was enabled to say that one contained the tail of a Pachycormus, that a second contained a head of a similar Fish, a third a perfect Fish, whilst another held in its stony embrace a Cuttle-fish, which, it was prophesied, would contain the cuttle-bone and ink-bag. Hammer in hand, Mr. Moore proceeded to open them, when, to the great amusement and delight of the Section, the fish he had previously indicated was discovered; and the most interesting specimen was that which contained the Cuttle-fish, When Mr. Moore broke open the stone, not only was the Cuttle-fish visible, but the dried inky fluid—the sepia—was discovered, as in a Cuttle-fish of the same kind that might be taken out of the sea at the present day. There was as much of it as would fill an ordinary ink-bottle. He then produced some very perfect specimens of Lchthyosauri found in the neighbourhood of Bath, and a specimen of a fish, about the size of a salmon of six or seven pounds weight, and so perfect in its form and appearance and shape that, but for its colour, as Mr. Moore said, it might be handed by mistake to the cook to dress ; and yet millions and millions of years must have elapsed since this fish lived and moved about in the water. In the Mammaliferous Drift, which covers the Bath basin, and passes into the adjoining valleys, the remains of extinct Mammalia are abundant, and Mr. Moore exhibited many specimens. On THE FoRAMINIFERA OF THE Upper AND Mippie Laas. By H. B. Brapy, F.L.S. HE author stated that for some time past he had had Mr. Charles Moore’s beautiful collection of Lias Foraminifera in his hands to work out, and that he had been requested to give some account of them to the Section as supplementary to Mr. Moore’s paper on the Geology of the District, which had just been read. After enumerat- ing the few scattered memoirs which form the scanty literature of the subject, a brief outline was given of the great Nodosarian group, to which almost all the Rhizopods of the Upper and Middle Lias belong. Passing allusion was also made to the so-called ‘ Nummu- lite’ of the Lias (dnvolutina), of which a notice appears in our present Number. The author further stated that he was at present engaged upon the Liassic Foraminifera generally, and exhibited a series of drawings of the species occurring in the upper and middle portion of the series. On THE Rumtic or PenarTH BEps oF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF BRISTOL AND THE SouTH-wmst oF Eneranp. By W. H. Bristow, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., oF THE GEOLOGICAL SuRVEY OF GREAT Brirain. ie this paper Mr. Bristow stated that, the Directors of the Geo- logical Survey being desirous of learning how far the Rhetic strata were capable of being represented by means of a separate colour on the Survey-map, he visited some of the localities in the West of England where the beds in question were best displayed ; and, in company with his colleague Mr. Etheridge, he measured British Association. 237 sections of them at Saltford, Uphill, Aust, Garden-Cliff, Watchet, Penarth, and other places. The general section of these beds in the neighbourhood of Bristol was then described, and illustrated by means of diagrams. The SECTION OF THE RHZTIC (OR PENARTH) BEDS (measured at Penarth by Messrs. Bristow and Etheridge, in June, 1864). _———— a ai Tough brown clay. LOWER tw dl a a . Lis aoa op be ee Argillaceous limestones, &c., with tough brown clays. Ostrea Liassica, Lima punctata, Modiola Argillaceous limestone. [minima, &c. Ferruginous paper-shales. Grey argillo-arenaceous shale, with occasional hard bands containing fossils. ; ; Sa SS SE SSS Axinus concentricus, Anatina, Leda, &c. . Hard marly bed. Modiola minima and Axinus. Bands of limestone andindurated marl (in brown shale), equivalent to ‘ White Lias’ ? The place of the Cotham Marble (not observed here) is at the base of this group of beds. _. Brown sandy shale. Bercy ae Lal Hard grey limestones. Aviczla contorta, Pecten Va- loniensis, Cardium Rheeticum, Axinus, &c. 93 feet. -.--:.----.:-- . 2 BEDS , Highly fossiliferous dark-grey limestone. to ease a a Hard shell-limestone: Pecten Valoniensis, &c. eH ae Decomposed ferruginous layer. ere Impure dark-grey limestone. Shell-limestone, very fossiliferous. BONE-BED. Dark-grey grit and limestone. Dark-brown or black laminated paper-shales and blue-grey limestone. Avicula-contorta-series ; 25 feet. ._-—-~—-.- Grey earthy sandstone. Bis arate Grey earthy limestone ; Fish-scales, &c. Sa Concretionary sandy marl. Hard sandy limestone. ae ees Hard marls with occasional paper-shales. (OR PENARTH) SSS =e ae oe. = as ee ew FEE S) me x Rg is Fa .-- Hard pale-greenish marls. Alternations of soft green marls and harder pale- grey marls. 238 Reports and Proceedings : middle part was shown to be a mass of black paper-shales containing Avicula contorta, a shell eminently characteristic of the formation, and thin beds of a tough bluish-grey limestone, coarsely fissile, and containing great numbers of another characteristic shell, Pecten Valoniensis, as well as Cardium Rheticum, &c. These black paper- shales, with their thin included bands of even-bedded, tough, blue- erey, fossiliferous limestone, are well shown in the railway-cuttings at Patchway, opposite to and on either side of the Station. It is towards the lower part of these paper-shales that the bed so well known to collectors by the name of the ‘Aust Bone-bed’ is met with at Aust Passage, at Garden-Cliff near Westbury-on-Severn, at Penarth, and-in other localities in the West of England. In those localities, as well as at the Patchway Cutting of the South-Wales Union Railway, this curious bed contains immense numbers of the bones, teeth, and scales of Fishes and Saurians, together with their fossil excrement (coprolites)—becoming in places a true bone-breccia, and very commonly highly pyritiferous. The lower portion of the Rheetic strata consists of alternations of hard and soft marls, passing gradually into the red and green marls of the Keuper formation, upon which they are based. The junction with the overlying Lias is of a more decided nature, and is denoted by the presence of Ostrea liassica, Modiola minima, and Ammonites planorbis in the lowest Lias; the two former shells being especially abundant and well preserved at Penarth, and the last in the shales at Watchet. The upper subdivision of the Rheatic beds consists, for the most part, of alternations of limestones, marls, and clays, and includes certain beds which are commonly known as ‘ White Lias,’ from the occurrence amongst them of a smooth-grained compact limestone (resembling the lithographic limestone of Solenhofen in texture and general appearance), to which the name ‘White Lias’ is usually given by some of the quarrymen of the West of England. The well- known ‘Cotham marble,’ cr ‘Landscape-stone’ of the dealers in polished rocks at Bristol, is almost universally met with in the lower part of the White Lias series of the neighbourhood of Bristol, and in Dorsetshire; and thus affords an easily recognized horizon of great value in defining the upper boundary of the Rheetic series. In conclusion, Mr. Bristow directed attention to the circumstance, that, it being desirable that a name borrowed from a British locality should be used on the Map of the Geological Survey to denote the theetic Beds, he was induced to recommend, at the suggestion of the Director-General, that the term ‘Penarth Beds’ should be adopted for that purpose. ‘That name was selected by Sir Roderick Murchi- son, partly because none of the other places where sections of the beds under notice are displayed are of sufficient importance in them- selves, or afford names sufficiently distinctive for the purpose in view; but chiefly because the docks and other great works now in course of construction by the Marquis of Bute, and the vast numbers of ships which make use of the Penarth Roads, confer additional im- portance on a locality where the beds are highly developed and well British Association. 