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THE GIFT OF Ue De NETIC IN WHITNEY LIBRARY, MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY > = op) ate va = — Z, 2) a Ac < > ae =< ae; GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES 7 , LIBRARY THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. Vou. VI. JANUARY—DECEMBER, 1869. ee ee ee ee eee ———Eeeeeeeeeeee ot fo GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. ailonthly Journal of Geolopy: WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED iron Gh Ome G rsh NOS. LY. TO LXVI. HENRY WOODWARD, F.G.S., F.Z.S. HONORARY MEMBER OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, AND NORWICH; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL; AND OF THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK. ASSISTED BY PROFESSOR JOHN MORRIS, F.G.8., &c., &., AND ROBERT ETHERIDGE, F.R.S.E., F.G.S., &c. Vol. VI. JANUARY—DECEMBER, 1869. LONDON: TRUBNER & Co., 8 ann 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. CH. DELEGRAVE et Ciz, 78, RUE DES ECOLES, PARIS. LEIPSIC: F. A. BROCKHAUS. TURIN & FLORENCE: H, LOESCHER. NEW YORK: LEYPOLDT & HOLT. © 1869. HERTFORD: PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN. ES esrb LA ES: PLATES PAGE “ I. IL. Coniferous Fruits, etc., from Secondary Rocks . . .. 1 v III. Limb-bones of Zrogontherium Cuviert, Fischer, from the Cromer Forest-bed . . . . ay BHGwC4D vw IV. Beania gracilis, Carr., Oolitic Shales s eS. Zamia muricata, Willd. canoer spiralis, Mage! Lule, ors 197 v V.. Flemingites Pedroanus, Carr., Coal M., Brazil . . . . 151 ~ VI. Noeggerathia obovata. Odoniopteris Plantiana, Brazil . 151 » VII. Jaw of Strophodus from the Oolite of Caen . . a: v VIII. Lucladia Johnsoni, H. Woodw., Upper Silurian, weer 241 w IX. Mandibular and Palatal Teeth cf Cienodus, Cnt -measures 314 ~ X. Achmodus orbicularis, Morris, Lower Lias, Lyme Regis . 337 wXI. Lingula monilifera, Linnarsson. Hophyton Linneanum, ; MoKel ba aise ti Mad he depth ies ints qhaeeoe “XII. Hophyton Linneanum, Torell Sa Ot eel). usmnvsr. Yo gage XIII. Hophyton Torelli, Linnarsson . . 5) BRI » XIV. Map of the Chesil Bank and the Scus) owas wont . . 433 » XV. View of the Chesil Bank and the “Fleet” or “ Backwater” 433 e XVI. Tooth of ea found in the Norfolk Forest-bed at Cromer... . 440 » XVII. Burrows of Mb linseaut in ashen souk sn tneeioned Greak Ormes Head . . USGS. Goeeeea 46e “XVIII. Plants from the Siitldeany Sintec. wdecie dutightotnd Jee. deh AOe » XIX.. Mural Agates .. . 529 vw XX. LHophyton ? cipal one Telia, lore Baeats ec St. Davie ese Sn diteckeh ed Tonins dent bie Borne LIST -OF WOODCUTS. Ideal representation of Old Pacific Continent, to illustrate the theory of the ae subsidence of the land and the formation of Coral- Hea 9G Sa ta I | Cliff-section seen on the south of Speston Beets in i Sgaroniss 1868 . 14 Teeth of Ctenoptychius . . ED an te eo inte, Goo Molar Teeth of Trogontherium Gua eae Wel isl bse COOL Rough Sketch of Honister Crag, Buttermere Malley ieee tees tO Borrowdale Fells. - Lhe stare ot Aletha PAE alot al RR EL DY Di erthe Pedgalona) el Crags) See ws Pomme, to ee Sip. ESS vi List of Woodcuts. PAGE Boulder-clay Cliff south of Workington, Cumberland .... . . 72 Boulder-clay overlying Shell-beds, Rampside, Peel Harbour, Cumberland 72 Stratified Beds in the Lower Boulder-clay, from which were obtained the remains of Bos primigenius . . 74 Section from Portingscale, along the west ‘slik a Desneniaien to Castle Crag, in Bimmondils is Sees 5 Or Natural Section of Beds seen in the Beenie at ire Seam Partida,” River Candiota 27 ssawnus: eae) Gel te fe me) os Wiel e ease © leo. Belemnites premaiurus, Tate . . . 166 Diagram of the Glacial Terraces at the Fork of the Vemenne Ivellley 5 Il Nechionsiof Drittratablawikerjs tsi ei) ape sien deep ne ee ee eS Ot Lower jaw and teeth of Cestracion Philippi . .... . . + ~ 236 Holiagerand HwuibsHotaO GlamtCS amen iee. Stn ee Ae Ueieem «sere Os INGUUtS TOLL GneseiumenG OMlanitesae > weenie lls) Melee eee jae Oo Fruits of Selaginella and Triplosporites . . . 585g ZB Section of Gault and Lower Greensand at Lower Reetlewertal Sy | go) Figures to illustrate enlargement on Crinoidal Columns . . . - 302 Sketch showing Maum, with an accompanying bank of recent Drift, a ravine inastne Scena) Chewattergpisu. sea eeies a iene Ntenn oh au tee) Ont Section of recent Drift-bank .. . heh. Ute 207 Recent Drift banked on a hill-slope beler an a GSCEnRAGR = eee O08 Plan of streams flowing to a shore where there is a current chiefly in one direction ... 2 phe aad Lepracanthus Colei, Owen, Coat vate LaRwabort N. Wales a eee ASE Section of supposed burrow of Helix in Carboniferous Limestone . . 486 Sketches of a piece of Cornish hornstone .. . . 529, 530 A portion of felspathic rock, in which two crystals of fapeldonie are separated by a crystalline mass of mixed labradorite and hyper- SaNEL ~ Br ero niece sn dois Cte? OME MEER OS: rors) emuentOo O Banded and ‘preoeiadl Hones ee . 533, 534 Profile of Terraces on the side of a Chalk Hill near m Dyford - OST, Terraces near Stockbridge . . Srvc Pipe ce ge eS. Terrace and Bank caused by dlewoant oe Silt ais) ORs B ceeOaS Terraces near Llangollen . . . pic dye ecmetovlay a ceric ne rye: Thecidium subserratum, Tate, sp.nov. . . Dn ia ee ie eae yg CL Peculiar form of variegation in Cambrian Slate m5 he Bigs ds Ae a HL THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. Vok VE. 1869. TO OUR GEOLOGICAL FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS. Our Sixth Volume is now completed, and we have again the pleasant task of thanking our numerous friends for having continued to support us; may the number of their names steadily increase, so shall our seventh volume be even better than its predecessor. Hspecially are our thanks due to those of our friends who have not only supported the Magazine as Subscribers, but who have also contributed Orreinat ArticiEs, Noticus, and Reyirws to its pages. The following new contributors have been added to our last year’s list :—Dr. W. G. Atherstone, F.G.S.; Messrs. Samuel Allport, F.G.S.; H. W. Bristow, F.R.S., F.G.8.; Rev. T. G. Bonney, M.A., F.G.8.; Messrs. James Croll; J. R. Dakyns, M.A.; the Harl of Enniskillen, D.C.L., F.R.S.; Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P., F.R.S. ; Prof. Harkness, F.R.S., F.G.S.; Messrs. Henry Hicks; G. A. Lebour, F.R.G.S.; R. Lightbody, F.G.S.; Prof. 8. Loven, Stock- holm; Dr. J. G. O. Linnarsson ; Mr. J. A. Mahony ;. Prof. Owen, F.R.S. ; Messrs. R. Russell; J. Rofe, F.G.8.; H.C. Sorby, F.R.S., F.G.8.; Rev. J. D. La Touche ; Messrs. T. Thompson ; Ralph Tate,. A.LS., F.G.S.; J. Clifton Ward. F.G.S.; W. Whitaker, B.A. (Lond.), F.G.S.; W. H. S. Westropp, M.R.1.A. Of our last year’s contributors the following gentlemen have also added to this our sixth Volume, namely :—Messrs. T. P. Barkas> F.G.S8.; W. Carruthers, F.L.S., F.G.S.; Thos. Davidson, F.R.S., ¥.G.8.; C. E. Rance, F.G.S.; R. 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To Be pleased to add my name to the List as a Subscriber for one copy of Volume VII. of the Gxotogicat Magazine, to be published Monthly by Messrs. Trisner & Co., the First Part of which appeared on January 1, 1870, price Highteenpence each number Signature Address Geol. Mag 1869. Vel Wily LIM. os Le W.G Sunth FL .S.adnat th W West imp. Coniferous Fruits, etc. from Secondary Rocks W.G.Smith F.L.S.ad nat ith W.West i mp Coniferous Fruits from Secondary Rocks GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LV.—JANUARY, 1869. Qi GaN AL, ATE TO Leas. SS I.—On some Unperscrisep Contrerous FRuIts FRomM THE SeconpaRy Rocks or Briratn.! By Wo. Carrutuers, F.L.S., F.G.8., Botanical Department, British Museum. (PLATES I. ann II.) I. Prytres, Witham. N the paper on Coniferous Fruits I described in detail the struc- ture of three cones which had originally been described as, and all along believed to be, Cycadean. These cones were Zamiostrobus macrocephalus, Endl.; Z. ovatus, Gdpp; and Z. Susseaxiensis, Gopp. In making, in June last, a careful comparison between the version of M. Brongniart’s important essay, “ Exposition Chronologique des Périodes de Végétation et des Flores diverses qui se sont succédé a la surface de la Terre,” published in the Dict. univ. d’ Hist. Nat. 1849, and the version in the Ann. des Sc. Nat., Ser. III., Vol. xi., p. 285, bearing the same date, but which evidently, from the occasional emen- dations, had had a careful and later revision by its learned author than the copy with which I had heretofore been working, I found that M. Brongniart had already referred two of the species to the genus Pinites. On a foot-note on pp. 317, 318 of the volume quoted he gives the following reason for this change: ‘“‘ Un échantillon de ce fruit (Zamiostrobus macrocephalus) qui vient de m’étre communiqué par M. Wetherell, établit d’une maniére bien positive que ce n’est pas un fruit de Zamia, mais un cone de Pinus ayant tous les caractéres de ce genre, relativement a la forme et a la direction des écailes, et 4 la position des graines géminés a leur base. Quant au Z Sussewiensis, son analogie avec le précédent me parait évidente.” To M. Brong- niart then belongs the credit of having first correctly determined the affinities of these two cones, and they must be quoted as Pinites macrocephalus, Brongn., and P. Sussewiensis, Brongn. To the species already recorded of this genus, I have to add two new and striking species from Cretaceous Rocks, and a third from the Upper Oolites. 1 This paper is supplementary to two papers published in Vol. III. of the Grot. Mac. ; the one “On Araucarian Cones from the Secondary Rocks of Britain,” at page 249; and the other ‘‘ On some Fossil Coniferous Fruits,” at page 534, VOL. VI.—NO. LV. 1 ©. W. Carruthers—British Fossil Conifere. 1. Pinires LrcKensyt, sp. nov. Plate I. Figs. 1-5. Cone oblong-ovoid, with an obtuse or subtruncate apex; scales very broad, not thickened at the apex ; seeds small ovoid. Locality.—Lower Greensand of Shanklin, Isle of Wight. This beautiful cone forms part of the collection of John Leckenby, _ Ksq., F.G.S., Scarborough. It is preserved in its original form, and so perfectly fossilised, that the various details of its structure can be de- termined as satisfactorily as ina recent cone. It is 4 inches long, and 2 inches broad. There is still attached to it a portion of the branch which supported it, represented on Fig. 4. The structure of the interior, as disclosed in the longitudinal section (Fig. 2) agrees in every character of importance with that of the cone of Pinus Cedrus, Linn. The scales are marked with parallel strive, curving upwards and outwards from the base (Fig. 3). Several of the seeds exhibit the embryo in the centre of the albumen, and in one the section is so made as to show the divisions of the Cotyledons (Fig. 5). That this structure may be the better understood, I have placed be- side it on the Plate a copy (Fig. 6), from Richard’s Memoire sur les Ge (pl. 14, fig. H,) of a section of the seed of Pinus Cedrus, inn The affinity between this cone and the recent cedars is so obvious, that it would be wasting words to dwell upon it; but it may be interesting to remark that this group of pines, which is confined, according to Parlatore in his recent Monograph of the Conifer,’ to two species, the cedar of Lebanon and the Deodar, formed a striking characteristic of the Cretaceous flora. Besides the species just de- scribed, two others have been found in our British rocks, P. Benstedz, Endl., and P. oblongus, Endl.,? both from the Lower Greensand. Another species, P. Corneti, Coem., forms part of that remarkable local flora of Cycads and Conifers of Cretaceous age, described by M. Coemans, from La Louviéere. 2. PINITES GRACILIS, sp. nov. Plate I. Fig. 9. Cone elongated, cylindrical, tapering at the extremities into some- what acute ends; apex of the scale rhomboidal, somewhat thickened. Locality.—The Gault of Hastware Bay, near Folkestone. I am indebted to J. S. Gardner, Esq., F.G.S., for my acquaintance with this cone. He has two specimens in his collection. They are 34 inches long, and # of an inch broad. The cone is singularly dif- Resa from any species, recent or fossil, with which I am acquainted. PINITES DEPRESSUS, sp. nov. Plate II., Fig. 10. Cone small, cylindrical, depressed at the apex; scales short, very broad, thin at the apex. Locality—Kimmeridge Clay of Weymouth. The materials for establishing and describing this species are somewhat imperfect; but as this is the only coniferous fruit yet 1 De Candolle’s Prodromus. Vol. xvi., Sec. 2, p. 407. Paris, 1868. 2 The original and as yet only known’ specimen of this species isin the Museum at Oxford. W. Carruthers—British Fossil Conifere. 3 recorded from the Kimmeridge clay, and as it is a well marked, though probably a young cone, it seemed to be desirable to figure it. It is 10 lines long, and 11 lines broad. It is in the collection of the British Museum. II. Aravcarites, Unger. Since the publication of my paper on Fossil Araucarian Cones (Grou. Maa., Vol. iii. p. 249), I have had the opportunity of examin- ing the as yet unique specimen of Araucarites Pippingfordensis, Carr., with which I was then acquainted only from Fitton’s accurate figure. This examination has confirmed the opinion I then formed that this fossil was nearly allied to A. spherocarpus, Carr., and that they both belonged to the section represented by the Australian species, which, from their peculiarities, have been separated from the American species by some authors as a distinct genus with the name Hutacta. I may also mention here that unwittingly I intro- duced an 7 into the specific name, which should not be there, follow- ing the erroneous spelling of Unger’s Synopsis. I have now to add two additional species belonging to this genus, both from Oolitic rocks; founded principally on the detached scales which occur, the one in great abundance at Stonesfield, and the _ other somewhat more rarely in Yorkshire. 1. Araucarites Bropiet, sp. nov. Plate II. Figs. 1-6. Scales from the centre of the cone cuneate, gradually tapering towards the narrow base of attachment to the axis, composed of two portions, each terminating at its free apex in a short spinous process, the lower and larger portion very broad and membranous, the upper portion narrower and somewhat parallel-sided, supporting between them a single ovoid seed. Locality.—From the Stonesfield Slate of Stonesfield. I first noticed this species when examining the large collection of Stonesfield slate fossils in the Oxford Museum, and part of my illus- trations are from a specimen which Professor Phillips permitted me to have the loan of from his private collection. The scales are scattered over the surface of the slate, exhibiting, as is the case with the fossils of this bed, only casts of the organism slightly coloured with the remains of the mineral carbon into which they were con- verted. In some specimens the cast of the three parts of the scale are clearly seen, viz., the upper and under scales and the seed. The scales are from eight to eleven lines long, and from six to twelve lines broad at the widest parts. They present the double apex characteristic of the section Hutacta. In the collection of the Rev. P. B. Brodie I have found ihe cast of the lower portion of a cone, with an inch and a half of the supporting branch, marked by the scars of the leaves. This fragment exhibits the attachment of eight scales, and clearly establishes the true nature of the detached specimens. This is the more important, as the scales have been described as complete organisms by M. Pomel,’ who has detected them in the * Amtlicher Bericht tiber du xxv. Versammlung der Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Aerzte in Aachen, Sept., 1847, pp. 347-352, 4. W. Carruthers—British Fossil Conifere. Jurassic rocks of St. Mihiel and De Seyssel in France. He thus describes the specimens and interprets their meaning :—‘“‘The most remarkable of these organs are the ovate-lanceolate scales, which thin towards their apex, and have an oblong cavity hollowed out of their upper portion for the reception of an oblong somewhat com- pressed seed. The similarity in the form of their impressions show that they were really more or less foliaceous scales. If the apex is mistaken for the base they might be taken for the detached scales of an Araucaria. But in examining a number of these scales it becomes evident that the enlarged end is the base, because of its concavity, ‘et en outre elle est toujour accompagnée hl une autre empreinte en portions de cercle, large mais courte et se terminant évidemment par un court onglet.’ The thickness of this impression indicates that the fossil was a strong seale on a large spathulate leaf, upon which was inserted the carpillary scale,—the whole being certainly borne at the termination of a branch. This forms the whole female organ, and exhibits a great analogy to the fruit of Tawinew,—to that of Dacrydium for example, which is in the same way borne on a terminal thickened and dilated leaf. The discovery of a fragment of a branch terminating in one of these carpillary scales dispels all doubt as to this interpretation of their structure. They were then Taxinee, but without drupaceous fruits, the ovule being enclosed in a true and not fleshy scale. They form a small extinct family near Taxinee, which may be called Lepidocarpee. The male buds are ovoid, or cylindrical-oblong, and are composed of scales more or less broad at the base, recurved at the apex, and loosely or compactly imbricated. ‘Traces of stamens can be detected on the scales, pro- bably coriaceous and thick, but their characteristics cannot be clearly determined.” After examining the various species of Conifers of Oolitic age, based as they are chiefly upon the foliage, he concludes that there is no reason for placing them in separate genera, and he conse- quently establishes a new genus Moreawa, rejecting all the names hitherto employed, because, with a single exception, they suggest false analogies, and that excepted name (Brachyphyllum) is applica- ble only to a section of the whole. He describes eight new species from the French Oolites, and places 25 other species in his genus, most of which have been long known under the names Brachyphyllum, Thuites, Cupressites, Araucarites, Lycopodites, Cunninghamites, Taxo- dites, and Tamites. M. Pomel promises a more complete justifica- tion of his views in a monograph of the genus shortly to be published, but which, as far as I have been able to ascertain, has not yet made its appearance. I have quoted M. Pomel’s observations at length, as they are, if they can be established, most important, inasmuch as they introduce to science a new and singular tribe of extinct Taxineous Conifere. Genera established upon foliage are at the best unstable, and affi- nities determined only on such materials are nearly always un- satisfactory. ‘There need, then, be no insuperable barrier to the union of all these various forms in a single genus, if the organs of W. Carruthers—British Fossil Conifera. 5 reproduction were found to be similar. That genus would indeed be very variable in its foliage if it included such forms as Brachy- phyllum and Cunninghamites, but a wider variation is known in the very natural genus Podoearpus among living Oonifere. M. Pomel maintains that the organs of reproduction are the same; but that opinion rests only on the observation, as he believes, of a single specimen of the connection of foliage and fruit, in one of his 33 species; and in maintaining this position he is obliged to set aside the observation of M. Brongniart in regard to the fruit of Tawites podocarpoides, Brongn. In the numerous examples from the Stones- field slate which have passed under my observation I have not met with a single specimen which would support M. Pomel’s opinion. If the conditions of the St. Mihiel rocks are similar to what exists at Stonesfield, as appears from M. Pomel’s descriptions, every one acquainted with our English rock must know how easy it is to be deceived in attempting to unite fragmentary fossils from mere juxta- position of impressions which does not in the least testify to former organic connection. The structure of the scales as exhibited in the better preserved specimens, places it beyond doubt that M. Pomel has mistaken the apex for the base of the organism. The apex of the scale is double, each portion representing one of the two structures of which the Araucarian scale is composed, and which can be easily distinguished in numbers of the specimens. Tach of these portions terminates in a short free spinous process. It would be quite anomalous to have such a double attachment for a single fruit. Taking, however, the interpretation I propose, everything is intelligible,—the form of the scale, the position of the seed, the broad membranous wings to the scale, and the double apex, all agree with what occurs in the Australian species of Araucaria, and with what I have shown to be the structure of Araucarites spheroearpus (Guo. Mac., Vol. III., p. 252), And that this is the true interpretation of the scales is established by the cast of a fragment of a cone from the Rev. P. B. Brodie’s collection figured on Plate IT., Fig. 1. There is a considerable variety in the size and form of the scales scattered over the surface of the slate, but they all agree in bearing a single seed, and in having a more or less extended membranous margin to the scale. The difference in form may indicate the exist- ence of more than one species, but I am rather inclined, from the materials I have examined, to consider it due to the position on the cone which the different scales occupied. Figures 3 and 4 represent the most abundant found ; specimens occur considerably larger than those figured; Figure 2 is a form of which I have several examples. Except that the scales of Araucaria excelsa, the species found on Norfolk Island, are considerably larger than those of the fossil, they agree remarkably in every other respect with them. In explanation of the occurrence of so many separate scales, and the rarity of cones, it deserves to be remarked that, unlike the cones of our northern Abietinee, the scales very readily separate from the axis in Araucaria, so that it is difficult to preserve them whole in collections. 6 W. Carruthers—British Fossil Conifer. Impressions of two fragments of branches have been seen by me in the Stonesfield slate, which most probably belonged to this species (both in the collection of the British Museum), of one of which a portion is figured on Plate IL., Fig. 5. I have also observed a leaf agreeing in the size of its base with the scars on the branches, and in form with the leaves of some living species of Araucaria. It isrepresented at Figure 6 of the same Plate. 2. AravcaRiTes Paruurpsit, sp. nov. Plate II. Figs. 7-9. Scales from the centre of the cone cuneate, nearly as broad as long, lower scale thickish throughout, without membranous wings. “Winged seed,” Phillips’ Geology of Yorkshire, ed. I. (1829), p- 190, plate x, fig. 5. Locality.—Inferior Oolite or Lower Calcareous Sandstone shales (Phillips) of Yorkshire. Professor Phillips observed these scales in the beds at Haiburn Wyke. He was evidently unable to determine to his own satis- faction what they were, and so modified his first suggestion that they were probably the seeds of Cycadites, at page 150, to the more general designation, ‘“‘ Winged seed,” at page 190. When I detected the species just described in the Oxford Museum, Prof. Phillips drew my attention to the similar organisms from York- shire. They are smaller in size than the species just described, being from six to eight lines long by about six lines broad. The structure of the scale, with its single median seed, although not so clearly exhibited as in the casts of specimens in the Stonesfield slate, is sufficient to show, without any doubt, that it is an Arau- carian scale. Additional evidence confirming this opinion is ob- tained from a fragment of a cone in the collection of Prof. William- son, of Manchester, and which he has been good enough to let me have for the purpose of figuring it. This specimen (Fig. 7) is a portion of a rubbed cone, imperfect at both extremities, with the scales abraded to near the axis, showing the cavities which held the seeds, and these are filled on one side of the cone with carbonate of lime, which takes the form of the seed it has replaced. Hach scale bears a single seed, as in Araucaria, and the size of the scale and the seed cor- responds with that seen in the detached scales. As this fragment is from the same deposit as the scales, it may fairly be concluded that it is the cone of Araucarites Phillipsii. It shows it to have been smaller, more cylindrical, and to have been composed of smaller, shorter, and more broadly cuneate scales than 4. spherocarpus, Carr., found in beds of the same age at Bruton, Somersetshire. Professor Phillips figures the apex of the scale terminating in a single short apiculus. I have not been able to detect this, but the mineral condition of the specimens, and the shale in which they are preserved, make it difficult to determine clearly minute points in their structure. Itis probable from the apparent absence of the double apiculus to the scales, and the want of the membranous wings, that this species may belong to the section of the genus named Colymbeia by Salisbury, and confined among living plants to the species inhabiting South America. W. Carruthers—British Fossil Conifere. 7 Setting aside the unsatisfactory evidence of foliage and wood, we know, from the remains of fruits of the existence of five species of Araucaria in the Secondary rocks of Britain. One Cretaceous Arau- carites Pippingfordensis, Carr., from the Wealden, and the others Oolitic, one undescribed and apparently lost, but determined by Robert Brown, from the Purbeck, one 4. Brodiei, Carr., from the Stonesfield slate ; and two A. spherocarpus, Carr., and A. Phillipsu, Carr., from the Inferior Oolite. Szquorites GARDNERI, sp. nov., Plate I, Figs. 7, 8. Cone oval, scales peltate, the rhomboidal apex, smooth, depressed in the centre, broader than deep; leaves falcate, incurved, sub- quandrangular in section, arranged spirally on the branch. Locality.—The Gault of Hastware Bay, near Folkestone. For this second British Cretaceous species of Sequoiites I am in- debted to J. S. Gardner, Esq., whose researches in the Gault of Folkestone I desire to acknowledge by associating his name with the species. AppEnpIx.—The remarkable branches from the Oxford Clay which are represented by Figures 11-13 of Plate II. are placed there with the view of eliciting information regarding them, rather than for the purpose of adding names and descriptions, which mean nothing, to the already long list of uncertain objects that occur in every enume- ration of fossil plants. Both forms—that of Figure 11, but especially that represented by Figures 12 and 13—are very remarkable, and easily recognisable. It would specially help to a satisfactory deter- mination of the true nature if either foliage or fruit could be found associated with them. EXPLANATION OF PLATES I. ann II.—Puare I. Fie. 1. Pinites Leckenbyi, Carr. : 2. Section of the same through the axis; the scales and the seeds. The section is not continued to the base of the cone, the lower and lighter coloured portion being fractured. 3. A scale with two seeds at the base. I 4. A portion of the base of the cone seen from below, and exhibiting the remains of the supporting branch. , 5. Section of one of the seeds considerably magnified, showing the embryo, in the middle of the albumen, with the division of the Cotyledons. 6. Section of a seed of Pinus Cedrus, Linn., for comparison with Fig. 5. From Richard. 7. Cone of Seguotites Gardneri, Carr. 8. Fragment of a branch of the same. 9. Cone of Pinites gracilis, Carr. Prats II. Fig. 1. Cast of the fragment of a cone of Araucarites Brodie’, Carr., with a portion of the supporting branch. 2, 8, and 4. Seales of the same; the latter two exhibiting the double nature of the apex. 5. The cast of a fragment of a branch, and 6. A leaf, probably, belonging to the same species. 7. Rolled fragment of Araucarites Phillipsii, Carr., showing the single seed in each scale. 8 and 9. Scales of the same species. 10. Cone of Pinites depressus, Carr. 11. Branch from the Oxford Clay of Chippenham, Cambridgeshire. 12 and 13. Branches from the Oxford Clay of Christian Malford, Wiltshire. 12 from the collection of Wm. Cunnington, Esq., F.G.S.; 138 from the British Museum. 8 J. Clifton Ward—On Geological Time. IJ.—SuecEstions As To GEoLtocican Time. By J. Currron Warp, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. UT a few years since geologists were in the habit of drawing largely from the Bank of time, and the more they drew the greater was the supply they seemed to want, till at last the thought seemed to come quite natural to them that the supply indeed was inexhaustible. Quite lately, however, these time-speculators have had it suggested to them that there is a limit to the supply, and that the countless ages on which they have depended seem to be very probably but some one hundred millions of years, and untold ages to be reckoned by telling numerals. Just as, however, it would be doubtless a fault in geologists to look up to mathematicians as infallible in the results at which they arrive regarding geological phenomena, so is it unwise to accept for granted the explanation of like phenomena from a cosmical point of view without first putting it to every possible geological test. Now Mr. Croll has very clearly shown that 240,000 years ago our earth was 60 situated as regards the eccentricity of its orbit, and the posi- tion of its northern hemisphere during the summer and winter sol- stices, a8 gradually to bring on a glacial climate, lasting until some 80,000 years ago, though having two or more warm periods included within this term of 160,000 years. Can any geological facts be brought forward to test this theory ? Now it seems to me that there are but two classes of facts which can be of use in such an investigation, viz. :— Ist. The building up, or wearing away and deposition, of solid material. 2nd. The rising, or falling, of the earth’s crust. Under the first class of facts—1st. Building up. Suppose a Coral- reef 1000 feet in thickness to be formed on a spot where the re- frigerating effects of the glacial climate must have prevented the existence of reef-builders during that epoch, and that such reef pre- sents every appearance of continuity of growth; then, provided we can form an estimate of the average growth of such a reef under favourable conditions, the least time required may be calculated: for instance, taking one foot per century as the rate of increase in vertical height, a reef 1000 feet in thickness would take at the least 100,000 years in forming, and we should conclude that the Glacial period must have ended not less than 100,000 years ago. 2nd. Wearing away and deposition.—Sand and clay to a thickness of some 60 feet is found lying upon Glacial Drift, or surrounding and partly overlapping mounds of such drift, as, for example, in the neighbourhood of York. In the artificial process of warping, each tide not unfrequently deposits about 1-12th of an inch of fresh soil. If comparisons could be made between the natural and artificial methods of warping, the difference in area being allowed for in the two cases, some sort of conclusion might be arrived at as to the length of time that the materials for 60 feet of warp took in being denuded from one spot and deposited in another, such a period being J. Clifton Ward—On Geological Time. 9 the least which could have elapsed since the deposition of the Glacial Drift. Under the second class of facts, which is, perhaps, less reliable, Wwe may reason thus :— 1st. Hlevation.—All observations tend to show that the elevation or depression of the earth’s surface takes place very gradually, and extends with tolerable constancy over long periods (this the thick coral-reefs of the Pacific seems to prove) ; supposing we are able to conclude generally that this movement averages one foot per century over many parts of the earth, then marine Glacial deposits now 1000 feet above the sea would show that they were formed not less than 100,000 years ago." 2nd. Subsidence.—The case of the Coral-reef in “ building up” may also be taken as an example of subsidence within a given period. Now taking some actual examples let us see whether they, even roughly, lend any support to the results arrived at by Mr. Croll. The Peninsula of Florida is made up of some ten coral-reefs one within the other. The whole Peninsula, being only 16 or 17 feet above the sea-level, is formed of the same species of coral, that species being still at work in forming the outermost reef, between which and the Island of Cuba the Gulf Stream flows. Professor Huxley, calling each reef 70 feet thick, and taking the upward growth as one foot per century, has estimated the period for the growth of one reef as 7000, and for the whole Peninsula as 70,000 years, supposing the conditions necessary for a constant increase in height of the reef to be favourable. Dr. Dana, in his excellent Manual, divides the Post-Tertiary Period into the following Epochs:— Glacial Epoch, Champlain Epoch, Terrace Epoch. The Glacial Epoch includes the true Glacial Drift, a deposit due to a vast spread of land-ice reaching down to the latitude of 39°, the epoch being one, Dr. Dana considers, of high latitude clevation. A partial subsidence of the country brought in the Champlain Epoch, softening the climate, melting the vast ice-sheet, swelling the rivers, and causing great thicknesses of fresh-water deposits to be formed along their course and around the large lakes. The shells in these deposits indicate a temperature very similar to the present. During the Terrace Epoch the land was again gently elevated, the elevation being greater in high latitudes—as much as 1000 feet in the extreme north—and lessening southwards, where probably the up- ward movement was completely lost; then it was that the Champ- lain deposits were carved into terraces, and sea beaches left high and dry. But to return to the Glacial Epoch: if North America was clad with one universal sheet of ice down to the parallel of 39°, it would cer- tainly have been impossible forcoral-animalsto have beenreef-building 1 Example—The marine shells at an elevation of 1400 feet at Moel Tryfaen, near Bangor ; for even if the hypothesis of a 600 feet fall in the sea-level be true, the land must have been raised 800 feet, giving a period of 80,000 years at the rate of one foot per century. 10 J. Clifton Ward—On Geological Time. only 9° farther south. From this one would argue either that the reef- builders of Florida began their work before the Glacial Epoch, left it off as the climate became cold, and resumed it at the close of that period, or that the whole structure was of Post-glacial age. If the former was the case, it would seem probable that there might be _ some indication of it, either in a change of species, or in some more or less marked break in the structure of the Peninsula. I believe there is no such indication; therefore the evidence would lead one to conclude the whole structure tu be Post-glacial, and we have already seen that probably the work cannot have taken less than 70,000 years. But if the cold of the Glacial Epoch could arrest the labour of the reef-builders at this particular part, it probably had a similar effect upon other parts likewise. The sheet of ice upon Greenland is acknowledged to have a great effect in cooling our climate at the present time; its removal would have, as Mr. Croll says,’ quite a “‘magical effect upon the entire northern hemisphere:” imagine, then, the power that a sheet of ice occupying the greater part of the northern hemisphere would have in cooling those portions of the globe immediately south of it. There is, however, another point to be considered, viz., that according to Mr. Croll’s theory the causes which would in the northern hemisphere produce an extremely cold climate, would in the southern produce a proportionally hot one; the hot southern hemisphere, however, would have its climate more influenced by the cold of the northern, than the northern would have its cold climate affected by the heat of the southern ;— therefore the heat would have to retreat as it were before the cold, and the probability is that mstead of the hottest part of our globe being situated around the equator, it would lie considerably south of it. In this way the two isotherms of 68°, which are the limits of reef-builders at the present day, would be carried considerably south of their present position, and Coral-reefs would then probably only be in process of formation south of the equator. But do not Coral- islands in mid-ocean, with deep water all around, indicate a con- tinuity of upward growth? For suppose an island in the Pacific north of the equator, rising 1000 feet above the sea, to be encircled by a reef; if the land sink at the same rate as the corals can build, say one foot per century, the reef will grow upwards, the island lessening in diameter. But now suppose a Glacial climate in the northern hemisphere to come on and seriously to affect the reef- builders, they must of necessity die off, migration being impossible by reason of the deep surrounding sea. The subsidence of the land, however, would probably continue, and when the cold was over and the reef-builders might have found it possible to continue their work, there would be no means for them to gain the shores, and the island would go down without leaving an atoll behind as tombstone to mark the spot of its watery grave. Supposing, then, the Glacial climate had a marked effect upon the reef-builders north of the equator, it would be impossible for any of the reefs we now see in that region, surrounding or taking 1 Article in Philosophical Magazine for November, 1868. J. Clifton Ward—On Geological Time. 11 the place of oceanic islands, to have been commenced before the Glacial Epoch. Let the accompanying woodcut represent the out- line of the great Pacific Continent; the line A B is the sea level soon after the commencement of the Glacial Epoch, say 240,000 years ago; suppose the land to be regularly sinking at the rate of one foot per century, in 160,000 years (the close of the Glacial Epoch) the sea-level would be represented by the line © D, the distance a y being 1600 feet in vertical height. During this interval, however (according to our supposition), the reefs 1, 2, 3 north of the equator would have ceased to grow upwards, while the reefs 4, 5, 6 south of it would have continued their upward growth; after this period of 160,000 years the reef-builders would be able to recommence work north of the equator, and No. 4 reef might gradually extend itself further north (in the direction of the arrow) until the Post-glacial reef No. 7 would commence and finally form with No. 4 one great ee — — — en CO eee) — — — —— en a a ms ee eS ie ek BS) NortH Equator SourE Ideal representation of Old Pacific Continent, to illustrate the theory of the gradual subsidence ~ of the land and the formation of Coral-Reefs. encircling reef; but owing to the great depth of ocean which would now separate G from H no reef-builders could find their way to the island G, which would, although other conditions were favourable, be without a reef of any kind; and in some instances it might be the case that the reef 4 would not be able on account of the deep water to wrap round the north side of the sinking island, and in this way some of the strange forms of reefs may be occasioned. ‘The line EH} F represents the sea-level as it now is after a lapse of 80,000 years, the distance x/y’ representing 800 feet in vertical height. We should thus expect to find in the Coral regions north of the equator some islands without reefs of any kind, others with encircling reefs, or atolls of no very great thickness, and therefore small size.'