239 displayed—where they may be recognized from far out at sea, in the cliffs and bold headland forming the coast—resting on the red marls of the Keuper and overlain by the pale-coloured Liassie¢ strata, in which the fossils are altogether different. On Two Ovrimrs or Lias AnD Rumtic Bens at KNowLe AND NEAR Woorron Wawen ww South Warwicxsutre. By the Rey. P. B. Bropin, F.G.S. re chief object of the author in this paper was to describe the Liassic Outlier at Copt Heath, where the limestones were formerly worked by a shaft long since abandoned. ‘These appa- rently belong to the ‘ Saurian beds,’ and the associated shales con- tain well-preserved specimens of Ammonites planorbis. Near this spot, on the canal-bank, in a very obscure section, some black shales may be seen overlying the Red Marl, on the top of which are small detached masses of thin-bedded sandstone, of a brown and yellow colour, in which impressions of Pullastra arenicola were abundant— a shell which always occurs low down in the series, in connection with the ‘ bone-bed,’ and seems to have a very limited range. These representatives of the Rhetic beds had not been previously noticed in Warwickshire, and this is their extreme northern limit in that county; but they have been detected further north in Staffordshire, by Mr. Howell of the Geological Survey. The paper also gave an account of some other outliers in Warwickshire, where the lowest beds of the Lias are exposed, including the ‘Insect-beds,’ with numerous remains of Insects, and lower strata containing the cha- racteristic E’stherca and Pecten Valoniensis. In all these cases, they can be readily identified with the basement-beds (Rhetic) over- lying the Red Marl in Gloucestershire, though much reduced in thickness ; and, though no actual bone-bed has as yet been seen in situ, it may possibly be present in some places which have escaped a close examination. On tHE EvrYPTERID®, WITH Descriprions or somME Nuw GSNERA AND SPEcirs. By H. Woopwarp, Esq., F.Z.8., F.G.S. ee Paleozoic Crustacea included in this family have already formed the subject of papers read before the Association by Messrs. Page and Salter, and were first discovered in America by De Kay in 1826. The only separate memoir, however, is that in the Geological Survey Memoirs, 1859, by Messrs. Huxley and Salter. Other descriptions are to be found in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., Hall’s Paleontology of New York, &c. During the past five years numerous additional specimens have been discovered, better illus- trating those already partially known, and affording many new forms. The author proposed the following classification of the genera and species, and gave descriptions and figures of the principal British forms :— / . 1. Euryptervs, De Kay. Eurypterus Scouleri, Hibbert; Lower Carboniferous Rocks, Fifeshire. E. mammatus, Salter; Coal-measures, Manchester. Arthropleura (Kurypterus) ferox, Sater; Coal-measures, Coalbrook-dale. 240 : | Reports and Proceedings. EKurypterus acuminatus, Salter ; Old Red Sandstone, Ludlow. E. Brewsteri, H. Woodw. (sp. nov.) ; Old Red Sandstone, Forfarshire. KE. pygmeeus, Salter ; Upper Ludlow Rock, Kington, and Old Red Sandstone, Forfarshire. K. lanceolatus, Salter ; Upper Ludlow Rock, Lanarkshire. KE. linearis, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, &c., Kington. E. abbreviatus, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, Kineton. E, chartarius, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, Lanarkshire. 2. PrERYGoTUS, Agassiz. Pterygotus Anglicus, 4g.; Old Red Sandstone, Forfarshire, &e. Pt. minor, HZ. Woodw. (sp. nov.); Old Red Sandstone, Forfarshire. Pt. Ludensis, Salter; Old Red Sandstone, Ludlow. Pt. problematicus, Salter; Old Red Sandstone and Upper Ludlow Rock, Ludlow, &ce. Pt. stylops, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, Herefordshire. Pt. Banksii, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, Herefordshire. Pt. gigas, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, Herefordshire. Pt. perornatus, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, Lanarkshire. Pt. bilobus, Salter; Upper Ludlow Rock, Lanarkshire. Pt. arcuatus, Salter, Lower Ludlow Rock, Leintwardine. 3. Simoni, Page. Slimonia acuminata, Salter, sp.; Upper Ludlow Rock, Lanarkshire. SL (Pterygotus) punctata, Salter, sp.; Upper and Lower Ludlow Rocks, Westmoreland and Shropshire. : SL scorpioides, Salter, MS.; Upper Ludlow Rock, Lanarkshire. 4, StyLonvurvs, Page. Stylonurus Powriei, Page; Old Red Sandstone, Forfarshire. St. Scoticus, H. Woodw. (sp. noy.); Old Red Sandstone, Forfarshire. St. ensiformis, H. Woodw. (sp. nov.) ; Old Red Sandstone, Forfarshire. St. (Hurypterus) Symondsii, Salter, sp.; Old Red Sandstone, Herefordshire. St. (Eurypterus) megalops, Salter, sp.; Old Red Sandstone and Upper Lud- low Rock, Ludlow. St. Logani, HZ. Woodw. (sp. noy.);, Upper Ludlow Rock, Lanarkshire. 5. Hnmraspis, H. Woodw. (genus nov.). Hemiaspis limuloides, Salter, MS. ae Me MS Lower Ludlow Rock, Leintwardine. H. sperata, Salter, MS. Descriptions of some of the new forms will be found in the present Number of this Magazine; and the whole will be embodied in a Monograph for the Paleontographical Society. On THE CONCLUSION TO BE DEDUCED FROM THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF SOME Merronitrs. By H.C. Sorsy, F.R.S., F.G.8. (eats microscopical study of thin sections of meteorites had led the author to conclude that their earliest condition of which we have evidence was that of igneous fusion, as indicated by the crystals of olivine containing ‘ glass-cavities,’ like those characteristic of the minerals in terrestrial volcanic rocks. (See Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., vol. xiv. p. 453; and Proceed. Roy. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 333.) There Discovery of a Cranium of Elephas primigenius. 