_ This view is somewhat confirmed by the fact that the atolls of the Pacific “diminish towards the equator and disappear mostly north of it;’’* and I believe I am correct in stating that the thickest reefs, so far as can be ascertained with any accuracy, occur mostly south of the equator. Dana estimates the whole subsidence in the Pacific area to be not less than 6000 feet, and adds,” “It is probable that this sinking began in the Post-tertiary period.” Now, since it seems likely that the general rate of subsidence cannot be much more than a foot per century, in order that the corals may keep pace with it, the sinking of this 6000 feet of land would take 600,000 years, 1 Of course the thicker a reef is the larger will be the area which it includes. If Darwin’s chart of Coral-Rocks be referred to, it will there be seen that north of 10° north lat., there are but one or two small atolls, while in the southern hemisphere they extend in mass as far as the parallel of 25°. 2 Dana’s Manual of Geology, p. 587. 12 J. Clifton Ward—On Geological Time. going far beyond Mr. Croll’s Glacial period; and it seems to me very possible that the subsidence commenced long before the Post- tertiary, the continent about the commencement of the Glacial Epoch having reached a condition somewhat similar to that represented in the figure where the highest point might be some 3000 feet. The following is an actual example of the wearing away of solid materials since a given period. The Falls of Niagara have been cut back at least six miles since the Champlain Epoch, for lake-deposits formed by the old extension of Lake Ontario, and containing similar shells to those now living near the entrance of the lake, are found both at Goat Island and on either side of the gorge near the whirl- pool; six miles then at least of the gorge have been excavated since the formation of these deposits. Dana says,’ “‘ Taking the rate at one foot a year, the six miles will have required over 34,000 years; if at one inch a year—which is 84 feet a century—380,000 years.” The former was Sir Charles Lyell’s estimate, which, if considered too great, is probably outdone in the other extreme of one inch a year; if, however, we take the mean of these two estimates, namely, six inches a year, the time would then be 62,000 years since the probable close of the Champlain Epoch. Going still further north in the same quarter of the globe, raised beaches of Champlain Epoch age are found in the Arctic regions at an elevation of 1000 feet above the sea;? if it be not far from the truth that the probable average rate of elevation as well as depres- sion is about one foot per century, then 100,000 years would seem to have elapsed since the Champlain Epoch, instead of some 60,000 as just estimated. But is there any good reason to think that the average rate of continental elevation (I speak not of local and paroxysmal elevations connected with volcanic phenomena) is the same as that of depression? It seems to me probably not; for take the case of the west coast of South America, which has undergone within comparatively modern times an elevation of at least 1200 feet ; if we suppose that the elevation of one large tract is connected with the subsidence of a neighbouring tract, and we take into considera- tion that for the most part the highest portions of continents face the largest seas, and are generally not far removed from the coast line,* then in the case of South America, for instance, we see why the Andes on the west coast should be at a greater elevation than those ranges on the east of the same continent. Inasmuch also as the tract over which elevation has taken place is far less than that over which subsidence has been going on (supposing elevation on a large scale to be due to the sinking of certain portions and the squeezing up of the portion between them), it follows that the elevatory force having to act within narrow limits will produce a greater upward effect than the subsiding force, acting over a larger area, will produce in a down- ward direction. Thus, supposing the subsidence of the great Pacific area to be connected with the elevation of South America, it might 1 Manual of Geology, p. 590. 2 Dana’s Manual, p. 551. sY> P Pp 8 Dana’s Manual of Geology, p. 731. C. J. A. Meyer—Red Chalk of Speeton. 13 be that while the former sank some 6000 feet, the latter would rise some 12,000. Sea-areas are for the most part areas of depression, and land-areas those of elevation, but the proportion of water to dry land is as eight to three: consequently elevating force is confined to less than half the space of depressing force ; therefore it ought to act through more than twice the height. If such a theory be at all correct, then the case of a 1000 feet elevation in the Arctic regions since the Champlain Epoch might be accomplished in some 50,000 years. It thus seems that the Coral-reefs of Florida probably took not less than 70,000 years in forming, their commencement dating from soon after the close of the Glacial Epoch ; that the Niagara gorge may have taken some 60,000 years in being cut out since the close of the Champlain Epoch of North America; that the elevation of the beaches belonging to the Champlain Hpoch in the Arctic regions may have been accomplished in some 50,000 years ; and that the elevation of the Glacial-marine deposits of Moel 'Tryfaen to the height of 1400 feet may have taken some 70,000 years. I regard the foregoing examples as very rough indications of the method that will probably have to be pursued by geologists to test the periods of geological time as deduced from cosmical causes. TJ].—NotE on THE PassaGE oF THE RED CHALK OF SPEETON INTO AN UNDERLYING CLAY-BED. By C. J. A. Mryer, Hse. HE accompanying section represents the passage of the Red Chalk, of Speeton, into an underlying bed of dark slaty clay. It exhibits a small section, which was visible in the cliff on the South of Speeton Beck, in September last. In Mr. Judd’s excellent paper on the Speeton Clay,’ much stress is laid on the position of the supposed break, or want of conformity, between the Upper Cretaceous and the Neocomian strata of the Speeton cliff, while, at the same time, it is freely acknowledged that the junction of the two formations has not been observed. Now, it is evident from the accompanying section that the Red Chalk passes quietly downwards into a dark coloured clay. And it is also evident that this dark clay must represent, from its position, either Gault or Lower Greensand. If it represents the Gault, Mr. Judd’s suggestion respecting the position of the supposed break in the Cretaceous series at Speeton may be still confirmed. If, on the other hand, the black clay represents the top of the Lower Greensand—as is not unlikely—a break in the series might still be supposed to occur at the base of a representative of the 1 On the Speeton Clay. By John W. Judd, Esq., F.G.S. Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. vol, xxiv. p. 218, 14 “ Holkstone beds ” C. J. A. Meyer—Red Chalk of Speeton. of the Lower Greensand. A supposition which, however well it would suit the views of the present writer, future observation must decide. DESCRIPTION OF CLIFF-SECTION SEEN ON THE SOUTH OF SPEETON BECK, IN SEPFEMBER, 1868. Lower part of a UrPEn Red Chalk GREENSAND about 4 feet. ‘4 AND | C Pale Reddish Clay, GAULT. < about 2 feet. f passing | L | into | Black Clay LowER | about 5 feet. GREENSAND. j 2 - Obscure. Terebratulina rigida, Sow. =| Terebratulina striata, var. Rhynchonella lineolata, Phil. =| Terebratula semiglobosa, Sow. NE Terebratula biplicata, Sow. ‘| Belemnites minimus, List. Fb le) We WP WE | Vermicularia Phillipsti, Rem. rE Te alin, &e. Weal aM WA ANE Ww a ST | RE VT 1 Inoceramus sulcatus, Park. j Belemnites minimus, List. Belemnites semicanaliculatus, [ Blain. Belemites (?) No other fossils. J. R. Gregory—Lignite-bed near Cape Town. 15 IV.—Tue Lienite Bep near Care Town, Sourm Arrica. By James R. Grecory. T the commencement of the present year some considerable interest was excited at Cape Town through the announcement in the newspapers that coal had been discovered at the Cape, and pronounced by reputed competent authorities to be of very good — quality. Very soon afterwards it was reported, however, that it was not coal but peat, or lignite, and of bad quality; but still the newspapers persisted in calling it “The Coal diggings.” I heard of the discovery on my first arrival at Cape Town, in April last, and resolved to visit the spot at the first opportunity. In the meantime I obtained some information, and also the name of the person who was superintending the working, and on April 24th went to the Klapmuts Station on the Cape Town and Wellington Railway, and walked across to the Joostenberg workings, about five miles from the station. I found on my arrival that a pit had been sunk to the depth of 91 feet through a constant series of sands and clays, apparently of Tertiary age. Whilst I was there, Mr. Thomas, who was super- intending the sinking, most obligingly measured and gave me the various thicknesses of the different beds, which I subjoin : these were published some time afterwards in the newspapers at Cape Town :— FT. IN. Meme rWAThersANG) ski tvesee.eaths wade seveccaducecceese tecuee caoaneceees 6 0 Black, or nearly black, very friable sandstone, highly bituminous 4 3 NEMO MIE, ocemay ash ieee 30902900050 COSOnOCeoCINpECDNOUHIOOToDSHodSnadooosoNeE 2 Blacks highly bigumin ous: Clay. 424. oenaracdvaseccsssteerasw..ceacesere “foil NGUGPONIShy SAND to. cee cc vests ssieesvarsssdcuceensstGans veve«ceneccacs thos i @ Baishetriable sandstone 2. sm csversceteeescteveececencssecese net eceee 2 0 HAO Sep ONES 28. ae aaah tye asthe Ate S Sees 2 Pay 3 6 Migttledishlurshyclavesus: srawis venevetenecctestockes sence) eearecneessahecss 5 4 ted sand: binsh) clay and Sande: apcctcnende/-tetosingsancoss-tiaasaeyes (hae HNEUROCHT GUS! Clay. Uren sua cectecactdeuas cast abedecaxeera assess chicas varcuies 3 6 White and yellowish mottled pipe-clay.........css.cesseseeseccessconns 15 0 Browmrclayeltkentollen slearthyy ss gett Sib see lit a. 6 8 edkand) wihite: mottled: Clays casas: .csadeoaesardehiecciageccceiecte oelyecte 4 9 Broun clay eluce fuller Seat My, «cca das cuanesuecoseegedocaksethsosadece 3 6 MUS Lavpeteerctes tere setae sea rane correc asde sas tcaattoravecccccctencec 2 0 iEgciap les ony slatie-COl OUREO Clonysewae eh ecsactsaeseeseacceeeeecoterte anne 16 Brower clays dike filler’ si earth ee.e2ks.0s0..5.08ecqcranconsdeaececdarce 2 6 BOISE Clay: saawetaten ai totes ae tee wc Nen vec nauu ace sciaeas ce tiaaehd 13 Brown tia blet sandstone merece ssnets tees. coc cosas ccereetecccce varcnaens 8 6 Purple or slate-coloured friable sandstone...........ss.e.ceseeeeceseeee 2 9 Chocolate-brown friable sandstone,...........s.ssseseesseccecsesseece oe 1 6 90 11 Now as this lignite did not turn out to be coal, the Cape geologists, who professed to have much knowledge of coal-mining as well as of everything else relating to minerals, suggested to dig deeper and deeper till they came to coal; for as lignite was coal half-finished, coal quite finished was certain to be found below. To go deeper is unfortunately the idea with many persons unacquainted with coal- mining and the geological age of rocks. Now, by the table above, 16 J. R. Gregory—Lignite-bed near Cape Town. it will be seen that 80 feet 8 inches had already been sunk below the lignite and no coal had yet been arrived at. Mr. Thomas told me that he thought it likely he would soon get coal before he went much deeper. I told him positively that it was absolutely impossible to find coal anywhere in the neighbourhood, and that the lignite was a true Tertiary lignite, or brown coal, and in it I had found small fragments of the large fan-like leaves of the palm, similar to those in the Bovey coal in Devonshire, and which prove it to be of Miocene, or, at all events, of Tertiary age; and then the clays and sands evidently belong to the Tertiary Epoch, and are similar to our English deposits of pipe-clays and Eocene sands. In the bed of black friable sandstone, 4 feet 3 inches in thickness (and yet it can hardly be called a sandstone, as it is not compact enough), is a very large amount of a viscid petroleum-like substance which directly overlies the lignite bed, and the black bituminous clay im- mediately below it, and of a thickness of 7 feet 1 inch. I suggested that if these beds were of any extent they might be turned to account for making paraffin or some other oil, and used for burning; but then, again, it must be borne in mind that there is no fuel but wood in the district, and not a large quantity of that, so that some of the product must be employed to continue the manufacture: it is there- fore doubtful if such an undertaking would pay. In returning from Joostenberg I stopped at the D’Urban Road Station, where I heard that another bed of lignite existed: this is only about 124 miles from Cape Town, Joostenberg being about 40 miles. This bed is about one mile from the station: here I found three small pits nearly full of water; the lignite appeared very similar, but perhaps in a little thicker beds than at Joostenberg, with the same variety of sands and clays, or nearly so. I think it may possibly be a continuation of the deposit at Joostenberg, though 25 miles distant. Some short time after this I went on a journey up the country and heard nothing more of the “ Coal diggings,” till I accidently saw a notice in one of the papers that the works had been stopped,—and that they had dug 29 feet deeper since I was there, and then abandoned them, so that in addition to the beds in the above table the following have to be added :— FT, IN. Brow and Ted BandstOne 2.2 ccccaswacncccscasecssscescesnoasces Ot nO Brown’ and ‘blae’sandstone “22.5.2 .ck.ces--cscs-ccozsnncaceasans ae ea) Yellow loose sandy TOcK ......-..sccccs.eseee=-+ ocen-annannees 12 0 29 0 In previous table ..........2..sese+e 90 11 Wotal2 whet. et 119 11 In concluding this notice, I may just draw attention to the con- duct of the newspaper editors. It seems that the English Times quoted cr received notes of this “coal venture,’’ which were inserted as a paragraph. After the speculation had been abandoned, the ‘Cape papers turned round on the Times with a paragraph headed “Sold again. The London Times of such a date, etc., says that a Notices of Memoirs— Geological Survey of India. 17 coal-mine has been discovered near Cape Town, etc.” If the Cape colonial newspapers were as particular as the Times and other London papers, there would not be so many “mare’s nests” as the Cape- tonians are constantly discovering, and which usually end in smoke. NOTICES OF MEMOTRS. I.—REcoRDS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SuRVEY oF Inpra. Voc. I. Part 2. Aveust, 1868. HIS publication contains miscellaneous notes and observations made by Officers of the Geological Survey of India. Coal at Chenda.—Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.G.S., having been en- gaged in examining some coal seams discovered in the neizhourhood of Chenda, here furnishes a report on the prospects of the coal being profitably mined. He states that although one seam is very pro- mising, some further research is necessary “before a decisive opinion can be formed upon this subject. Dr. Oldham adds that borings have been carried out close to the town of Chenda, and have proved the existence of coal, about 2ft. 6 inches in thickness. The coal is said to be hard, but as no trial of it has yet been made, its quality is unknown. Coal near Nagpur. __Mr. Blanford reports on the likelihood of coal being found near Nagpur. Although it is probable that the sand- stones developed in the neighbourhood belong to the Indian coal- bearing series, yet he has been unable to obtain any indications of coal. By far the greater portion of the beds of this series in Nagpur are concealed by thick alluvial soil, and it is therefore impossible to say whether coal exists beneath it, or not. Mr. Blanford, however. points out a few localities where its presence is just possible, in order that, if advisable, borimgs may be made to determine the question. Geological Notes on the Surat Collectorate, (Bombay Presidency).— Mr. A. B. Wynne, F.G.S., gives a general account of the Physical features and of the formations constituting this Collectorate, and he then furnishes some detailed notes on the rocks in various localities. Taken generally the district may be described as flat, with isolated hills on the south, and bordered on the east by a hilly and jungly tract. The formations which occur are— ‘Racant ( Cotton soil. \ Alluvium and river-beds. Tertiary Nummulitic ? Trap. The trap-beds consist of many varieties, ranging from solid basaltic trap to soft shaly-looking amygdaloid, the variously sized cavities of which are filled with zeolites of different kinds, and sometimes by transparent or amethystine quartz. Resting unconformably upon the traps is to be seen a series of VOL. VI.—No. Ly. 2 18 Notices of Memoirs—The Jherria Coal-field, India. hard lateritic ferruginous rocks, coarse conglomerates, dull yellow earthy limestones, sandy and clayey beds; many of them highly fossiliferous, some largely made up of Nummulites, others of the separated valves of Balanide, with teeth of sharks, fragments of the carapaces of turtles, and bones as yet undetermined. From the evidence of the fossils, a ‘Parisien’ age has been assigned, by Dr. Stoliczka, to this series of beds. Sections of these Nummulitic beds, from one to three hundred feet in thickness, may be seen in many of the streams. The alluvium is almost universally composed of a fine light- coloured argillaceous loam, seldom pebbly or gravelly, and always formed from the decomposition of the local rocks. The cotton soil covers the alluvium over many large tracts of the © country. It is often of considerable depth, presenting the usual desiccation cracks, but without any circumstances to throw ad- ditional light upon its source or formation. It seems in this country at least to result from the decomposition of an alluvium largely made up of trappean materials. Cretaceous Cephalopoda of South India.—Dr. F. Stoliczka records some recent observations which must be considered as a supplement to his volume on the Cephalopoda, already published. No fresh materials have been procured, but from his having had last year the opportunity of examining, in London, Professor E. Forbes’ original collection, made by Messrs. Kaye and Cunliffe, and also in different European Museums a large number of other species, with which Indian Cephalopoda have respectively been identified, new light has been thrown on some of the species, and some alterations in the names, etc., rendered necessary. I1.—Tue Juerria Coat-Fie. By Turopore Hveuss, Assoc. R.S.M., F.G.S., [Mem. Geol. Survey, India, Vol. V. Art. 4.] HIS memoir is confined chiefly to a detailed description of the physical aspect and geological history of an area of not less than two hundred square miles, and which has been termed the Jherria Coal-field. It occurs a few miles south and south-east of Parisnath, one of the highest mountains in Bengal. The field commences at a distance of about 170 miles from Calcutta, and extends in an east and west direction about eighteen miles, its greatest breadth, in a line north and south, being about ten miles. The character of the ground is generally flat, and nowhere rises into undulating scenery ; it is rocky, and covered by a very slight amount of soil, so that cultivation is not extensively practised. Two series of beds are developed in the district, the lower, the Talchir; the upper, the Damada; comprising a total thickness of 6,800 feet of strata, and forming a basin, the beds usually dipping at right angles away from the boundary, at varying amounts, towards a common centre of depression. The Talchir series consists of a Boulder-bed, and above it flaggy green shales and mammillated sandstones. Notices of Memoirs—The Jherria Coal-field, India. 