241 are, however, some meteorites, of which the ‘Pallas Iron’ may be taken as the type, consisting of a mixture of iron and olivine; and, if these were melted artificially, there can be no doubt, that, the iron being so much more dense would almost immediately sink to the bot- tom, and the olivine would rise to the top, like the slag in an iron- furnace. This at first sight appears to be strongly opposed to the supposition of igneous fusion; but the author contended that, since the force which would tend to separate the iron and olivine would vary with the force of gravitation, whilst the resistance to separation would be chiefly cohesion almost independent of it, if the fusion had taken place where the force of gravitation was very small, the iron and olivine might have remained fused and mixed together long enough to allow of slow crystallization. Hence he argued that such meteo- rites furnish us with physical evidence of having been formed where the force of gravitation was much smaller than on our globe, either near the surface of a very small planetary body, or towards the centre of a larger, which has since been broken into fragments. NOTICES OF RECENT DISCOVERIES. ——_+—— Discovery oF A Cranium or HLEPHAS PrimicEeNivs AT I~FoRD In Esspx. F all fossils that are found, few at the present time excite more interest than the remains of the great extinct Pachyderms, such as the ‘Mammoth’ (Elephas primigenius), the Tichorhine Rhinoceros, and others. Not only have these animals been met with in a frozen state in Siberia, and have there been disinterred with all their soft parts preserved, but their remains are distributed in the superficial gravels, sands, and peat-deposits throughout Europe, Asia,and North America. They are still more important as ‘time-marks,’ from the fact that they occur both in this country and in France associated with flint implements,—the earliest indications of pre-historic man. Sinee British Geologists have more carefully examined the latest al- luvial deposits of our lakes, rivers, and estuaries, numerous new or long-neglected localities where remains of the Mammoth occur, usually with many other Mammals, have of late been indicated. Among these we may mention Fisherton, near Salisbury, where flint implements also have been found with them by Dr. H. P. Blackmore, in high-level gravel; and these implements were described by Mr. John Evans, F.S.A., F.G.S.,:in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. xx. p. 188;—the Valley of the Ouse, near Bedford, where also they are associated with flint implements (see a paper by Mr. James Wyatt, Op. cit. p. 183),—Lexden, near Colchester, in peat beneath brick- earth (the Rev. O. Fisher, F.G.S., Op. cié. vol. xix. p. 393). They have been found also in the Hyzna-den near Wells, Somersetshire, by Mr. W. B. Dawkins, F.G.S. (Op. cié. vol. xix. p. 260); in a brick-pit at Churchbridge, Oldbury, near Birmingham ( GEOLOGICAL MaaGazine, No. 1, p. 46); in one of the sand-banks of the Bridgewater Level, and along the coast, in a submerged forest, at St. Audries, Somersetshire (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xx. p. 120); in gravel VOL. I. — NO. VY. R 242 Discovery of a Cranium of Elephas primigenius. between Thame and Oxford; at Swathling, near Southampton; at Ilford and Ballingdon, in Essex ; at Bridlington, in Yorkshire ; at Leighton Buzzard, in Bedfordshire; in brick-earth, beneath gravel, near Newport, Isle of Wight; in a turbary at Holyhead Harbour ; at Crayford, Erith, and Aylesford, in Kent; in’ an excava- tion in the Old Kent Road: they have been dredged up by fishermen off Dungeness, Kent, and off Hasboro’ on the Norfolk coast; they are also met with at Bracklesham Bay, near Selsey, and in the Forest- bed at Mundesley, Bacton, and Cromer, in Norfolk.* In all these localities detached remains of the Mammoth have been found, con- sisting of the more solid portions of the skeleton, such as the lower jaw, and the upper and lower molars, the tusks, the vertebra, and the leg-bones. Many such examples are to be seen in the extensive collection of Elephant-remains in the British Museum. But though more or less fragmentary relics are thus met with, it is only within the past month that a nearly perfect cranium, with the tusks, has been for the first time obtained in this country. The ‘Athenzum’ of the 15th October, in referring to the dis- covery, remarks—‘ No such perfect skull of the true Mammoth has ever been found in England, nor anything comparable with this im- portant example, so far as we are aware, except it may be the fine fossil Elephant in the Chichester Museum, a specimen of which we have heard, but have not seen.’ My colleague, Mr. W. H. Coxe of the Department of Antiquities, having lately visited Chichester, obligingly informs me that this specimen was obtained from near Selsey, and consists of—one tusk 9 feet in length, a detached molar, the upper molars in sité, with remains of the cranium much broken; also por- tions of the pelvis, scapula, and femur, probably belonging to the same individual. ‘The remains are labelled Klephas antiquus f (an older species); and, as we have no positive evidence to the contrary, we may still consider our Ilford specimen unique. : The Museum authorities are indebted to Antonio Brady, Esq., for the first information of this discovery, and to William Hill, Esq., the proprietor of the Uphall Brickfield, who very liberally allowed them to take possession of it. I had, in company with Mr. W. Davies, of the Geological Department, the opportunity of seeing it tz sité ; and it was entirely owing to his skill and judgment that it was removed from the matrix entire and brought away in safety. The specimen was discovered by the workmen at 15 feet beneath the surface, asso- ciated with remains of Bos primigenius (?), Rhinoceros tichorhinus, and numerous shells of Cyrena fiuminalis and Anodon. It is evident that the skull belonged to an aged individual, by its having cut its last pair of molars, and by these having been con- siderably worn. Of the upper molars 18 lamin remain, 11 of which have been used; several of the front laminz have been worn entirely away. The entire right tusk had been detached, with a portion of the socket, before it was finally enveloped in the sands and brick- * See scattered notices in the ‘Geologist’ and other periodicals. f~ See GroLocican Macazine, No. 3, p. 140. From the Brick-earth at Ilford, Essex. Side-view of the Cranium of ‘Mammoth’ (Zlephas primigenius). 244 Discovery of a Cranium of Elephas primigenius. earth; for it was found upon the same level in the pit, but nearly 20 feet from the cranium to which it belongs. The cranium itself is nearly entire, the upper portion only of the left side having received an injury from the stroke of a pick or spade when the workmen first came near it. The tusks measure 8 feet 8 inches from the point to the insertion into the socket (on the outside curve); the length concealed within the socket being more than 18 inches. ‘The flexure of the tusks is very remarkable; but it is impossible in a single representation to convey anything more than a very faint conception of their actual contour. An examination, however, of the specimens from Eschscholtz Bay, upon the top of the wall-case in the VIth Room of the Geolo- gical Gallery, may help to elucidate this remarkable feature in the Mammoth. It will take some months to saturate the entire cranium in gelatine, and much careful work to repair all the tiny loose fragments and complete the development of the specimen. The measurements we have taken are as follows :— From the top of the cranium to the end of the socket of the tusk : é : : ‘ 4 feet. From the frontal bone to the occipital j : -|. 8) amehess Breadth at the orbital bones : : 20 pinches: Breadth at the condyles, upper end of the zygomatic arch . : : ‘ . «| 2a inches: Length of the zyg omatic ar ch : : : - 10 inches. Length of the socket of tusk : 18 inches. From the occipital oe to the front of the palate : - © 21 sainches: Length of the grinding | sur face of the upper molars 64 inches. From the occipital to the top of the cranium ; 20) inches: Length of tusk from the point to the alveolus (outer CUEVE) ai. : . 8 feet 8 inches. Circumference at 1 foot fr om the socket é - 26° inches. Length of the detached tusk (including 1 foot 10 inches which would have been enclosed in the bony socket) : : ° : ‘ $ 10 feet 6 inches. A tusk belonging toa very young Elephant was found in the same pit by one of the men; it measures 9 inches in length, and is perfect! Mr. Prestwich, who visited the spot with me, has kindly added a Note upon the geological position of these remains. Britisu Musrum. Henry WoopwaArb. Tur Brick-EartH with Evepuant Remains at Inrorp. He brick pits of Ilford have been long celebrated for their Mammalian remains. The one best known is about a quarter of a mile beyond Ilford, on the left-hand side of the high-road from London to Ipswich. It was in this pit that the nearly entire skeleton of an Elephant was found half a century ago. Another pit, now closed, was formerly worked on the left- hand side near the top The Ilford Brick-earth with Elephant Remains. 245 of the lane leading to Barking. The pit in which the skull of the Mammoth has now been found is situated on the right-hand side, a short distance farther down the same lane. The ground forms a low terrace, bordering the small river Roding, on the one side, and on the other it slopes gradually down to the Thames. The height of the surface of the ground at the pit is about 28 feet above the Thames. (T. H. W. M.) The lower part of the section at this pit consists of marl and light yellow sands, interstratified with a few thin seams of gravel, the whole resting on London clay. Land and fresh-water Shells are common in places, and include several species of Unio, Anodon, Limnea, Helix, &c.; but the species which particularly abound inthis pit are Cyrena fluminalis and Felix nemoralis, the latter often Surface-soil, 1 ft. 6 in, showing its colour-bands. The Mammalian remains are dispersed chiefly in the sand and thin patches Clay with rolled pebbles and oferavel lyme /on the bottom — Pecks oF tare, 61.0 n- marl, They are generally very friable, and often very ferruginous. Fine fragments of the antlers of panes, ferrusious Snel aa 3 aminated sand, with occa- the large variety of Cervus elaphus — gonalthin partings of clay have often been found, together and patches of white sand, fs with rolled pebbles, shells with numerous molars of the nar- of Unio, Anodon, and Cy- CW = i ie rena, and Mammalian Re- tow-tooth variety of Elephas pri- yore, one eae contains MUG ENUS, and bones and teeth of seams of brick-earth much A < es % valued for making white Rhinoceros, Bos, Equus, &c: Last tricks (‘facings’) of the year the tusk of an Elephant, 4 ft. oO BU ey ade ee ‘ aig rs 8 s mark 11 in. long, was found within a few os in section ; and eating yards of where the skull has since ©» this the remains of Ele- 5 phas primigenius were found, been discovered. Thickness, 1] ft. ‘ as) sie q White sand, with angular~ This series of fossiliferous sands, GHAlKSHiNte onoute ab oO EE clays, and gravels belongs to the © from the surface, but is not Quaternary” low - level. valley- Worked er avels of the Thames Valley, and Section at the Uphall Brickfield, Ilford, Essex. is of late Post-pliocene age. It is here overlain by a variable and irregular bed of non-fossiliferous brown clay, mixed with more or less gravel, and not stratified. This is the character the ‘ Loess’ puts on at this spot, where it is formed of reconstructed London Clay and of gravel derived partly from the Boulder-clay. Farther on to the eastward of Ilford the Loess assumes its finer and better known aspect, and is largely worked as a brick-earth. There a few Shells (chiefly Suceinea) are found in it, here none. I do not go into fuller details, as I shall have occasion to give fo) ’ these various sections when treating of the Quaternary beds of the Thames Valley. I trust, however, that the above short notice will suffice to show the geological position of the fine specimen so suc- cessfully secured for the British Museum. JosepH PRESTWICH. 10, Kent Terrace, N.W.: Océ, 18, 1864. 46 NE. To Flamborough Head. Toe 0ag CORDS I BIGE 2 Ea0C 0000 [Fa ao NEN SG, S.W. Bridlington town. Ni SPV IN ENS Ved: Ze Correspondence— The Bridlington Craq. NEN alos ia ~ \ Zeer ERNE, =i A aS SASHES == AX. \ Nt SS Sie Soma FASS eee Beach-line. b Section at Bridlington (length about 10 furlongs), db. Base of Boulder-clay, consisting of a black clay, with abundant small chalk-detritus ; 10 feet. Chalk. c. Purplish black clay, with occasional stones, being the ordinary Boulder-clay of the coast of South Yorkshire ; 80 feet where thickest in section. a. e. White chalky marl, in deep indentations in d. d. Ferruginous gravel ; from 6 to 15 feet. CORRESPONDENCE. ———~—— THE BRIDLINGTON CRAG. To the Editors of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. As your correspondents from Brid- lington have not furnished you with any explanation of the geological position of the so-called ‘Crag’ of that place,* I send you a section, taken by me during the early part of the present summer. It will be seen that about a mile north of the town, the base of the Boulder- clay (or Upper Drift) is brought up by an abrupt upheaval of the Chalk, upon which the clay rests. This clay (form- ing, with its capping deposits, the whole of the Holderness country) dips towards Bridlington Harbour; and there the gravel and overlying marl come down to the beach. The base of the Boulder- clay, where brought up, consists of a bed of dark clay, abounding in small chalk- detritus; but, so far as I could detect, it yields no fossils, and has nothing whatever like ‘ Crag,’ or any sandy bed, underlying it. The section is interest- ing in many respects; amongst others, in showing the disturbances on this part of the Yorkshire coast to have begun subsequently to the deposition of the Boulder-clay (c), and prior to the over- spread of the gravel (d); and to have been renewed after the deposition of the white marl (e), resting upon it, a deposit probably identical with those described by Phillips as yielding fresh-water re- mains at various points on this coast. A sand or gravel is shown by borings to be present under the clay further to the south, extending from Hull eastwards along the Hull and Withernsea Railway to the sea. That bed, however, I re- gard as indicating the occurrence, at this part of Yorkshire, of the upper series of the Lower Drift, which covers * See Gronocican Magazin, No. 2. Correspondence. — Miscellaneous. 