19 The Damida series, which has three sub-divisions, is characterised by its containing coal. The bottom beds consist of felspathic grits, sandstone with seams of coal, carbonaceous shales, conglomerates, etc.; then come carbonaceous shales with ironstones, forming the middle sub-division; and at the top, thick-bedded, and yellow slightly calcareous sandstones. With the exception of the middle sub-division, coal occurs at all depths in the Damiuda series. _ The Boulder-bed of the Talchir series, which is, more properly speaking, a coarse conglomerate, consists mainly of masses of gneiss and quartz, of about one foot in length and three to six inches in breadth, imbedded in a matrix varying in texture from a coarse- grained sandstone to the finest silt. One is apt, at a first glance, to attribute to the agency of ice a share in the transportation of the larger blocks. But the author states that on examining the evidence he can find none to justify such an hypothesis. No scratchings or groovings occurred on any of the stones, nor have they been derived from any very distant source. The larger blocks sometimes retain the primitive form in which they were broken off from the parent mass. A recent visit to the Straits Settlements led the author to conclude that the beach deposit which is forming there at the pre- sent time is analogous to the so-called Boulder-bed. No coal has as yet been discovered in the Talchirs. In the Damida series the coal-seams appear to be very irregular, and to vary much in thickness. In the upper sub-division there is a general tendency to ignition in all the coal seams, owing, most probably, to the pre- sence in them of iron pyrites, which gives rise to spontaneous com- bustion. Metamorphism is produced in the shales either above or below, and it is of a varied character. Sometimes the beds become like well-burnt bricks, or obtain a rough vesicular appearance. A caking variety of coal is procured at one locality, which more- over gives out a copious supply of gas, burning with a rich yellowish white carburetted flame. Many seams are much injured by the trap-dykes which ramify through them and render the coal useless. In one instance the coal assumes every variety of form and texture, passing from a light vesicular pumice-like stone through all the intermediate stages until it becomes a hard dense columnar mass. The seams vary in thickness from a few inches to twenty feet, and more. The quality of the ironstones is very poor, and they are so siliceous that even the native Kummars can do nothing with them. In a note, appended to the report of Mr. Hughes, Dr. Oldham says, that if, in calculating the probable quantity of coal obtainable from this field, we take twenty feet as a fair average thickness of workable coal—the mean of all the sections drawn by Mr Hughes—and make allowances for the impersistence of the beds by supposing that they will extend over less than a third of the area of the field,—say sixty square miles, we should have an avail- able supply of coal amounting to about 465 millions of cubic yards, or, roughy, tons. 20 Reviews—Bigsby’s Thesaurus Siluricus. But every such estimate must be of the rudest kind possible with reference to a coal-field, in which not a single pit has yet been sunk, nor a single opening made.—H. B.W. REVIEW S.-. I.—Tuesaurus Situricus—lTue Frora anp FAUNA OF THE Smnur1an Pueriop. By J. J. Biessy, M.D., F.G.S., etc., ete. London, 1868. Van Voorst. 4to. pp. 268. [Second Notice. ] (Continued from the November Number, p. 521.) N his introduction, Dr. Bigsby gives an analysis of the classes Gasteropoda and Echinodermata, and the orders 7rilobita and Brachiopoda as they occur, both - in stratigraphical and geographical distribution ;—space, however, entirely forbids our attempting any fresh analysis for this notice, the subjects being so prolific. Under the head Gasteropoda in the introduction, pp. vii.-x., several tables are constructed ; that on p. vii. gives the geographical summary of species for the chief areas in which Silurian life is known ;—27 areas are given—12 on the American Continent, 3 in Britain (England, dreland, Wales), 9 European, 1 South Australian, 1 Tasmanian, and 1 for North India; but in the chief and detailed summary, p. 160, in the body of the Thesaurus, 43 areas are given—25 American, 15 European, with India, Australia, and Tasmania in addition, and an analysis of all the genera (51) and 895 species, with their appearances, numbers, and habitations. The table (B) also containing those genera having the greatest range in time and space, with the number of species in each and number of countries inhabited—show a kind of analysis that may be carried to any extent. The result of one line for the Plezro- tomari@ is, itself, suggestive. ‘This genus contains 171 species, and they are dis- tributed over 34 large countries [the fossiliferous Silurian area of Canada alone zs 40,000 sguare miles]. This dispersion or distribution applies to all the 52 genera, and sfeczes belonging to the class Gasteropoda, the ratio of the proportion of species in each genus, and the different degrees of distribution being due to life habits, associated faunze, sea-bottom, temperature, locality, etc. “The Thesaurus tells us that 18 genera out of the 51 are known only in, and each confined to one district, and 12 of these genera possess only one known species in each, and 7 have 2 species only ; supposing the genera to be well established, we only require further research, probably, to discover many other species. We have, however, much doubt as to the value of such genera as Colyptrea, Cerithium, Delphinula, Littorina ? Naticella, Phasianella, Rotella, Siphonaria, occurring in the Silurian rocks, until we certainly know more of them, and it is amongst such that the few forms, above named, seem to occur. We mention this to guard against drawing conclusions hastily upon doubtful determinations, as per centage in generic life is of importance on either side, and leads to false conclusions upon the question of first appearance, locality, etc., as propounded in the 7 doctrines laid down in the in- troduction to the Thesaurus. Particulars are given, in the body of the great table, of no less than 894 species of Gastevopoda. ‘The increment and decrement of the Gasteropoda in time, as exhibited over large areas through their physical history and mutations, is one of the many problems which the Palzeontologist is con- stantly called upon to investigate, and thus to account for the *‘ rise and decline,” ‘*first appearance,” and ‘‘ extinction” of anygroup. Dr. Bigsby, at p. ix. (table C), points out in $ subdivisions of the Silurian system, the rise, culminating point, and decline of the Silurian Gasteropoda ;—their extinction, like that of other groups, which really took place at the close of the Silurian and commencement of the Old Red Sandstone, in Britain, is a problem geologists have yet to solve. The table D, on p. ix., is too important to be passed over ; it is, as the author terms it, a ‘‘time table” of all the Silurian Gasteropoda, showing the number of species in each genus through the four Silurian stages, and if the species in the work may all be relied on, opens up a mode of time and space analysis whereby any known area, having one or all the stages, may be “censused.” That this early epoch in the Earth’s history should have contained so great an assemblage Reviews—Bigsby’s Thesaurus Siluricus. 21 of Gasteropodous mollusca, indicating maturity in time and a fitness of conditions for organic life—may seem remarkable—but it will appear even more so if we examine into the life-history of the Cephalopoda, which, during the same epoch, numbered some 1400 species ! Trilobita.—This is the second group selected and treated of by the author, and necessarily so, for they are the medals and type of life peculiar to the seas of Silurian time, and are almost universally spread over the globe. We find 119 genera and 1680 species occupying the rocks of no less than forty-four countries ; 74 genera and 1000 species are primordial, and 46 of these 74 [so called] primordial genera _ are not known above this stage, no one (so far as we know) of the 235 early species, recurring in the overlying Caradoc of any country, or in the Trenton beds of America—and, according to the Thesaurus, we arrive at the fact that “a pri- mordial form has usually a considerable vertical range within its native stage, and there only ;”! and Barrande and Bigsby, through the labours of Hall and Billings, and the American Palzeontologists, determine from materials now collected together in the Thesaurus, ‘‘ That life began earlier, and more abundantly in the valley of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi than in Europe.” This we may qualify, however, through negative evidence, from want of more complete knowledge of the extent and nature of the rocks once occupying the area west of St. David’s Head and the south of Ireland, and, indeed, the whole bed of the Atlantic, and, perhaps, also the Bay of Biscay, —for daily we are adding new facts connected with the older and underlying rocks below the ‘‘ Lower Lingula flags” of the South Wales Promontory; and what do we yet know of the Western promontories of Ross and Sutherland and the Hebrides, or those rock-masses termed the fundamental Gneiss of Murchi- son. Could we but restore or examine these sub-atlantic deposits in South Wales and North-west Scotland, the St. Lawrence basin and Britain would, probably, be one in age and life, one in time and condition. Research tells us that the pri- mordial Z7éobstes alone, in the western valleys of America, number some 40 genera and 200 species, and these assembled in two similar foci or centres, Wisconsin and Lower Canada. Sweden has its own primordial fauna, represented by 18 genera and 56 species; Bohemia, 8 genera and 28 species ; Great Britain and Ireland, 11 genera and 33 species. The author of the “‘ Thesaurus” determines that out of the 57 American genera, 16 are exclusively localised in that hemisphere, and of the 116 European genera, 69 are not known elsewhere ; the work also shows that 31 genera have each only one species, and that only one genus of the 31 occurs out of its native area,— Polyeres (Bohemia and France); and the largest Genera have been subjected to the widest dispersion, thus— Calymene, with 61 species, is known in 29 regions. Lichas, 82 39 39> £ 24 39 Phacops, 96 Ae 20jaas Dalmannia, 54 pe 5 Zi a, Cheirurius, 86 nh 55 200s Menus, 100 ‘a 3 2 oes Lsotelus, 7 ” >» 14 5 Proetus, 66 5 33 LOM. We know also that the same species in large genera inhabited many regions widely separated, thus proving their dispersion and distribution over great areas. The British Calymene Blumenbachii and C. senaria, inhabited 17 regions, from the Trenton Limestone of America to the Wenlock of Wales, Russia, Sweden, Nor- way, Esthonia, England, Ireland and Scotland. Zzcrinurus punctatus 8, and in two quarters of the globe. Sumastus (Lllenus) Barriensis in 10, and all in the Upper Silurian deposits from Sardinia to England, and the American continent. In the year 1858, 126 species of Trilobites were known to Great Britain and Ire- land, but in the new (4th) edition of Sir Roderick Murchison’s ‘‘ Siluria,” is catalogued 224 species, or one hundred additiona] forms have been added to the Silurian fauna in I0 years. At page 71 of the ‘‘ Thesaurus,” Barrande has enumerated for Dr. Bigsby no less than 79 species of Trilobites discovered in the Bohemian basin since 1852 We do not here discuss the breaks in time either physically or palzontologically ; it is too large a subject. 22 Reviews—Bigsby’s Thesaurus Siluricus. The same author has also constructed another table exhibiting the vertical range and distribution of the Bohemian Trilobites, classified according to the several stages adopted in his own great works upon the Geology and Paleontology of that area; no less than 183 species are thus appointed in time—their distribution in space is chronicled also in the Thesaurus itself, on pages 72*, 72+, 72t, the par- ticulars of every known genus is tabulated, and through it we arrive at the fact that the Silurian rocks of the world contain 126 well-determined genera, and 1640 species ; their distribution is given, and summed up for both hemispheres—48 pages of the table is devoted to this order alone. Well may this have been called the “* Age of Trzlobites” by the older authors, for no epoch of the world’s history was ever so characteristically typified by a group so peculiar. Coeval and cotemporary with, if not preceding in time, the Z77/obita, stand the Brachiopoda. Every ancient sea of the globe seems to have been largely tenanted by this class of mollusca, the group comprises few genera, but is rich in species, no less than 1635 occurring in 47 genera. The most complete analysis as to their distribution and geographical summary is given of this class from page 89 to 126. of the Thesaurus. This order has received more attention from British and Foreign naturalists than any of the mollusca, and no group of fossils have been so well de- termined. The labours and researches of our own distinguished countryman, Thomas Davidson, F.R.S., into this group of mollusca, have, however, surpassed all other authors. From the Cambrian rocks, through deposits of every age to those still forming in modern seas, this order has lived on, though now but feebly repre- sented [only 11 genera living], 37 having died out. The analytical research of Dr. Bigsby shows us that in the Silurian rocks of the American Continent no less than 1120 species are known, and in the Eastern hemisphere, 1672. Of the 47 known genera, 27 are common to the two divisions of the Globe, 14,! are exclusively American, and 14 European. The Orthid@ lived in and were distributed through and over no less than 40 Silurian areas throughout the Globe, 300 species of this family being distributed through the Lower Silurian beds, and 200 in the Upper. Other large genera as—Zingula occur in 29 countries or areas. At ry pa 59 28 yr) ” Rhynchonella bs 31 39 ” Spirifera 0 30 ” ” Pentamerus As 30 ” 9 and by way of showing the wide discrepancy amongst the group (or possibly our want of still more perfect knowledge of their distribution than we at present pos- sess) we may instance such genera as the following, which occur only in few areas :— Camarium in I country or area. Aulonotreta 2 $5 Eatonia 4 Bs Eixchwaldia 2 9 Meganteris I AH Mimulus I » Pholidops I 90 Skenidium I 99 The Primordial genera Lingulella and Lingulepfis do not pass to higher stages. After carefully working our way through the pages devoted to the history of this Lower Palzozoic group of Mollusca in ‘‘ time and space,” we are the better able to appreciate highly the labour which the author has gone through, and which has placed before the student, with but few errors, the labours of our ablest Palzeozoic Palzeontologists ; prominently anong whom must stand the names of Davidson, Von Buch, De Vernueil, Hall, and Billings—whose results are now for the first time brought together and classified. No group so conclusively forces upon us the importance of those considerations which we have already dwelt upon relative to first appearance, duration, migration, and extinction through time. Up to the close of the Cretaceous period, this order formed a conspicuous part of the marine fauna of every epoch, and one or two genera are still largely repre- sented in the seas of Australia, etc. 1 Camarium, Eatonia, Bichwaldia, Lingulepis, Pholidops, Rhynchospira, Tropidolepsus, Zygospira, Meganteris, Skenidium, Strophodonta, Trimerella, Rennseleria, Trematospira. Reviews—Bigsby’s | Thesaurus Siluricus. 23 Echinodermata.—The earliest seas give us also, wherever they are now trace- able, countless forms of this class. In the order Crznozdea, 78 genera and 315 species are recorded from the many regions where the Silurian rocks containing this group are known; the Cystideans, 33 and 136 species; the Asterzdea, 14 and 90 species, in all 512. Deep interest must always be attached to the distribution and development of this class. The Lower and Upper Silurian stages over the entire world possess a rich assemblage of genera, perhaps the Niagara group of America, the Wenlock Rocks of West Europe, and especially England and Wales, contain the most remarkable forms of Crizoidea known. They are brought to- gether and catalogued in such a manner in the Thesaurus, that we can readily mentally restore the old Silurian submarine Crinoidal forests, and whatever may have been the nature of the water or sediment in which they flourished, we are led to examine and weigh with much interest the results embodied in Table K [Geographi- cal Summary] compiled from the 11 pages of the Great Table. The comparatively limited geographical range of some genera, and the colonisation of different areas (widely separated) by the same genera, are problems of high interest to the physicist and naturalist,! and the distribution of moderngenera in the Caribbean area, Australia, the West Indies, etc., may throw somelight upon these remarkable forms of ancient life. America seems to have had two chief foci of concentration widely separated, one in the west, over an extensive old marine area, resulting in the rocks of Illinois, Wis- consin, and Tennessee ; the other to the east, in Canada West, and the Northern part of the State of New York.?. 17 American Silurian areas are enumerated in the table, showing the wealth or poverty of each, dependent perhaps upon diligent research on the one hand, or condition of sea, etc., non-favourable to life, and development on the other ; such, however, is the state of our knowledge at the present time as to the distribution of this order in North America. Three chief areas in the Western Hemisphere abound in the Crizoidea and Cystidea, (the British Islands, Russia, and Sweden), and chiefly in the limestone of the Upper Silurian stages, —the Wenlock Rocks of England and Wales, and the so-called Coralline Limestone of Russia yielding the richest harvest. The unequal distribution of the whole class is singularly detailed in the Thesaurus, which clearly suggests the want of research in given regions. Thus: Only one form (Zdrioaster) is known in Nova Scotia. 25 Crinoid (AZariacrinus) is known in India. 06 Scyphocrinus 5 Sardinia. > Hypanthocrinus A Scotland. 5 Crotalocrinus % Arctic America. In Spain we only know of two forms, both Cystideans; in Norway, only nine Crinoids and one Cystidean ; and in the classical Silurian district, Bohemia, one Crinoid only —Asocrinus, and 12 Cystideans ; these facts may be termed curiosities of distribution, and will remain so until we know more of the areas and their faunas, through future research. Cephalopoda.—The names, range, and distribution through the Silurian rocks of 34 genera, and 1419 species, of the 7etrabranchiate,— Odontophora close the Thesaurus. It is rendered still more valuable through the liberality of M. Barrande, who placed his MS. list of this great group at the disposal of the author ; thus some 500 species are here notified and stratigraphically placed in the Bohemian Rocks, prior to the completion of Barrande’s own work upon the Ceghalogoda of the Bohemian Basin. It is impossible to omit notice of these gigantic Lower Palxozoic pelagic Ortho- ceratites, whose remains swarm in both the Upper and Lower Silurian deposits of every known region of the globe. 37 areas are enumerated in the Geographical Summary at p. 191 in the Thesaurus, 18 in America, and 19 in the Western Hemi- sphere ; two genera contain collectively 1021 species—viz., Cyrtoceras, 317, and Ortheceras, 704 ; the former distributed through 22 countries, the latter 36. As- suming, which we do not doubt, the transcribed correctness and compilation of the author, the summary of this group is exhaustive ; 22 pages are occupied by the genera and species which are spread through every Silurian deposit known, their universality in deposit and area, and widely spread distribution, demonstrates and 1 See the works of Hall, Haydan, Meek, Billings, Schumard, Worthen, De Koninck. 