247 ereat part of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. It is certainly possible that this bed might reach to Bridlington, and be abruptly overlapped by the clay, between the harbour and the place where the Chalk is forced up north of it, as the Lower Drift is undoubtedly over- lapped by the Boulder-clay at various places along its inland border, in the more southern counties; but the dip of the Boulder-clay to- wards the harbour militates against the Lower Drift, even if pre- sent under the clay, coming up at that place. On the whole, I can see no other tenable conclusion than that the so-called ‘ Bridlington Crag’ is, either a fossiliferous bed of the Boulder-clay (or Upper Drift), or else the base of the gravel that rests upon the clay, and extends inland to the foot of the Wolds, round by Beverley to the Humber, and is fossiliferous at Paull’s Cliff, where I collected a few of the existing Bridlington shells. The bed of cretaceous flint gravel referred to in Young and Bird’s ‘Geol. Surv. Yorksh. Coast’ I take to be the stratum 6 in the an- nexed woodcut, although that bed is not really gravel. Mr. 8. P. Woodward, in his list of ‘Shells from the Newer Pliocene or Norwich Crag,’* includes, not only Mollusca from the Bridlington bed, but also from Chillesford, and from Weybourne, Cromer, and Mundesley, the marine beds of all of which, I think, can be shown to be in no way connected (in structure) with the Norwich Crag, but to form horizons in the Lower Drift; while the Bridlington bed, assuming it at the lowest—namely, the base of the Boulder-clay, is separated from the Norwich Crag by the Lower Drift deposits, pos- sessing, where they occur, an aggregate thickness of not less than 250 feet.— Your obedient servant, SEARLES V. Woop, Junr. MISCELUANEHOUS. ——_—}—— HoNoURS CONFERRED ON MEN or Scrence.—H. M. the Emperor of Austria has been pleased to confer the Knighthood of his Order of St. Leopold on W. K. Haidinger, M. & Ph. D., &c., Director of the Geological Survey of Austria and of the Imp. Roy. Geological Institute of Vienna, ‘in acknowledgment of his distinguished scien- tific exertions and his successful superintendence of the Imp. Geol. Institute. The same distinction has been conferred on Professor Martius, of Munich, and on Professor Noeggerath, of Bonn, on the occasion of the celebration of their semi-centenary scientific careers. The Knighthood of the Imperial Order of Francis-Joseph had been conferred (on the 6th of last August) on Director Hohenegger, since deceased.—Cotunt M. M. L. Honenrecerr, born at Meunningen (Bavaria) in 1807, died, after a short illness, on August 25 this year. Having filled sub- * A Sketch of the Geology of Norfolk, by the Rev. J. Gunn, F.G.S. (Re- printed from White’s County Directory, 1864, pp. 13, &c.) 248 Miscellaneous. altern mining offices in Moravia and on the Rhine, he superintended the Wolfsberg Iron-works (Carinthia) in 1837, and in 1839 was intrusted with the Archducal mining and metallurgical establish- ments in Austrian Silesia, which he advanced by new works and improvements. By his own exertions, assisted by some of his sub- alterns, to whom he imparted sound geological notions and a taste for scientific pursuits, he threw much light, by descriptions, maps, and collections, on the geology of the Sudetian Mountains of Silesia, the North-west Carpathians, and the territory of Cracovia. (From an obituary notice, by Baron Hingenau, Proceed. Imp. Geol. Instit. Vienna, Sept. 13, 1864.)—Count M. Amongst the many indications of the spread of Geological know- ledge and its increased culture, we notice the establishment of a new local Society having that aim,—namely, ‘The Sunderland Geological Society,’ numbering as yet about thirty members, who intend to have, besides Ordinary Evening-meetings, four Field- meetings during the summer months at some of the many points of Geological interest to be found throughout the Northumberland and Durham district. The objects of the Society being to collect and diffuse information on the Science of Geology, the formation of a Museum and Library is also contemplated. Tar Paleontological Collection of the British Museum has lately been enriched by some fine remains of Thecodont Reptiles from the Upper Keuper Sandstone near Stuttgart, consisting of a cranium, a lower jaw, several vertebrae, dermal scutes, and limb-bones of Belodon Kapffi, von Meyer. ‘These specimens are remarkably per- fect, and have been extracted with great skill from their coarse and brittle matrix by Dr. Kapff, of Stuttgart. The lower jaw measures 2 feet 3 inches in length; both rami are perfect, and have nearly their whole series of teeth iv sitd. There are also portions of the upper jaw and an entire right ramus of the lower jaw of Belodon Plieningeri, von Meyer; with several detached teeth and bones of this and other like reptiles from the same locality.—W. D. Tue Skin or REPTILES PRESERVED IN A Fossit Statre.—There has lately been obtained, for the British Museum, from Barrow-on- Soar, Leicestershire, a specimen of Ichthyosaurus tenuirostris, show- ing a large extension of the dermal covering upon the surface of the slab. It seems to indicate, from the outline, that these Reptiles had a prominent ridge upon the dorsal surface, similar in appearance to that which the males of the Pond-newt (Triton cristatus) present in spring. A specimen with a considerable portion of skin attached, also from Barrow, came into the possession of the late Dr. Mantell, who, unfortunately not recognizing its real nature, chiselled it nearly all away in developing the bones. Some fragments of the skin may, however, still be observed upon the specimen, which is now in the Museum.—W. D. THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. VI.—DECEMBER 1864. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. ome tee I. Nores on BRACHIOPODA FROM THE PEBBLE-BED OF THE LOWER GREENSAND OF SURREY; WITH DeEscrIPTIONS OF THE NEW SPECIES, AND REMARKS ON THE CORRELATION OF THE GREEN- sanpD Beps or Kent, SuRREY, AND BERKS, AND OF THE Far- RINGDON SPONGE-GRAVEL, AND THE TourTIA OF BELGIUM. By C. J. A. MnYur, Esq. [Plates XI. and XIT.] |e pebble-bed of the Lower Greensand of Godalming has been already referred to (‘ Geologist,’ vol. vi. pp. 53,54) as a singular deposit, underlying the Bargate-stone series of that neighbourhood, remarkable alike on account of its peculiar organisms and its (probable) relation to other distant, though somewhat similar, beds; its position in the Greensand is fortu- nately well-marked, being immediately at the base of Fitton’s ‘ Upper or Ferruginous division ;’ or, following the nomencla- ture of the Geological Survey, at the base of the ‘ Folkestone Beds.’ In composition, it may be roughly described as a mix- ture of sand and small subangular pebbles, either loosely bedded or variously concreted. Its thickness at Godalming varies considerably, thinning out rapidly to the south of the town, but increasing on the north, in approaching the Hogsback, to a thickness of 8 or 10 feet; occasionally passing into, and alter- nating with, the lower layers of the Bargate-stone. Hidden, for the most part, at its outcrop by surface-soil, or by the débris of the upper deposits, the pebble-bed around Godalming is but rarely to be seen unless by chance cut through in some quarry or lane-section. It is in this manner exposed in an old quarry or sand-pit on the side of a lane at Tewsley, to the south of Godalming, where it occurs as a band VOL NO. Vile iS) 250 Meyer-—Lower Greensand Brachiopods. of brownish sand and pebbles, varying from 8 inches to 2 feet in thickness. This bed has, by careful search, afforded me a singular series of organisms, amongst which fragments of the casts of Ammonites (Oolitic) are the most abundant; casts of small Univalve and Bivalve Shells, teeth of Saurians, teeth and scales of Fishes—Lepidotus, Gyrodus, Hybodus, Acrodus, and Lamna(?), occurring less frequently, and rarely indeed teeth of Saurichthys. It is not, however, to the occurrence of derivative fossils in the pebble-bed that I would now refer ; but to that of such fossils as, by their appearance and state of preservation, are evidently proper to the bed in question. These consist of twelve or more species of Brachiopoda, three or four small forms of Exogyra, Pecten orbicularis, a Pecten in markings most nearly resembling P. Raulinianus, D’Orb., Avi- cula pectinata, Serpule, and fragments of Bryozoa. I propose on the present occasion to confine my observations to the Brachiopoda. The Brachiopod most frequently to be met with in the pebble-bed of Godalming is a species of Terebratella, which, m some of its variations, might be mistaken for a small variety of Terebratula oblonga, Sow. (M. C. pl. 535, figs. 4-6); and such indeed I had long considered it to be; but, after meeting with specimens of Z. oblonga in the same deposit, in its ordi- nary form, I began to doubt the identification of the smaller species ; and a closer examination of the pebble-bed shell tended to convince me that it was not only distinct from Sowerby’s TL. oblonga, but also from two other (foreign) Cretaceous species which it somewhat nearly resembles, namely 7. semz- striata, Defr. (D’Orb. Ter. Crét., iv. pl. 508, figs. 1-11), and T. Beaumonti, D’ Arch. (Mém. 8. G. Fr., 2 sér. pl. 21, figs. 12 —14). I am still, however, in doubt whether the imperfect specimen figured and described in Dr. Fitton’s Memoir ‘ On the Strata below the Chalk’ (Geol. Trans. 2nd ser. vol. iv. pl. 14, fig. 9), under the name of J. quadrata is not the same as this Godalming shell. Yet, while considering the present species as specifically distinct from 7. oblonga, it seems unad- visable to retain for it a name by which it would still be confounded with that species. I propose therefore to describe the pebble-bed shell under the specific name of Fitton?, in honour of one who, if not the original discoverer of the species, has done so much for our Cretaceous geology. 1. TEREBRATELLA Firtonr. Spec. nov. Pl. XI., figs. 1 to 10. Terebratula quadrata (?), Sow. in Fitton, Geol. Trans., 2 ser. vol. iv. p. 388, pl. 14, fig. 9.. Shell ovate or irregularly pentagonal, its greatest width and Meyer—Lower Greensand Brachiopods. Dey thickness occurring usually near the middle of the shell. Beak rather obtusely pointed or rounded in outline, and more or less recurved ; beak-ridges sharply defined, with a flattened, slightly concave, false area between them and the hinge-line. Foramen small, entire ; rounded above, pointed below where completed by the deltidial plates, which it indents. Deltidium shallow, broadly triangular, in two pieces, and bordered at the sides by a narrow depressed line. Valves unequally convex; the larger or dental valve much the deepest, the smaller valve being usually somewhat flattened towards the front. Socket-valve in young shells sometimes wider than long, in old specimens irregularly oval; surface of the valves ornamented by a variable number of plaits, rounded in outline, either simple or bifurcated, the central plaits conspicuously larger; the number on each valve varying from 7 to 15, usually 11. In old specimens the two or three central plaits on the dorsal valve are elevated into a mesial fold (see Pl. XI., fig. 1). The spaces between the ribs often exceed the width of the ribs themselves; which appears to be rarely the case in 7. oblonga. Lines of growth, in well-preserved specimens, numerous and prominent. Margins of the shell slightly curved at the sides, and more or less elevated in front. Loop of moderate length (extending nearly two-thirds the length of the shell), doubly attached, first to the hinge-plate, and then to lateral processes, which are given off at right angles by the moderately elevated mesial septum ; the base and, from the continual growth of the shell, the disused portions of these processes may be seen extending as a curved rib down the sides of the septum to its com- mencement beneath the hinge-plate. Shell-structure largely punc- tuated. Dimensions variable :— Length 74, width 5, depth 4 lines ; largest of 50 specimens. meee. On » 44, , 34 lines; average size. Localities.—This species occurs abundantly in the pebble-bed at Tewsley and a few other places around Godalming. In the British Museum there are three specimens of this shell from Dorking. Terebratella Fittont may be most readily distinguished from Terebratula oblonga, Sow, by its diminutive size, and by the smaller number and inequality of the plaits on either valve; it differs also from 7. oblonga in the ventral valve being less pointed towards the beak, and in the beak itself being more strongly recurved. In 7%. semistriata, Defr., the foramen is rounder. and of larger size, and the beak is more abruptly truncated. In 7. Beau- monti, D’ Arch., the beak is shorter and also more abruptly truncated, while the smaller valve is more inflated near the hinge-line. So much for external differences ; it remains yet to be decided, however, whether the loop in either of these species was doubly attached as in 7. Fittont. 2. WatpHEIMIA Movutonrana, D’Orb., Pl.-XIL., figs. 12-14. Associated with the foregoing species there occurs a shell which, from its outward form and elongated internal loop, can be no other aD) yn 252 Meyer — Lower Greensand Brachiopods. than a variety of Terebratula Moutoniana, D’Orb., a species which has been recently added to our list of Cretaceous Brachiopoda by Mr. E. R. Lankester (‘ Geologist,’ vol. vi. p. 314). The lowest layers of the pebble-bed at Tewsley also afford examples of two elongated species of Brachiopoda, one of which is an undescribed form of Terebratula, for which, for want of a better designation, I propose the name of 7’. eatensa ; the other I am inclined to consider as probably identical with 7’. Boubei, D’Arch. (Mém. 8. G. Fr. ii., pl. 19, fig. 11. The first of these species requires a short descrip- tion. 3. TEREBRATULA EXTENSA, Spec. nov. Pl. XII, figs. 1-4. Shell unequally oblong-ovate, square in front, somewhat pointed towards the beak.. Valves unequally convex, smooth, without either mesial fold or sinus; showing only a few, concentric lines of growth. Ventral valve much the deepest and curved upwards in front. Dorsal valve flattened and slightly elevated in front, much depressed at the sides, and inflated near the hinge-line. Most of my specimens show also on the dorsal valve a central, longitudinal depression (see Pl. XIL, fig. 3), which, commencing near the hinge, extends to about the centre of the valve.* Beak short, very slightly recurved, and abruptly truncated by a large circular foramen, which is formed chiefly from the beak, and completed by the deltidial plates. Delti- dium in two pieces, wide, but extremely shallow (see Pl. XII, fig. 4), and almost hidden by the (apparent) encroachment of the smaller valve upon the hinge-area; beak-ridges but little defined ; margin of the valves flexuous. Shell-structure minutely punctuate. Loop short and simple. Dimensions.—The two largest of my specimens measure :— Length 13, width 7, depth 6 lines. ssWeirelilie wadeah ads ue ay aeos wines: Approaching to T. prelonga, Sow., in its elongated form, and in its large and circular foramen, 7. extensa differs from that species in the shortness of its beak, the greater comparative breadth of the dorsal valve near the hinge-line, and in the absence of biplication in front. 4, Of the shell which resembles Terebratula Boubei, D’ Arch., Ihave obtained many single valves from the pebble-bed around Godalming, about a dozen specimens (from a similar position in the series) from the Lower Greensand between Folkestone and Sandgate, and a few single valves from the Sponge-gravel of Farringdon. See Pl. XIL., figs. 5-7. The specimens from these three localities have a gencral outward resemblance to each other, and appear to be all equally distinct from 7. Celtica, Morris, and 7. prelonga, Sow., to both of * A somewhat similar depression may be occasionally seen in specimens of Waldheimia Celtica, and would usually perhaps afford evidence of an internal septum ; this species, however, as is proved by casts and single valves in my col- lection, had no trace of an internal septum, Meyer—Lower Greensand Brachiopods. 253 which species this form somewhat nearly approaches; I am not, however, prepared to say that they are specifically identical with T. Boubei, D’Archiac, and must therefore be content, for the present, merely to notice their occurrence in our Lower Green- sand. Some uncertainty appears to exist with regard to the specific value of the two or more forms of Yerebratula which, under the name of YZ. Yornacensis and varieties, are so abundant at Far- ringdon ; for I find that M. D’Orbigny (Prodrome de Paléontologie, vol. ii. p. 172) includes the following—T7. Tornacensis, Bouei, crassa, HRobertoni, crassificata, rustica, Boubei, Virleti, revoluta, subpectoralis, and Keyserlingii, of D’Archiac, amongst the varieties of 7. biplicata, Broechi; while Mr. Davidson (Monogr. Cretac. Brachiop. pt. 2), on the contrary, appears to consider 7. Tornacensis, D’Arch., to be a well established species, perfectly distinct from T. biplicata, and of which the following—TT. Roemeri, Bouei, rustica, crassa, crassificata, and Murchisoni, are varieties; admitting T. Robertoni, T. subpectoralis, and perhaps T. Virleti and T. revo- luta, to be specifically distinct from ZT. Yornacensis. Whether owing to distorted growth in certain individuals, or to any other cause, it is certain that the forms attributed to 7. biplicata and T. Tornacensis, in the Farringdon Sponge-gravels, vary greatly in size, form, and general outward appearance ; so much so indeed as to render it difficult, amongst a large number of specimens, to determine whether there are two, or four, or more species present; and, as in these specimens the loop is never (?) or very rarely pre- served, it is the more to be regretted that so little dependence can be placed on those surface-markings of the shell (‘striés d’acroisse- ment’) by which M. D’Archiac has distinguished several of his (YTourtia) species,—among others 7. Boubei, but which, in the Farringdon specimens, appear to be of too fleeting and variable a character to be of any appreciable value. That Mr. Davidson is right in distinguishing 7. Yornacensis from T. biplicata there can be little doubt ; the former being even more closely allied to Terebra- tula sella. Some examples of this last species, indeed, in the form which prevails in the upper beds of the Lower Greensand at Shanklin are scarcely to be distinguished from M. D’Archiac’s figures of T. Tornacensis (Mém. S. G. Fr., 2nd. sér. ii. pl. 18, fig. 3). Whether or not 7. Boubei should therefore be regarded as a distinct species, or included among the varieties of ZT. Tornacensis, future researches must decide. In addition to those already mentioned the pebble-bed has afforded me more or less perfect examples of the following species :— Terebratella Menardi, Zam.—A few single valves from the pebble- bed, and from the Bargate-stone near Guildford. Terebratulina striata, Wahl.—Several specimens from the pebble- bed at Tewsley and Hurtmore ; it occurs more frequently in the Bargate-stone near Guildford. 7. striata does not appear to have been heretofore met with below the Gault. 254 Meyer—Lower Greensand Brachiopods. Terebratula oblonga, Sow.*—Occurring sparingly in the pebble- bed, but more frequently in the Bargate-stone near Guildford, in the form represented Pl. XI. figs. 12-14. T. Tornacensis, var. Roemeri, D’Archiac.—A few single valves from the pebble-bed near Guildford. T. Robertoni (?) D’ Archiae.—Several imperfect specimens, answer- ing most nearly to the description of 7. Robertoni, have been met with in the pebble-bed at Hurtmore near Godalming, and also near Guildford. See Pl. XII. figs. 10, 11. T. depressa (?), Lam.—Fragments of a large Terebratula, which may possibly represent 7. depressa, have been obtained from the pebble-bed near Godalming. The specimen represented on Pl. XII. figs. 15a, 6. is from the Lower Greensand of Shanklin. Waldheimia ‘tamarindus, Sow.—Occurring sparingly at Tewsley. At Hurtmore, SW. of Godalming, it occurs in the sand imme- diately beneath the pebble-bed. Rhynchonella latissima, Sow.—Single valves only, from the pebble- bed near Guildford ; rare. Rh. depressa (?), Sow.—Single valves only, Godalming and Guild- ford ; rare. Rh. Gibbsiana, Sow., var.