2 2x Genera are common to the Western and Eastern hemispheres; 35 are peculiar to America ; and 23 are European. 24 Reviews—Reliquie Aquitanice. testifies to the immensity of time required for the deposition of this older Palzeozoic group of rocks, and the life history of the species in this large and highly organised group, which added to that of the Gasterofoda, forcibly suggests astill more remote and lost fauna, from which these descended, reaching far back to Laurentian, and pre-Silurian ages. The genus /Vaztilus now represented dy one species! (in the Silurian seas by 21) is the only form that has survived through the stream of time, and each succeeding life-period has seen their decrease in number. Space only forbids us entering into further analysis of this important class of mollusca. That numerous errors during the progress of the compilation of the Thesaurus should creep in, and occur, is to be expected, and under certain groups many occur ; these are chiefly in the synonomy of the Graptolitide (Hydroz0a )—some 30 species are thus duplicated, arising from the author’s misconception of the species placed under several genera by different writers upon this group—especially Hall, Geinitz, and others—scattered through many memoirs. A proper analysis of the large genus Graptolithus as used by Hall, with those adopted by every other author, would have prevented this. Again, many genera of the Phyllopoda, Ostracoda, and Branchiopoda, as now recognized, should have received more careful analysis relative to their synonomy, etc. ; the same species occurring, as in the Fo/yzoa, under different genera. These errors give a plus or minus value to the species, and also to the groups, and, where tabulated, are perpetuated in the same ratio, and right or true deductions upon migration, recurrence, locality, and the longevity and extinction of species can only be drawn from correct identification ; these errors in the table, however, are readily corrected by those possessing sufficient knowledge, and need not be perpetuated in succeeding analyses, and the author himself may (if not in another edition) do so in some other form. We trust that every scientific library, either private or public, will make a point to possess a copy of this great muster-roll of every species known in the Silurian rocks of the globe. R. E. T.—Reniqurm Aquitanicz ; Being Contributions to the Archeology and Palxontology of Perigord and the adjoining Provinces of Southern France. By Epovarp Larrser and Henry Curisry. Edited by Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.G.S. Parts VI. and VII. August and September, 1868. UR last Notice of this work appeared in the Gronocican Maca- ZINE for June, 1868, Volume V., p. 282. Part VI. concludes the observations and comparisons between the implements, etc., from the Caves of Perigord, and the implements used among the Laps and North American Indians. On this subject the letter of Mr. Robert Brown (who has only lately returned from a protracted residence in Western North America) will be read with great interest. This is followed by “ An Account of the Human Bones found in the Cave of Cro-Magnon in Dordogne, by Dr. Pruner-Bey,” illus- trated by six chromo-lithographic plates. Five of the plates are devoted to the crania, and one to limb-bones. The description of these remains extends into Part VII. At p. 71, Dr. Pruner-Bey writes :—“The presence at all levels of the same kind of flint- scrapers, as finely chipped as those of the Gorge d’Enfer, and of the same animals as in that classic station, evidently shows them to be relics of the successive habitation of the Cro-Magnon shelter by the 1 Nautilus pompilius, the only Tetrabranchiate Cephalopod living ; in the Silurian deposits there are 1420 known species. _ % The same may be said with reference to many names given in the addenda, some of which it will be seen are repeated in the general text. Reviews—Ansted on the Weathering of Rocks. 25 same race of nomadic hunters, who at first could use it merely as a rendezvous, where they came to share the spoils of the chase taken in the neighbourhood; but coming again they made a more perma- nent occupation, until their accumulated refuse and the debris gradu- ally raised the floor of the cave, leaving the inconvenient height of only 1:20 métre (about 4ft.) between it and the roof; and then they abandoned it by degrees, returning once more at last to conceal their dead there. No longer accessible, except perhaps to the foxes above noticed, this shelter and its strange sepulture were slowly and completely hidden from sight by atmospheric degradation bringing down the earthy covering, which, by its thickness alone, proves the great antiquity of the burial in the cave. «The presence of the remains of an enormous Bear, of the Mam- moth, of the great Cave-Lion, of the Reindeer, the Spermophile, etc., in the hearth-beds, strengthens in every way this estimation of their antiquity; and this can be rendered more rigorously still if we base our argument on the predominance of the Horse here in com- parison with the Reindeer, on the form of the worked flints, and of the bone arrow and dart-heads, and on the above-mentioned indica- tions of hunting, as well as on the absence of any engraving or carving. Hence we may refer this station of Cro-Magnon to the age immediately preceding that artistic period which saw in this country the first attempts of the engraver and the sculptor.” He writes, at p. 70, “ Amidst the human remains lay a multitude of marine shells (about 300), each pierced with a hole, and nearly all belonging to the species Littorina litorea, so-common on our Atlantic coasts. Some other species, such as Purpura lapillus, Turritella communis, etc. occur, but in small numbers. These also are per- forated, and like the others, have been used for necklaces, bracelets, or other ornamental attire.” etc., etc. Amulets of ivory were also found. The perforated shells, bone implements, flint flakes, etc., form the subject of the six excellent plates accompanying Part VII. ITJ—On some PuHEnomMEeNA OF THE WEATHERING OF Rocks, ILLUS- TRATING THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF SUBAERIAL DENUDATION. By D. T. Anstep, M.A., F.B.S8., &c. [From the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophieal Society. Vol. xi. Part II. 1868] ROF. ANSTED here brings forward a number of personal observations on the influence of rain, frost, extreme heat and dryness, and of vegetation acting with the atmosphere in certain cases, in modifying the earth’s surface. Fissures produced in rocks, during long continued dry weather, are more extensive and influential than is generally supposed. Valleys “two or three hundred feet in depth, miles in length, and several hundred yards wide,” have originated in cracks, and been gradually enlarged by rain. The faces of tracts of country are very much changed from time 26 Reports and Proceedings. to time by fissures and the agency of rain and frosts, the position as well as magnitude of these openings being changed, whether by the falling in of their sides, the gradual deposit of new material from water running over the surface, or by their being enlarged to form regular valleys. So rapid do these changes take place, that vegeta- tion cannot well exist; there are no trees—hardly even bushes— there is not time for them to grow. In some districts (Algeria, Ionian Isles, &c.) “an air of wild desolation characterises the land- scape,”—vast naked expanses of loose soil may be travelled over. Vegetation is in a certain sense conservative, as when the ground is overgrown, the denuding effect of the weather is reduced. In his observations on the Channel Islands, Prof. Ansted mentions that the breaking up of the rocks which form the vast and constantly shift- ing heaps of sienite is due to rain and frost, assisted by vegetation, —the removal alone is effected by the sea, and that imperfectly. In some parts of these Islands the Greenstone Rocks are de- composed, and form a sand and gravel, with apparent boulders of the rock itself. Prof. Ansted gives numerous other notes on the disintegration of rocks, and concludes with a few remarks on the importance of Physical Geography as a key wherewith to unlock some of the mysteries of Geology. Geologists are at the present time so much at variance as to the amount of credit due to Subaérial denudation on the one hand, and to Submarine on the other, that careful observations on the denuda- tions going on at the present time are of the utmost value. So vast is the amount of sediment brought down by rivers, and to such great distances is it carried away by currents and deposited over the bed of the ocean (as Lyell shows in the last edition of his ‘“ Prin- ciples,” vol.i.), that perhaps, when looking at the immense thickness of sedimentary deposits containing marine shells, we are apt to attribute too much to the sea, when a very considerable part of the sediment might have been brought down by rivers, the result of Subaérial Denudation. cepa Ore aS) Al > ae @ Car aN GS GronogicaL Society or Lonpon.—Nov. 25th, 1868.—1. ‘ On Floods in the Island of Bequia.” By G. M. Browne, Esq. Com- municated by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. On the 17th of March, at 8 o’clock p.m., a steady strong wave was seen bearing down upon Admiralty Bay ; it had no perceptible crest, and was three feet in height ; it encroached upon the land to distances varying from 70 to 350 feet. A second smaller wave followed. No shock of an earthquake was felt. Discussion.—Dr. Duncan wished for some explanation of these earthquake waves, more especially with regard to the effects of sup- posed cataclysmic waves. He considered that they arose from sud- den changes in the level of shoals or littoral tracts, and not from deep-sea disturbances. Geological Society of London. 27 Mr. Babbage suggested that, assuming an eruption of lava at the bottom of the ocean, there might be such an amount of steam gene- rated, or even such a decomposition of water, as would originate waves of enormous volume. . Sir C. Lyell was inclined to the same opinion, and not to limit the causes of these waves to oscillations of the surface of the earth. | 2. “ Description of Nga Tutura, an Extinct Volcano in New Zea- land.” By Capt. F. W. Hutton, F.G.S. This volcano is situated on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, between Raglan and the mouth of the River Waikato. A section of 15 miles is exposed along the coast, which trends in a north-west and south-east direction, showing beds of Mesozoic age forming a synclinal trough between the south head of Waikato and Otehe Point, and descending below the sea-level at Waikawau. Upon them lie Tertiary strata, following the same synclinal curve as the older rocks, and broken through, nearly in the centre of the curve, by the basaltic cone of Nga Tutura. This volcano is about 600 feet high, and is chiefly composed of basaltic lava-streams, with but little tuff. The eruption is considered by the author to have been submarine. Captain Hutton then stated his conviction that the fluid matter which escaped was not connected with a central molten interior of the earth, but was derived from rocks not much more than 1000 feet in depth, and that the synclinal in question was caused by a subsidence into the cavity thus formed. Discusston.—Prof. T. Rupert Jones would be glad to hear Dr. Hector’s opinion on the subject before Mr. Heaphy’s views were entirely condemned. Mr. David Forbes could not see that the author had brought any conclusive proof that the lava was derived from so inconsiderable a depth. From his examination of the lavas of Polynesia, of Europe, and of other localities, he was satisfied that their chemical constitu- tion was the same, and therefore that their products were derived, not from any merely local sources, but from some more or less con— nected extensive internal reservoir. In answer to Sir C. Lyell, he showed, from the eruption of Santorin, that the trachytic and basaltic lavas came from the same source, inasmuch as they issued from one and the same crater. Mr. W. W. Smyth was gratified that one of the results of the new system of education of military officers was productive of such good results in a geological point of view. 3. “On Dakosaurus.” By J. Wood Mason, Esq., F.G.S. The Kimmeridge Clay of Shotover Hill has yielded five specimens of the teeth of this reptile, now for the first time represented as a British genus. After noticing the bibliography of the subject, and the pre- sence of specimens in various museums, the author proceeded to de- scribe the characters of the teeth. They are large, conical, incurved, and slightly recurved, having two sharp, prominent, crenulated, longitudinal ridges, which are situated midway between the convex and concave curvatures. 28 Reports and Proceedings. This reptile was regarded by the author as foreshadowing the form of dentition that characterizes the existing group of Varanide. If the materials were at hand for a complete definition of its com- parative osteology, Dakosaurus would probably exhibit a combina- tion of Lacertilian and Crocodilian characters, but with the crodo- dilian elements predominant. Discussion. —The President differed from the author as to the conclusions he drew from the structure of the teeth. The teeth. of existing Crocodilia had been but imperfectly described, and he thought he could point out among existing Crocodiles, teeth bearing the character which the author regarded as Lacertilian. He agreed with Professor Owen in regarding Dakosaurus as Crocodilian rather than Dinosaurian or Lacertilian. Mr. Wood Mason had seen in the Gavial of the Ganges, and in the teeth of Teleosaurians from the neighbourhood of Oxford, the same crenulations and compression which he regarded as indicative of a Lacertilian character. 4, “On the Anatomy of the test of Amphidetus (Echinocardium) Virginianus, Forbes; and on the genus Breynia.” By P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.R.S., Sec.G.S8., ete. After a careful examination of the Miocene Amphidetus from the Virginian Tertiaries, the recent species of the genus from the Hu- ropean and Australian seas were stated to form a group of very closely allied forms. The Crag specimen of A. cordatus described by Forbes could not be found; but the examination of a series of recent specimens decided that they were not specifically different from the Miocene form. The unusual form of the ambulacral spaces, the nature of the fasciole crossing them, and the resulting absence (more or less) of pores within the fasciole, were asserted to be of a third-rate cha- racter as regards structural importance; and the author did not consider that the genera Hchinocardium, Breynia, Lovenia, etc., had a common origin, or that there was a close generic relationship between them, because they had this fasciolar structure. He con- sidered the fasciole to be an appendage to several generic groups which were distinctly separated by other structural distinctions. The result of an examination of the Nummulitic Breynie in the Society’s collection satisfied Dr. Duncan that there were only race characters separating them from Breynia Australiensis—a recent Echinoderm. The persistence of these species, widely distributed and of great geological age, was very remarkable. Discussion.—The President regretted, with the author, the pre- vailing custom of determining species as much by their geological position as by their structural affinities. He thought it was neces- sary to have a knowledge of living forms, in order to estimate correctly the value of the characters of extinct species. He con- sidered that the presence of similar fascioles in different genera might be explained in the opposite way to that which the author adopted, and that they might be considered evidence of genetic connexion, subsequent variations having produced differences of generic value. Geological Society of London. 29 Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys also considered that every paleontologist ought to be a naturalist, as the fossil and recent forms are inti- mately connected by insensible gradations. All the Hcehinocardia with which he was acquainted were inhabitants of clean sand. Dr. Duncan, in reply, stated that if the Spatangide were clas- sified, generic distinetions would be observed quite irrespective of the presence of fascioles. He considered the fascioles, like the horns of Mammalia, of third-rate structural importance. One specimen from Arabia appeared to have a fasciole developing. He remarked that all the fossils were of the same size, so that it was impossible to determine whether the formation of fascioles was dependent on embryonic conditions, or whether they were developed in the perfect animal. II. December 9th, 1868.—1. “Notes of a Geological Reconnais- sance in Arabia Petrea.” By H. Bauerman, Esq., F.G.S. The district to which this paper referred is that between Suez and the lower part of Wady Ferran, in the Peninsula of Arabia Petreea, and includes the copper and turquoise mines worked by the ancient Egyptians. The rocks within this area were classified as follows: 1, Gneiss and granites, forming the central chain of Sinai and the base of all the stratified deposits. 2, Red Sandstone series. . Cretaceous rocks. . White limestones, with flints, salt, and bitumen. Eocene. . Flint conglomerate, with coralline limestone. Miocene. . Gypseous marls of Wady Taragi. . Reconstructed gypseous sands and conglomerates. . Raised beeches, coralline and miliolitic limestones. . Alluvium and desert drift. The Red Sandstone series consists of three members, a thin bed of limestone being the central, and containing remains of encrinites, referred by Mr. Etheridge to the Muschelkalk form Encrinites moni- liformis. Iron, manganese, and copper ores are found near Nasb and Serabib el Khadem. The turquoise mines of Wady Maghara, which were referred to the same horizon, are among the most ancient monuments of the world. The author considered that the tools employed were flint chisels or flakes, and hammers made from pieces of a neighbouring doleritic lava. The flakes were supposed to have been mounted on wooden blocks. The Cretaceous rocks which rest unconformably on the Triassic sandstones, consist chiefly of green sand, with alternations of thin argillaceous limestones, containing Echinoderms, which prove them to be of the age of the Upper Greensand. Above them comes the Hippurite-limestone series. The fossils were described by Dr. Duncan, F.R.S., in a subsequent communication. The white limestone, with flints, the next group of rocks in ascending order, strongly resembles the European Chalk with flints ; but, according to the author, it must be regarded as representing the Nummulitic limestone of Egypt, as several species of Nummulites have been detected in it near the shores of the Red Sea, below Wady Gharandel. The Miocene flint conglomerate series is a mass of coarse DO CO~IH Up © 30 Reports and Proceedings. flint shingle alternating with these Coralline limestones. The author considered that a great physical break ensued between the Hocene and Miocene period, while a gradual transition occurred between the Cretaceous and Hocene rocks. In the Gypseous series which overlies the flint conglomerate several peculiar effects were noted, owing to the easy manner in which tumbled and broken masses of gypsum are reconstructed by partial solution and recrystallization when they have been removed from their original position by the slipping of the underlying shales. The alluvial gravels of the Sinaitic valleys are generally similar in containing a coarser and a finer material; the latter is the older, and has apparently been deposited by comparatively slowly-flowing streams. In conclusion, the author called attention to the evidence of lakes, marshes, and streams having formerly occupied what are now dry barren valleys. Drscusston.—Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys corroborated the opinion of the author, that there had been at one time permanent marshy lands where the Lymneea truncatula and a species of Pisidiwm had been found. Mr. D. Forbes inquired the age of the schists and porphyries of Om Riglaine, and as to the character of the granite. Sir R. I. Murchison inquired the probable age of the masses of gypseous rocks, and commented on the extremely wide range of the Nummulitic strata. Dr. Duncan observed that the Cretaceous fossils, as had been observed by both M. Louis Lartet and himself, belonged to the Upper Greensand formation. He considered that the author had proved that the Red Sandstone was not, as suggested by M. L. Lartet, Neocomian, but either Triassic or Permian. Fossils of the Upper Chalk with flints he found to be absent. He had found that, out of 25 Cretaceous species, 138 had been described by M. Coquand from Kabylia and Egypt, while 8 were European forms. Mr. Etheridge considered the fossils from the sandstone to belong to the Trias, especially from the presence of Encrinus moniliformis. Prof. T. Rupert Jones reported the Nummulites as of the com- mon typical form found in Egypt—the N. Ghizensis. With a variety of this form occur some others. If the Nummulitic rocks were overlain by the soft white friable limestone, this latter, like similar beds in Scinde, would be of later date, though similar in lithological character. Mr. W. W. Smyth had found in Nubia, above the Catacombs, Red Sandstones overlain by limestone and Nummulitic beds. If the Red Sandstone, as seems probable from the fossils discovered by Mr. Bauerman, were proved to be Triassic, a great point in the geology of Sinai and the East had been gained. Mr. Boyd Dawkins inquired as to the evidence of the mines having been worked by the Egyptians. Mr. Evans was not satisfied that the flint flakes had been used in the manner suggested, as they would be liable to break off in the socket, and the hammers would not be worn away in the manner they exhibited by mere impact on wood. The President commented on the similarity of the faunas of India 13} Geological Society of London. ol and South Africa, and hoped that Mr. Bauerman’s future researches might throw light on the ancient connexion of these continents. Mr. Bauerman stated in reply that he did not regard the white limestone as true Chalk. He considered that the slabs showed con- clusive evidence of having been chiselled by means of the flints. 2. “ On the occurrence of Celestine in the Tertiary rocks of Egypt.” By H. Bauerman, Hsq., F.G.S., and C. Le Neve Foster, D.Sc., F.G.S This communication referred to the presence of celestine at two different horizons in the Tertiary escarpment of Mokattam. The beds forming the escarpment may be divided into two parts, namely, the upper beds, which are brown, sandy, cellular limestones with numerous oyster-beds, and the lower, or white Nummulitic lime- stone proper. A bed of marl with fibrous gypsum generally occurs at the junction of the two groups of strata. In the upper or brown beds celestine occurs with gypsum, some- times in isolated crystals, but more generally in stellar or spheroidal nodular aggregates, the points of the crystals being turned outwards. About thirty feet lower down in the white limestone, rough irregu- lar crystals of the same mineral are found in open hollows or druses. They are often large, but much decomposed, and apparently crusted with Nummulites, Bryozoa, &c., which are in reality included in the crystals, and have become exposed by erosion. The erosion and alteration of the crystals commences by the roughening of the faces of the prism, owing to the formation of numerous fine striations parallel to the basal planes, and goes on frequently until the crystals have entirely disappeared. The ultimate product is a hollow cast of the crystal, which may then be filled with limestone, forming a pseudomorph by a total replacement. This, however, appears to be rare. More generally the dissolved celestine has been re- deposited upon the altered crystals, forming macled groups. The secondary crystals are compact, brilliant, and well formed, without included foreign bodies. These phenomena were attributed by the authors to the solubility of sulphate of strontia in chloride of sodium. 3. “Note on the Hchinodermata, bivalve Mollusca, and some other Fossils from the Cretaceous Rocks of Sinai.” By Dr. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., Sec. G.S., &e. The author identified the fossils brought by Mr. Bauerman from Sinai as belonging to the Upper Greensand and Hippuritic Chalk horizons, and correlated them with those of Algeria and South- eastern Arabia. He determined the following species :— Heterodiadema Libycum, Ag. & Desor, sp. Neithia tricostata, Boyle. Discoidea subucula, Klein. Forguemolli, H. Coq. Epiaster distinctus, Agass. tumidus, Desor. Periaster oblongus, D’ Orb. Hemiaster Cenomanensis, Cotteau. Phymosoma Delmarret, Desor. Pseudodiadema variolare, Brongn. Pedinopsis, sp. Plicatula Fourneti, H. Coq. Pecten asper, Lam. Netthia alpina, D’ Orb. Lxogyra plicata, Goldfuss. Ostvea Auressensis, H. Coq. , var. major, nobis. Mermeti, H. Coq. Exogyra Overwegi, von Buch. Ostrea Delattrei, H. Coq. curvirostris, Nilss. Caprotina Toucasiana, D’ Orb. subequalis, D’ Orb. Archiacianus, D’ Orb. Radiolites, sp. Clavagella, sp. og Reports and Proceedings. 4, ‘On the existence during the Quaternary Period of a Glacier of the Second Order, occupying the ‘cirque’ of the valley of Palhéres in the western part of the granitic ‘massif’ of the Lozere.” By M. C. Martins, For. Corr. G.S. After mentioning that no one had satisfactorily proved the former existence of glaciers in the Puys of Auvergne, the Cevennes moun- tains, or the massif of the Lozére, the author stated that, from studying the Government map, it occurred to him that traces of a glacier ought to be found in the eastern part of the granitic massif of the Lozére, at the upper portion of the Valley of Palhéres, which opens near Villefort. An examination of the district in question proved the former existence of a glacier which was limited to the cirque which enclosed it, and did not descend into the valley. A lateral and a terminal moraine were found, and roches perchées were — observed on the sides of the valley. No striz or polished surfaces were seen, owing to the schistose rocks being easily decomposed. EpinsurcH GeroLtocican Socrery.—Tsr Presrprent’s ADDRESS. —On the 8rd December, 1868, the newly-elected President, Archi- bald Geikie, Esq., F.R.S., etc., Director of the Geological Survey of Scotland, delivered the following address. | Mr. Geikie, after thanking the society for the compliment which they had paid him in electing him their President, passed on to notice some of the functions of scientific societies. These, he said, may be conveniently divided into two classes—first, those of a national character, like the Royal Society, the Geological Society, and the Chemical Society of London; and second, local societies, properly so-called. The functions of a local society are five-fold— first, to exhaust, so far as possible, the geology, botany, or natural history, as the case may be, of its own district, and to methodise and encourage the observations of an organised body of workers among its members ; secondly, to watch every change within the scope of its own science which may arise in the course of human progress— for example, in botany, to note the changes caused by mati’s inter- ference upon the plants of a district ; in geology, to notice the effects revealed by every new quarry, railway cutting, or exposure, along with the influence of man upon existing geological processes ; third, to bring forward at evening meetings notices of all new observations made by the members or by others in the district, and to preserve, and where possible, publish a record of these observations; fourth, to aid the researches of men who are devoting themselves to any special branch of science, by furnishing them with carefully verified facts and specimens, or other material which may be required; and fifth, to foster among its own members and in the outer world a love of the science which the Society is specially formed to cultivate. In regard to the Edinburgh Geological Society, the author pointed out how advantageously situated it is for the study of geological science. No better field for the prosecution of that study can be found than the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, while the libraries and geological collections in the city afford excellent help to the student. Edinburgh Geological Society. 30 And notwithstanding the extent of the literature devoted to the geo- logy of Edinburgh, much remains still to do; and much may be entered upon by the members of such a Society as the Edinburgh Geological Society. In the first place, there is the paleontological domain. The Silurian Rocks of the Lammermoors and the Moorfoot Hills have no doubt still some fossil treasures to show. The Upper Silurian Rocks of the Pentland Hills have been carefully searched by several members of the Society, who have amassed a large collec- ‘tion of the organic remains of that locality ; and it woudl be well if the other geological formations of the district were as thoroughly explored. The Old Red Sandstone of the Pentland Hills has not as yet yielded any fossils, but hopes may be entertained that, especi- ally in the neighbourhood of West Linton, some Cephalaspide and Crustaceans of the lower beds of that formation may yet be found. Mr. Geikie is of opinion that in all likelihood there is in reality no true Upper Old Red Sandstone in this district, but that what has hitherto been so esteemed will prove to belong in reality to the lower division of the system. The Carboniferous system of the district furnishes in itself a wide field of research. Each of its broader divi- sions can be distinguished by fossils, and what the members of the Society might be strongly advised to illustrate is, how far each separate bed contains distinct fossils, also how far the same bed shows a change in its fossil contents as it passes from one district to another—for example, how far the organisms in the Burdiehouse limestone resemble or differ from those on the same horizon in West Lothian and East Lothian. There is also an interesting field of inquiry in connection with former volcanic conditions during various portions of the Carboniferous Period, and Mr. Geikie sug- gested as a profitable subject of investigation, whether, in the neigh- bourhood of interbedded volcanic rocks, any change in the contem- poraneous flora or fauna could be made out. In the neighbourhood of Edinburgh no stratified rocks have yet been found between the Carboniferous system and the Boulder-clay. Underneath the Boulder-clay, in certain localities, gravels and sands occur, in which it might be of great advantage to institute a careful and continued search for organic remains, such as might serve to indicate the nature of the plants and animals living in this neigh- bourhood at the commencement of the Boulder-clay period. The Boulder-clay itself, notwithstanding all that has been done in recent years, still offers many opportunities of useful inquiry. It is in reality a complex formation, and members of the Society might do much good in trying to trace out its subdivisions. They ought especially to watch every new cutting and exposure of the clay, or of the sand-beds contained in it, with the view of detecting, if possible, any organic remains, more particularly shells of an Arctic character. ‘They should also wash samples of the clay from each district, with the view of discovering foraminifera, as has been done so successfully in other districts. Nor need they even despair of discovering Mammalian remains, for he need not remind them that within eight miles from where they were assembled the tusk of a VOL. VI.—NO. LY. 3 34 feports and Proceedings. Mammoth had been taken out of the Drift-beds. The sands and gravels that lie upon the Boulder-clay present still many problems, which are more likely to receive solution from the organized ob- servations of a local Society than from the work of single individuals. Later than the Drift come the old river terraces, in which, so far as the neighbourhood of Edinburgh is concerned, no human remains have yet been detected, nor, indeed, any evidence of those conditions which are illustrated by the old river gravels of the south of England and the north-east of France. Passing next to the petrology of the district, Mr. Geikie pointed out that the neighbourhood of Edinburgh furnishes admirable illus- trations of metamorphism in the Lower Silurian Rocks, with many syenites and porphyries. The volcanic rocks of the district have long been famous ; nevertheless much has still to be learned regard- ing their chemical and mineralogical composition. The nomencla- ture of crystalline rocks is in a most deplorable state in this country. It remains, indeed, in much the same state as it was about the be- ginning of the century. There is, therefore, no branch of geological inquiry which, at the present time, offers greater prospect of new and important results. Chemistry and mineralogy are both needed. The chemist may tell the ultimate chemical composition of the rocks, but not so well their mineralogical arrangement. That is best done by the help of the microscope,—an instrument which will un- doubtedly come to be an indispensable part of the equipment of every field geologist. In conclusion, he showed that the preparation of elaborate papers is not necessary ; that the Society ought not to be too ambitious; that though elaborate papers of great merit will always be heartily welcomed, it can hardly be hoped that such papers will be numerous. The members, however, will do good, not only to themselves, but to the cause of the science which they cultivate, by bringing to their meetings notices of new facts and dis- coveries made either by themselves or by others. These notices the Society ought to preserve, and, if possible, from time to time publish. Many people speak disparagingly of such local efforts, but, in truth, science would often make but slow progress without them. A local Society will do far more good to geology by carefully illustrating the geological structure of its own district, than by attempting to furnish such papers on the science as, in justice alike to the author and the cause of science, can only properly be done by a great national society like the Geological Society of London. Its ambition should be to be distinguished by the amount of useful work which it can do, being well assured that no such work, no matter how local in its first aspect, can be honestly done without adding something to the stock of knowledge, and thereby advancing the cause of science. GxoLtocicat Society or Grascow.—I.—Nov. 5th, 1868. Pro- fessor John Young, M.D., etc., President, in the chair. Mr. James Armstrong exhibited a well-preserved fin-spine of Orocanthus, from the Carboniferous Limestone at Roughwood Quarry, near Beith. This massive spine—new asa Scottish fossil—is charac- 5) co Geological Society of Glasgow. : terized by its large size and pyramidal shape, and by its interior being quite hollow, except at the apex ; whereas in the other genera of fossil Plagiostomes the spines are narrow, gradually tapering, solid, and in many cases furnished with one or more rows of den- ticles. Oracanthus is further distinguished by the blunt tubercles which, either singly or in ridges, cover its surface. The President also exhibited a new icthyodorulite, sent by Mr. _ Robert Craig (a Corresponding member), from Langside Quarry, near Beith. ~Mr. John D. Campbell exhibited some specimens of wood en- crusted with oxide of iron from the head of Loch Melfort, Argyll- shire. In the same section fragments of wood and hazel-nuts in a good state of preservation were found, showing that the incrustation of the specimens exhibited was due to local oozing of water charged with iron. The following papers were then read :— 1. “On the section of strata at present being worked in the western portion of the Gilmorehill grounds, for the purpose of obtaining Building Stone, for the erection of the new University.” By Mr. John Young.—The paper was illustrated by specimens of the sandstone, etc., and by vertical and horizontal sections of the strata in the quarry. The chief interest to a geologist in this quarry consists in the numerous strata therein exposed, there being no fewer than twenty-six different beds m the depth of sixty feet from the surface. ‘These consist of five seams of free coal, varying in thick- ness from nine to eighteen inches: five beds of sandstone, with accompanying strata of clay shale, bituminous shale, fireclay, and a thin seam of blackband ironstone. The geological position of the strata is in what is known in the Glasgow district as the Possil Lower Coal and Ironstone series, which lies about 510 fathoms under the Upper Red Sandstone of the Lanarkshire Coalfield. Mr. Young next pointed out the relation which the Possil series bears to the strata of other portions of the Scottish Coalfield, and stated that they occupy a middle position in the Carboniferous Limestone series of this country ; yet in this district, throughout a thickness of 900 feet, no limestone band or other calcareous strata are found. Their lithological character, and the nature of the organic remains, present us with conditions very similar to that which prevailed during the deposition of the sedimentary strata of the Upper Coal-measures of Western Scotland. The sandstone of the Gilmorehill quarry is a whitish fine-grained rock, streaked at intervals with carbonaceous matter. It occurs in beds, the thickest of which is fully 12 feet. The five beds in the quarry will yield about 40 feet in thickness of good serviceable rock. During the working of the uppermost part of sandstone in the quarry, the workmen came upon the remains of the stumps of five large fossil trees standing in an erect position, with their roots extending into the bed of shale upon which they once grew. They belong to the genus Sigillaria, and while they were allowed to remain in position they formed a very interesting object in the quarry. 36 Reports and Proceedings. The Boulder-till occurs at Gilmorehill of great thickness, the valley of the Kelvin having been scooped out of it down to its present bed, it is of the same normal character as that which covers the country around Glasgow. It contains many striated stones belonging to various rock-formations. The direction of the striz on the surface of the underlying rocks at the quarry shows that the great ice-sheet had passed over this part of the district nearly from west to east, which is the average direction of the glacial striz in this tract of Scotland. 2 “On the Claystones of Arran.” By the Rev. John F. Potts, B.A.