—Single valves, Tewsley and Hurtmore, &c. 3 rare. Figures of several of the above-mentioned species are given in the accompanying Plates XI. and XII., in consequence of the infrequency of their occurrence in beds of undoubted Lower Green- sand. In the May Number of the ‘ Geologist’ (vol. vii. No. 77, p. 166), there was given a description of a new species of Tepebrceoue from the Bargate-stone, under the name of T. trifida, drawings of which were to have appeared in the following Number ; but, in conse- quence of the somewhat sudden discontinuance of that periodical, they were inadvertently omitted : these figures are therefore intro- duced on the present occasion. See Pl. XI. figs. 17-23. In the foregoing remarks mention has been made more especially of the pebble-bed of Godalming as a local deposit ; yet, though in one sense local, it should not properly be so considered; the same band of pebbly strata being more or less traceable in the Greensand along the whole of the North Downs,—as at Guildford, Dorking, Nutfield, and Sevenoaks ; it may also be observed at Folkestone and Shanklin ; in all these places holding exactly the same position in the series. So that, although perhaps in part a local, as well as a littoral, * Tregret that I am unable, partly for want of space, to enter into a minute comparison of the varieties of T. oblonga, some of which, as is shown by Mr. Davidson (Mon. Cret. Brach., pt. 2, pl. 2. figs, 29-32), and still more by M. D’Orbigny, differ widely from the typical form ; yet all, if I mistake not, within such limits as completely to separate them from Tercbratella Fitton described aboye, Meyer— Lower Greensand Brachiopods. 255 deposit, its presence should rather be regarded as affording evidence of some slight elevation or depression of the sea-bed or adjacent land-surface at a particular period, affecting more or less the whole of our Greensand area.* Viewed thus, the pebble-bed becomes at once serviceable as marking a distinct horizon or boundary-line in the Cretaceous series, and one which might possibly be found to afford a more correct boundary between the faunas of the Lower and Upper Greensand forma- tions than the Gault itself; few of the characteristic fossils of the Lower Greensand passing above this line, while it is the starting-point of many of the common forms of Testacea which range upwards through the Gault and Upper Greensand. In the present state of our knowledge, however, it is still difficult to determine the exact relation of the pebble-beds of Kent and Surrey to those somewhat similar deposits to the west of the Wealden area, namely the Sponge-gravels of Farringdon, &c., excepting upon paleontological evidence ; and even this admits of much difference of opinion. Thus we find, for instance, that those species of Brachiopoda which are common at Farringdon (7. Tornacensis, var., T. depressa, &c.), are of such rare occurrence within the Wealden area as to have been overlooked by nearly all collectors; and their sup- posed absence in typical Lower Greensand deposits has led many Geologists to consider the Farringdon Sponge-gravels as wholly distinct in age from the Lower Greensand. It is a question, however, how far the abundance of a particular species in one locality and its scarceness in some other should be admitted as a proof of difference in the age of the deposits in which such species occurs; for one cannot but notice in the case of living Mollusca how much irregularity exists in the range and abundance of almost every known species. The occurrence, then, though ever so rarely, in a well defined position in the Lower Greensand of such forms as Terebratella Menardi and Terebratula Tornacensis, at Godalming, or 7’. de- pressa at Shanklin,—species which may be regarded as highly characteristic of the Farringdon Sponge-gravels, is very in- teresting; and the more so as tending to confirm the opinion now generally entertained with regard to the age of these last- mentioned deposits; an opinion which the natural distribution of our British Cretaceous Brachiopoda surely tends to uphold. For in granting the Sponge-gravels to be of Lower Greensand age we restore and restrict to that formation such characteristic * Possibly the commencement of the Wealden axis of elevation; for there it evidence at Godalming, and I imagine also at Folkestone, of slight unconformity between the lower and the upper beds of the Lower Greensand. 256 Meyer—Lower Greensand Brachiopods. species as Terebratula oblonga, T. tamarindus and Lingula truncata; and, at the same time, limit those of the Upper Greensand, with the single exception of 7” capillata, D’ Archiac, to such species as are common to Warminster, to Cambridge, and a few other typical Upper Greensand localities. Is then the evidence so fully conclusive with respect to the ‘ Tourtia’ (the supposed foreign equivalent of our Farringdon Sponge-gravels), as to leave no doubt as to its position in the Cretaceous series? Are we to regard that also as possibly a Lower Greensand deposit? or may the presence of Lower Greensand species in that bed be accounted for by the known, but scarcely recognized, difference between the lateral extension of species and their vertical range ? EXPLANATION OF PLATES XI. AND XII. Pirate XI, Fig.1. Terebraiella Fittont, sp.nov. An adult specimen, of the most usual form and size; from the pebble-bed at Tewsley, near Godalming. 2a,b,¢c. T. Fittoni. Another specimen, with lines of growth strongly marked. 3 a,b. T. Fittoni. A fine specimen, from Hurtmore, W. of Godalming ; the largest in my collection. 4a,b,c. T. Fitton. A specimen of the form that approaches to 7. Beaumonti, D’ Archiac. 5&6a,b. T. Fitton. Specimens with few ribs; greatly resembling T. quadrata, Sow. 7a,6,8&9 a,b. T. Fitton. Enlarged figures, to show the style of marking and other features. 10. 7. Fitton. Internal cast. ll. Terebratula quadrata, Sow. Outlines of the original figures, intro- duced for comparison with the above. 12 a,b. T. oblonga, Sow. Ventral valve, from the pebble-bed. 3 a, b. ieee Ventral valve, from the Bargate-stone; a young shell. 14, T. oblonga. A specimen from the pebble-bed, enlarged. 15. T. oblonga. Ventral valve, from the Kentish Rag of Maidstone; of the natural size. 16, 7. oblonga. A specimen from the Red Sponge-gravel of Badbury Hill, near Farringdon, accompanied by 7. Tornacensis, var., and T. Menard. 17. Terebratella (?) trifida, sp.n. (Described in the ‘ Geologist’ for May, 1864.) Dorsal valve, on a fragment of Bargate-stone, together with a single valve of Terebratulina striata. 18. 7. (°) trifida, Exterior of a ventral valve, enlarged. 19. 7. (?) trifida. Side-view of the same, slightly enlarged. 20a. T. (2) tryfida. Interior of a dorsal valve, enlarged, showing the medial septum. 20 b. T. (?) trifida. Front view. 20 ec. T. (?) trifida. Side view. 21, 22. T. (?) trifida. Exteriors of dorsal valves, enlarged. 23. T. (°) tryfida, Ventral valve, enlarged. Coot Mag 166 4.F). XI. CJA Meyer del. &lith M&NHanhart imp BRACHIOPODA FROM THE LOWBR GREENSAND GF SURREY & HANTS. Geol. Mag 1864 PLXIL. CIAMeyer del. & lth M&NHanhart mp. BRACHIOPODA FROM THE LOWER GREENSAND OF SURREY. Dawkins—Rhetic Beds. Zoi Fig. 24 a, 6. T. Menardi, Lam.