—The author of this paper stated that by the familiar term claystone he desired to indicate the whole group of the Arran rocks, of which the base was a felspathic paste. These rocks are beauti-. fully developed in the pretty Ben Leister Glen, at the N.W. corner of Lamlash Bay, where there exist upwards of a dozen large dykes of the several varieties. Singular to say, these claystone dykes are, with one exception, always found in that Glen associated with parallel and contiguous dykes of common basalt or greenstone. The former are, however, invariably many times as thick as the latter, and were evidently injected first into the fissures. The igneous origin of claystone was the point first demonstrated, although at- tention was called to some extraordinary appearances in the Glen, which taken alone would lead to an opposite inference, such as the existence of pebbles in the heart of the claystone, and the curious fact, already alluded to, of double dykes occurring together with such frequency. But this latter phenomenon was explained on the supposition of two distinct sets of voleanic disturbances. Claystone, being a less crystalline rock, must have been erupted near the place where it is now found. The Holy Isle, Dun Dhu on the Corrygills shore, and the well-known Windmill Hill near Brodick are all huge pyramids of claystone resting upon the same sandstone that is found in the Ben Leister Glen containing the dykes. These three re- markable hills were probably ancient volcanoes, and as they are all equally near the glen in question, the terribly shattered character of its bottom may be explained. A subsequent renewal of volcanic action opened still further the fissures formerly produced there, and these, becoming filled with a more fluid lava, caused the phenomenon of the double-dykes. The author desired it to be understood that he made these suggestions merely with the hope of attracting attention to this very interesting group of the rocks of Arran. Il.—s8rd December, 1868. Edward Hull, Hsq., F.R.S., Vice- President, in the chair. The Chairman exhibited a specimen of native copper in trap, and Prehnite embedded in analcime. Mr. John Young exhibited a fossil fruit nearly allied to Trigono- carpum, from the Carboniferous limestone shales of Calderside, High Blantyre, but it differs from that genus in possessing eight ribs near the apex. Also from the same beds, Griffithides mesotuberculatus, M‘Coy—one lying extended in the shale, and the other coiled up. Dudley and Midland Geological Society. 37 The occurrence of this crustacean in a perfect condition is extremely rare. Mr. James Bennie exhibited a fossil fruit—Trigonocarpum—and pieces of carbonised wood from a truly marine shale in Shiels Quarry, East Kilbride. He also exhibited a series of pyritized twigs from the marine shales of Lickprivick, Hast Kilbride. The Chairman presented and explained a map of Great Britain which he had prepared at the request of the Royal Coal Commission, ' to illustrate his views regarding the extent and depth to which the coal-fields of England stretch beneath the Mesozoic formations. The map showed that while there isa large area in Cheshire, Stafford- shire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Notts, and Yorkshire formed of Triassic and Permian rocks overlying the coal, yet that this mineral does not extend under the eastern and southern counties of England, which are considered to be formed of newer formations resting on rocks of older age than the Coal-measures. The map is to accompany Mr. Hull’s evidence when published in the “ Blue book.” A communication was read from Mr. Alexander Currie, one of the members, on the recent discovery of ancient canoes near Bowling. Mr. Currie gave an historical resumé of the occurrence of ancient canoes in the bed of the Clyde, and in lakes and marshes through- out the other parts of the country. Am account was then given of the discovery by the writer of the canoes, which formed the special object of his paper. Two of these he had exhumed from the bed of the river near Dunglass. They were found lying abreast of each other, embedded in tenacious clay, containing water-worn boulders, overlam by a deposit of alluvial mud. The longer of the two con- sists of a rough undressed tree, 234 feet in length, and 11 feet in mean girth, the inside being beautifully hollowed out. The lesser canoe measures 13 feet in length, 3 feet in width, and is shaped like the modern fishing cobble, with square stern. The third canoe had been found opposite Dumbuck, by parties in Dumbarton, from whom it had passed into the possession of the writer. Like the last, it is formed out of a dressed oaken log, and measures 23 feet in length and 31 inches in breadth, its depth not being ascertainable owing to its sides being in an imperfect state. The remaining portion of the paper contained his speculation as to the people by whom these relics were fashioned, and the probable time which had elapsed since they became entombed in the river-silt. J. A. DupiEyY anp Mriprtanp GeonocicaL Socrety.—This Society held the first of the series of winter meetings, in the Museum, on Friday, the 27th November. The chair was taken by H. Beckett, Hsq., F.G.S. Mr. Hollier exhibited the Trilobite from the Dudley Lime- stone, described by Mr. H. Woodward in the Groznocicat Macazinez, for November, as Calymene ceratophthalma, having all the charac- teristics of the well-known Calymene Blumenbachii, but with eyes placed on the end of long peduncles. This curious specimen gave rise to an animated discussion, in which all the speakers expressed themselves as dissenting from Mr. Woodward’s views; but whether 38 Reports and Proceedings. the so-called eye-peduncles were really the reversed cheek-margins of the same Trilobite, or belonged to another individual, seemed to admit of some doubt. Several interesting illustrations in confirma- tion of the latter of these opinions were exhibited. There seems to be no doubt that the fossil in question has been mutilated, as Mr. Johnson stated that when he first saw it the margins of the sessile eyes of the common Calymene Blumenbachii were distinctly visible.* Among the fossils exhibited may be mentioned one which Mr. Beckett considered as a Calamite, from the Dudley Limestone, though the absence of all remains of land-plants in these early measures pointed rather to the specimen exhibited being an Orthoceras. Mr. Hollier exhibited a number of beautiful Trilobites and several Limuli from the Coal-measures. Mr. Ketley also exhibited a specimen of Phacops Downingice, var. spinosus, only one specimen of which is recorded, and that from the Ludlow rock.—-Dudley Herald, Dec. 5, 1868. Monrrean Narurat History Socrrry.—The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Monday evening, Oct. 26th, 1868. The President, Principal Dawson, F.R.S., etc., etc., in the Chair. H. Billings, Esq., F.G.S., read a paper entitled, “ Note on the Bones of a Mastodon found near Dunnville, Oct., 1868.” On reading the announcement in the papers of the discovery of the bones of a Mastodon, near Dunnville, two weeks ago, I left Montreal by the first train for the locality. On arriving there, I found that the accounts were somewhat exaggerated. The remains were not so large as had been reported, and besides were in a very poor state of preservation. The tusks had almost entirely disappeared—there remaining only two or three small fragments, about a foot long and one or two inches thick. No part of the head remained except the posterior portion of the right ramus of the lower jaw. There are seven molar teeth with the enamel, as usual, well preserved. There is a nearly perfect thigh bone and several other bones of the legs and feet, most of them more or less broken and decayed. There are a few of the vertebree, some fragments of the ribs, and a number of other imperfect bones. On examining the teeth, I found the remains to be those of the common American species Mastodon Ohioticus or Trilophoden Ohio- ticus, according to Dr. Falconer’s classification. Judging from the size of the teeth and femur, I should say that this animal was a Mastodon of medium size, perhaps nine feet in height. I do not think the tusks could have been fourteen feet long. The longest and most perfect skeleton of this species known is that which was mounted by the late Dr. Warren, of Boston, and which is now, I believe, in one of the museums of that city. It measures seventeen feet in length from the front part of the face to the insertion of the tail, and is a little over eleven feet in height. The tusks are about eleven feet in length, and it seems probable, therefore, that those of the Dunnville skeleton were not so long. 1 See Mr. Woodward's letter in Correspondence, page 43. Montreal Natural History Society. 39 The remains were found in a swamp, about one and a half mile north of Dunville, partly imbedded in a layer of fine sand, holding fresh water shells of species now living in our rivers, lakes and ponds. The sand is two and a half feet thick, rests upon Boulder- clay, and is overlaid by one anda half feet of black vegetable mould. None of the bones, as I understand, were found in the clay, but they partly projected up out of the sand into the mould. It is clear, therefore, that this animal lived long after the close of the Glacial eriod. From Dunville I went to the Niagara Falls, where there are pre- served in Mr. Barnett’s museum, a nearly perfect lower jaw of a small Mastodon from St. Thomas, Ontario. The molars are all in place, and the specimen is interesting, as it retains the two small tusks that are seen in the lower jaw of the young Mastodon, but not in the adult. Mr. Barnett has anumber of other teeth and lower jaws, both of the Mastodon and Mammoth, which he has collected from different places in the western parts of Ontario. There are three molars of the Mastodon in the Provincial museum from London, besides the collection of Mammoth’s bones from Hamilton. These are all the fossil elephantine remains that have been collected in Canada to my knowledge. Tt is worthy of note that none of these remains were collected east of the western extremity of Lake Ontario. It would seem that when the Mastodon and Mammoth roamed over Canada, the distri- bution of land and water was somewhat different from what it is now. The great escarpment (usually called the Niagara ridge) which runs from Lewiston to Hamilton and thence to Owen Sound, formed a shore of only a few feet in height, and all west of it was a low flat country abounding in swampy land, where grew the cedar, spruce, and other evergreens, upon whose leaves and twigs the Mastodon appears to have subsisted. asterly there was a great fresh-water sea that covered a large area of the present dry land of Canada, and of the neighbouring states. No remains of these animals have been found in Canada at any place east of Hamilton ; and it is not difficult to show that those collected there had been drifted down from the interior by the river that once flowed through the ravine at Dundas. In the States they have been collected in numerous localities all over the country, to some point as far east as Massachusetts. A line drawn north-easterly from Hamilton to New Brunswick would, according to our present knowledge, form the north-western boundary of the country inhabited by the Mastodon and Mammoth in the Dominion. Principal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c., exhibited some specimens of graphite from Buckingham, Q.C., and remarked on the parallelism between its mode of occurrence, whether in beds or veins, with that of the occurrence of bituminous matter, of organic origin, in limestones and shales, and in the veins or fissures tra- versing such rocks; arguing that if the graphite of the Laurentian rocks is assumed to be of organic origin, these rocks, when originally deposited, must have held vast quantities of vegetable debris, and 40 Anthropological Society of London. must have constituted highly bituminous limestones and shales, the volatile matter of which had probably been dissipated and the carbon brought into the state of graphite, before the commencement of the Silurian period. In evidence that such a change might be effected without any great amount of heat, he adduced the fact that in the Devonian rocks of New Brunswick, trunks of trees and even the most delicate leaves of ferns have been converted into graphite without obliterating their structure. AnrHropotocicaL Society oF Lonpon.—1l5th December.—Dr. James Hunt, President, in the Chair.—Dr. Carter Blake, F.G:S., Hon. Memb. A.S.L., made a communication on the skull, jaw, and limb-characters afforded by the specimens recently discovered at Cro- Magnon (Les Hyzies), France, and contrasted them with those of © similar, and in one case greater, age from the Belgian bone-caves. He pointed out that whilst the Belgian caves afforded evidence of man in some degree pithecoid, yet, on the whole, exaggerating the characters of the lower Sclavonian races; the French remains were entirely sui generis, and were those of men who, although presenting some simial characters, yet, in cerebral capacity, were superior to most existing races, and in some respects resembled the Celtic crania of the present day. CORRESPONDENCE, eed GLACIERS IN SOUTH DEVON. Srr,—As the question whether there are traces of glacial action in Devon is occasionally mooted, I send a few lines relating to that point. My own practical acquaintance with Glaciers is confined to one hurried visit to Switzerland, and on that account I did not ven- ture in my paper “On the Geology of the Valleys of the Upper part of the River Teign and its feeders’ (Quarterly Journal, vol. xxiii. p- 418), to ascribe any of the gravels, or transported rocks, to that cause, but named the gravel, deposited before the “re-excavation” of the valley, ‘‘old gravels.” Since the meeting of the British Associa- tion, an eminent continental geologist paid me a visit to examine the granite of Dartmoor, and on passing a place where the “old gravel” is exposed, said, ‘this is a Moraine; a Swedish or a Swiss geologist would say this is a Moraine.” He examined other “old gravel” sections, and gave similar opinions on the spot, which he confirmed on further consideration, and on examining the map of the district ; for “old gravels,” therefore, the word ‘‘ moraines” may probably be substituted. I do not feel justified in publishing the name of my friend, as I omitted to ask his permission so to do, but enclose it for your private satisfaction; and I trust that your readers will rely on me when I say that he was a well-known Professor, on whose opinion the most eminent geologists would place the greatest reliance. G. WaREING ORMEROD. CHAGFORD, EXETER, Correspondence—Mr. Alfred Bell. 41 SUSSEX AND SUFFOLK TERTIARIES. Srr,—1. In the course of the last summer I obtained from the Red Crag at Butley, near Chillesford, the following forms : Pupa marginata, L. Limnea sp. Limnea pereger, Mill. Planorbis complanatus, L. truncatula, Mull. All the above are new to the Red Crag except the last. were intermixed with marine shells. Resting on the London Clay in the coast near Felixtow, I found a freshwater river deposit, containing amongst other shells Cyclostoma elegans and Helix aspersa. The bed is overlain by about two feet of gravel, and that again by the surface soil. The river has undercut the Boulder-clay to a considerable extent on each side. The bed is worth notice, as the evidence that the above shells occur fossil in Britain is very meagre. 2. To the Shells listed by Mr. Godwin-Austen from the Mud- deposit at Selsey, I can add the following, two being altogether new to Britain, but living with Lutraria rugosa and Pecten polymorphus in the Mediterranean, making four southern forms,only found in this deposit. They Pleurotoma (Mangelia) rupa, Montagu. Litttorina rudis, Mason. “ obtusata, Linné. Lacuna puteolus, Turton. Rissoa parva, Da Costa. Trochus exasperatus, Pennant. Adeorbis subcarinata, Montagu. Solarium pseudo-perspectivum, Brocchi Turritella communis, Risso. [ (New). Utriculus obtusus, Montagu. Patella vulgata, Linné. Chiton marginatus, Pennant. » costulata, Alder. » fascicularis, Linné. » membranacea, Desmarest. » siculus, Gray (New). striata, Adams. Anomia ephippium, Linné. FHydrobia ulve, Pennant. Ostrea edulis, Linné. Odostomia plicata, Montagu. Cytherea chione, Linné. He indistincta, var. suturnalis, Phi- | Syndosmya tenuis, Montagu. or pallida, Montagu. [lippi. | Saxicava rugosa, Linné. Trochus lineatus, Da Costa. Corbula gibba, Olivi. For the determination of the more critical forms I am indebted to Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys. ALFRED BELL. 29, Grarton STREET, Fitzroy SQuaRE. » striatula, Montagu. », tnterrupta, Adams. DISCOVERY OF BOS PRIMIGENIUS IN THE LOWER BOULDER- CLAY OF SCOTLAND. Str,—Mr. Geikie, in reply to my note on the above subject (in the October Magazine), reads a lecture on my assumed ignorance of what constitutes Boulder-clay—the gratuitous assumption cannot alter the facts of the case in question. If a Glacier has deposited the beds of sand and earthy clay that fill two small basins that over- lie the stratified bed, in which the Bos was found, it must have been very different from the one that preceded the stratified bed. The latter has left evidence of its passage on the rocks of the valley ; the former has left none on the soft mud-bed, over which it must have passed—this stratified bed being as smooth and undisturbed, as if newly deposited in a quiet lake. Not wishing to enter into a con- troversy with Mr. Geikie, I merely point out this fact for his con- sideration. Roserr Craie. Lanesing, Betru, Nov., 1868. 42 Correspondence—Mr. T. P. Barkas. HETEROPHYLILIA MIRABILIS, DUNCAN. Srr,—The tone of Dr. Duncan’s reply, and his reference to my position, constrain me to decline further correspondence with him on this subject. My wish was to settle the determination of the coral in question, not the qualifications of paleontologists. The only points requiring notice in his remarks are, Ist., the assertion that irregular fracture of the spines is exceptional, and the assumption of anchylosis of the joint; and 2nd., that no one has aright to criticise his (Dr. Duncan’s) work, who has not himself described fossils. The first begs entirely the question, and the evidence I have adduced justifies me in disputing assertions, however authoritative. The second requires only to be stated for its assumption to be apparent. Joun Youne. Hounter1an Museum, Guascow, December 5, 1868. CLIMAXODUS OVATUS AND DIPLODUS. Srr,— Since my paper on the new palatal tooth, Climaxodus ovatus, appeared in the GzonoercaL Macazine for November, 1868, I have been fortunate enough to obtain three additional specimens. The general characters of the new specimens are the same as those which I have already described, but their sizes differ and there is considerable modification in their general outlines. Two of the specimens present the front or ridged view, and one the back or curved view of the teeth. The body of the tooth which presents the back view is about 4-10ths of an inch in length and about 5-10ths broad, and the root or attachment of the tooth is a trifle longer than the body of the tooth itself. Of the other two teeth presenting front views, one is 6-10 ths of an inch long and 5-10ths broad, and the entire length of tooth and root is 9-10ths ; it is crossed by four distinct ridges. The next tooth is 11-20ths of an inch broad and 9-20ths long, and is crossed on its lower half by five closely arranged ridges, the root or process for attachment being 4-10 inch in length. ‘The general structure and appearance of the teeth resemble those previously described. In the October Number of the Gzonogicat Macazine I offered to forward specimens of Coal-measure fossils to any of your readers who forwarded to me a stamped and addressed luggage-label. Several have forwarded labels and received their specimens, but others do not quite understand what I require to have sent me. Allow me again to state that as I have thousands of duplicate spe- cimens (of which it would be a charity to relieve me) of teeth, scales, ribs, vertebrz, spines, and other remains of Rhizodus, Megalichthys, Gyracanthus, Pleuracanthus, Diplodus, Ctenoptychius, etc., etc., I shall be most happy to forward per Sample Post a parcel under four ounces in weight to any of your readers who forward me an ordinary per- forated luggage label, bearing their address and two penny postage stamps for return postage. If any of your readers cannot conveni- ently obtain a luggage label, their address and two postage stamps will answer the purpose, as I shall find the label.—T. P. Barxas. NEWCASTLE-oN-TYNE, November, 1868. Correspondence—Mr. T. P. Barkas. 43 UNUSUAL FORMS OF CTENOPTYCHIUS. Srr,—Among the numerous fossil remains which I have recently obtained from the shale overlying the Low Main Coal-seam in Northumberland, there are two peculiar forms of Ctenoptychius, which seem worthy of being illustrated and recorded in your pages. The two species, Ctenoptychius pectinatus, and C. denticulatus are very abundant, but they are of the usual forms, with serrated upper edges, the serrations varying from eight to upwards of twenty in number, and the roots extending downwards from the body of the tooth or tubercle connected with the serrated edge. TEETH OF CTENOPTYCHIUS. Fig. 2, Fig. 1. With 33 Serrations (twice natural size). Fig. 2. With 17 Serrations (three times natural size). The two specimens to which I desire to direct special attention (see Woodcut) are the only two I have obtained with lateral in- stead of perpendicular extensions. There is in the two specimens an entire absence of the root-like processes which ordinarily cha- racterise Ctenoptychius. The only extension from the serrated bodies of the teeth proceeds from one side, and the teeth present the appearance of miniature combs, with long, slender solid handles. I shall best convey an accurate idea of their sizes, forms, and general appearance by the annexed outline sketches. (See Woodcut above.) I have just learned that several specimens in my collection from the Northumberland Carboniferous strata, which I have been ascribing to Megalichthys, are in reality Parabatrachus, a frog-like reptile, which was originally discovered in the Glasgow Coal-measures, and was described by Professor Owen in the Geological Journal, vol. ix. The glazed and punctured character of the head-plates bear a re- markable resemblance to those of Megalichthys; their forms, how- ever, differ considerably. T. P. Barxas. NewcastLs-on-Tyne, Dec. 5, 1868. ON A NEWLY-DISCOVERED LONG-EYED TRILOBITE FROM DUDLEY. Under the above heading, I published an Article in the GrotocicaL Magazine for November last, p. 489, in which I described a speci- men of Calymene Blumenbachii having long eye-stalks, obligingly lent me by Mr. E. Hollier. On Nov. 8rd I received a note from Mr. Charles Ketley, of Smethwick, informing me that he knew the specimen, and that the so-called eye-stalks were, in his opinion, only parts of the under- side of the head-margin of another Trilobite in contact with, but not a part, of the specimen described. 44 Correspondence—Mr. H. Woodward. On Nov. 9th Mr. Samuel Allport, of Birmingham, wrote me almost to the same effect. On Nov. 17th Mr. Henry Johnson, of Dudley, forwarded me a very long criticism upon my article, insisting strongly upon the same explanation of the supposed eye-pedicels as that already sug- gested by Messrs. Ketley and Allport in their letters, and he pub- lished the same letter in full in the “ Dudley Guardian” of Nov. 21st. A very animated correspondence ensued in that paper and in the “Herald” (Nov. 25th, Dec. 2nd and 5th) between Messrs. Hollier and Johnson. A gentleman signing himself “Student” added a letter, and I also wrote a brief reply. I may state that the specimen was most critically examined by many of my scientific colleagues before I described it, and I found | that several of them, upon a subsequent examination, still held to the opinion that the junction between the glabella and the supposed eye-pedicels could not be accidental, and was certainly not artificial ; and moreover, that the surface of the glabella and that of the horns was at parts continuous, where not cut in developing. Mr. Johnson states that the raised supraciliary margin of the true orbit was distinctly visible near the base of the pedicels when the Trilobite was shown to him by the workman before its final de- velopment. The most dexterous artist could not have united the head and the horns to produce the effect seen in the specimen leaving the matrix unsullied as it is; but it was quite possible, by a few clever touches, to render the apparent union of the parts still more complete, and that is what really seems to have been done. Whether the portions which formed these so-called eye-peduncles are really the missing _ portions of the incurved under-margin of the genal-border of the head of the same Trilobite, naturally (not artificially) displaced, so as to project from the two orbital apertures; or, whether they were produced from the corresponding portions of the head of another individual, fortuitously brought in contact with it whilst the matrix was still soft and yielding, the effect produced is nevertheless very remarkable, and so like a true union of parts as to have misled other and far abler observers than myself. With regard to this Trilobite I have said in my paper (p. 490) that ‘In all points except in the remarkable eye-peduncles, the specimen appears to be a true Calymene Blumenbachii. Indeed there are specimens in the Museum collection which match Mr. Hollier’s Trilobite most exactly, save in this one particular.” The constant absence of the cornea of the eye in Calymene and the elevated border surrounding it, led me to conclude that in this, as in Asaphus, Encrinurus, &c., the eyes were raised on foot-stalks, which had been in this instance crushed downwards from their more erect normal position, and apparently carrying with them the genal portion of the head. Henry Woopwarp. 1 See Report of Meeting of the Dudley and Midland Geological Society, p. 37, Correspondence—Rev. O. Fisher. 45 ON THE ELEVATION OF MOUNTAIN CHAINS. Srr,—In reply to the slight notice with which Mr. Scrope has honoured my speculation on volcanic action,’ I can assure him that nothing was further from my intention than to claim as original what I had learnt from him. It was merely for the sake of brevity that I omitted a reference, which I thought every one could supply. When my paper was read, I used the words, “ With respect to the raising of ejectamenta in a fissure, it is clearly proved by Scrope, in his work on volcanos, that the force to which it is due is the expan- sion of aqueous vapour when relieved from pressure.” I regret that I did not transfer the sentence in full to your pages. It will, however, be perceived that although I am indebted to Mr. Scrope for my ideas of the nature of a volcanic eruption, my specula- tion as to its cause differs from his theory. He attributes the elevation of mountains and the trains of vol- canoes which often accompany them, to local changes of temperature. “The results of such a local change of temperature would seem to be, first, the dilatation—whether or not amounting to fusion—and, consequent, upward pressure and bodily rise of the expanding matter beneath the centre or medial line of the area affected, but without producing its outward extravasation there; and, secondly, and at the same time, the upward rush and (sooner or later, probably) the external eruption of portions of this heated and fluidified matter through fissures formed towards the margin of the elevated area, and ranging in parallel lines on one or both sides of its central axis of maximum upthrust.”’ It appears, then, that the motive power, in Mr. Scrope’s opinion, is the pressure from below of matter expanded by an accession of heat. J, on the other hand, conceive the elevation of the mountains to be owing to the ‘contraction of the general mass of the earth within its already cooled crust, and suspect a diminution of pressure beneath mountain ranges on account of their being partly supported by their lateral abutments. I conceive the diminution of pressure so caused to induce liquefaction of the subjacent plutonic mass; so that erup- tion takes place through vents prepared for it—not by the upward pressure of increasingly heated matter, as supposed by Mr. Scrope ; but by the crumpling of the crust through lateral pressure caused by a general cooling of the globe. To my mind the difference between these views amounts almost to an interchange of cause and effect. Hartton, near Cambridge. O. FisHeEr. FISHER.—DENUDATIONS OF NORFOLK. Srr,—Under this heading your number for December contains a paper by the Rev. O. Fisher. The opening sentence is—« Upon the land-surface a certain amount of the fine material is being carried into the rivers, and by them deposited at the heads of the Broads, or where such do not exist, in the sea. This denudation by pluvial action is undoubtedly greater where the land is under the plough than it would be otherwise.” ‘The wildest subaerialist will require nothing 1 Grox. Mace. Vol. V., p. 493. * Scrope’s Volcanos, 1862, p. 273. 46 Correspondence—Colonel George Greenwood. more than this. Grant this and time, and the entire land must be deposited beneath the sea. So far theoretically. Practically we know that it isso. Practically we know that the entire land has been under the sea. In fact, as I have headed a chapter in Rain and Rivers, “It is only fire that keeps our heads above water.” Yet Mr. Fisher, who admits the principle that rain ever has been and actually is now washing the entire land into the sea, be- gins a sentence (page 557), “The windings of the valleys also appear to be on a larger scale than can be due to such rivers.” Why the insignificant valleys which he mentions, nay, the largest valleys in earth, those of the Amazon, Yang Tze, and Missis- sippi might have been formed without any river at all, by atmo- spheric disintegration and the erosion of rain. That is, by the pluvial action mentioned by Mr. Fisher himself. When these rivers are flooded by rain they are swollen to perhaps twenty times their usual volume; and these rain-floods would occur annually in their valleys whether the rivers existed there or not. That is, instead of constant rivers there would be periodical rivers in the valleys. I have said in Rain and Rivers, that rivers are rain reappearing and returning to the sea. But Mr. Fisher talks of rivers as if they were not rain; and if not, what are they? Evaporation condensed into rain is the causa causarum. Rain causes valleys. The largest rivers in the world are by comparison, the effects of this causa causarum, and are mere assistants in forming the wondrously magnificent valleys in which they flow (for, perhaps, 4,010 miles), and which are the roads which carry the entire surface of the earth into the sea. This Titanic traffic is brought to them entirely by rain. That 1s, owing to atmospheric disintegration everything on the surface of the earth which is not living is decaying. Hence, soil; and soil, which is rotted subsoil, is in perpetual formation over the entire surface of the earth, and is perpetually washed down the hill-side into the valley, and along the valley into the sea. Again, Mr. Fisher says, of what he improperly calls “'The valley of the Waveney and the Little Ouse,” “If the excavation of this valley had been produced by river-action it is inconceivable how it could have been excavated over the watershed.” It is not asserted that the so-called valley is formed by “river action.” It is asserted that the low water parting between the two valleys has been caused by what caused the two rivers—rain. Mr. Fisher begins with the broad and wholesome doctrine of pluvial denudation, here he comes to the narrow one of fluvial denudation. That is the doctrine of Sedgwick and Murchison, that denudation is only on lines on the lines of rivers, This is to confuse cause and effect. In joining ‘“ Rain and Rivers” together we must remember that rain is the cause, rivers the effect. In a chalk country like Norfolk there is not a single so-called river valley which does not begin with a dry valley, or ‘rain valley,” far above the highest springs of the river. Two opposite rain valleys con- stantly cut nearly through the dividing ridge. But as Jong as a water parting remains, and the waters run in opposite directions, we must consider them as two valleys. Mr. Fisher talks of the valleys of the Correspondence—Mr. Bi Ray Lankester. 47 Waveney and Little Ouse, first as one valley, then as two valleys, then as two valleys inosculating. But the upper part of every so- called river valley on earth is always purely a ‘‘rain valley or dry valley’ sine flumine vallis, as in myriads of cases entire valleys are, especially in porous-strata like Chalk. And in nature, at the dividing ridge, each opposite dry valley or water-flow may be seen to stretch its fingers up each opposite water-slope to join hands across the in- tervening water-parting. Hence the low parts of a dividing ridge - alternating with high parts, for which we have the modern northern terms, gap, saddle, col, &c. Hence the southern sierra or serra (saw), and the Latin ‘‘juga montium,” from the saw-like, or yoke-like ups and downs of dividing ridges. The very name of jugum (hill or yoke) originates here, But these opposite dry valleys, which run up to these low parts of the dividing ridge, these beginnings of valleys are not caused by rivers. ‘They are caused by the cause of rivers— rain. GEORGE GREENWOOD, Colonel. Brookwoop Parx, ALREsFoRD, December 7, 1868. THE MAMMALIA OF THE CRAG. Srr,—I observe that the Rev. O. Fisher, at page 547 of your last number, states, on the authority of the Rev. J. Gunn, that Hlephas meridionalis occurs in the Red Crag. He also speaks of the “Crag period” in such a way as to make it clear that he regards the terres- trial Mammalian fauna of the Suffolk Bone-bed as identical with that of the Mammalian Norfolk Crag. It has always been to mea matter for much regret that the able students of the Norfolk Crags will not give due attention to the facts known as to the Suffolk Crag, for by their assistance the students of the latter might hope to unravel the mysterious history of that strange deposit, the Red Crag. What grounds have the Rev. John Gunn and the Rev. O. Fisher for stating that EH. meridionalis is found in the Red Crag? The only elephant tooth supposed to come from the Red Crag—known to the late Dr. Falconer—is referred by him to E. antiquus (Paleeont. Mem. vol. il. p. 181), and there is no real reason for believing it to be a Red Crag specimen at all. It is true that Mastodon Arvernensis is common to the Norfolk and Suffolk deposits ; but have you in Nor- folk Rhinoceros Schleiermachert, Hycena antiqua, Hipparion (Ursus arvernensis is, I think, found there)? Though the character of the lowest beds of the Suffolk and Norfolk deposits is similar, there seems to me, at present, reason to regard the terrestrial Mammalian fauna of the Suffolk Bone-bed as older than that of the Norfolk Crag generally. It is most important to remember that they are older than the Ooralline Crag. HK. Ray Lankesrer. ON THE OCCURRENCE OF TITANIUM, ETC., IN MAYO. Str,—I have lately discovered a new locality for the mineral Titanium, viz., on Cushcamcurragh, a mountain in the townland of Treel, near Newport, Mayo. It occurs in the form of fine crystals of Rutile, imbedded in quartz and schist, in the neighbourhood of a landslip of considerable extent which took place last year at the head 48 Correspondence—Mr. S. G. Perceval. of the Glenthomas valley. The greater part of the specimens I obtained were from its surface, and associated with a small variety of schorl; it also occurs under similar circumstances on the east side of the ridge above the landslip, on the surface of some smaller slips. Magnetic iron likewise appears on the weathered surface of some neighbouring rocks, of which I procured some fine specimens, and near the west summit of the mountain I found a peculiar form of Andalusite. Few crystals of Titanium are to be obtained, except amongst the debris of the above localities, scarcely any being observ- able amongst the numerous outcrops of the adjoining strata. The crystals of Rutile are in colour red or dark metallic brown, frequently geniculated, and occasionally of considerable size. A specimen which I presented to the Museum of the Royal Dublin © Society was nearly 4 inches in length and in width about # inch. I have also given specimens to the Museums of Trinity College, and of the Geological Survey of Ireland. Titanium is probably widely disseminated in minute quantities through the mountains north of Clew Bay, though rarely occurring as a distinct mineral. Traces of iron may frequently be observed. and minute crystals of schorl as well as a specimen resembling rutile I noticed near Birreencorragh, but nowhere in the district have I found these minerals in such development as on Cushcamcurragh. S. G. Prercrvat. Henzury, Nov. 25th, 1868. SUPPOSED PHOLAS-HOLES ON CONWAY MOUNTAINS. Srr,—In a letter, printed on p. 377, Vol. IV., Gon. Maca., Mr. Maw cites the information of a friend who had seen Pholas-borings high up on the mountain to the west of Conway. In answer to an application, the observer has kindly mentioned his locality to me, describing the holes as “of two species, very numerous, the rock being one mass of holes, large and small, . . . . honeycombed in every direction, like a sponge.” The place is a small quarry, on the north side of the very ridge of Conway mountain, and may be best reached by climbing the hill straight up from the Bangor Road, at the west side of a gravel quarry, at the foot of a huge round- headed rock westward of the Railway Bridge there. As the observation seems to have been too hasty, I will beg you, in order that it may not lead to misapprehension, to insert this note. The so-called Pholas-holes are not the work of any animal. They occur throughout the rock, and not on the surface only. The rock is a vesicular felspathic trap, with many larger or smaller oval cells, most of which are lined with a laminar deposit of crystalline matter. Some portions of it are honeycombed, others full of communicating holes, so as to look not very unlike coarse sponge. The larger holes in exposed places, with thin laminar lining, have weathered, so as to present a considerable likeness to Pholas-holes with shells in, but inspection will at once prove their purely mineralogical character. R. D. Daxpisuire. 26, Guoree Sr., Mancuesrer, 4¢h Dec., 1868. Secu: Sapien en i Bees: ya? Geol. Mag. 1869 Vol. VI. PL. I. GR de Wilds del etlith adnat W. West imp luimb-bones: of Trogontherium Cuviern, Fischer, from the Cromer Forest-bed GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LVI—FEBRUARY, 1869. ORIGINAL ARTICUIHS: ———< I.—On tHE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CASTOR AND TROGONTHERIUM. By Professor Owen, F.R.S., etc. (With a Double Plate, III.) COMPARISON, with corresponding parts of existing species of Castor, of specimens of mandible and mandibular teeth of a large beaver-like quadruped, obtained from the fresh-water deposits called the ‘ Forest-bed’ on the Norfolk coast, led me, in 1845, to the conclusion signified by the adoption of Fischer’s generic appellation, Trogontherium, for the rodent, which seemed to exemplify “an ex- tinct sub-generic type” of Castoride.' Subsequent acquisitions of a femur from the Forest-bed at Mun- desley, by the Rev. John Gunn, M.A., F.G.S., and of a tibia from the same formation and locality, by the late Rev. 8. W. King, M.A., F.G.S., together with portions of upper jaw with teeth, have yielded confirmation of the above conclusion. The teeth in the portion of upper jaw in Mr. King’s collection (Fig. 1), answer to the second (m 1) and third (im 2) right side of the beaver : part of the alveolus, and the root of the first grinder (p 4), Fig. 2. Portion of Right Upper Jaw and Molar Series, Copied from Cast of Molar Series of Trogontherium Cuvieri, nat. size. (Rev. S. W. Trogontherium Cuvieri, from the King’s Collection.) Department de l’ Eure et Loire. 1“ British Fossil Mammals,” 8yo. p. 184. VOL. VI.—NO. LVI. 4 50 Prof. Owen—On Castor and Trogontherium, indicate a proportionally large size of that tooth, repeating that characteristic of the homotypal grinder in the lower jaw (Fig. 3, p4). Only the first half of the crown of the last upper grinder is in place, but the socket indicates a greater posterior prolongation of this tooth than in Castor ; and a cast of the last three upper grinders (m 1, m 2, m 3) of the Trogontheriwm found in lacustrine marl, in the ‘ Department de l’Kure et Loire,’ Fig. 2, (added to my Fig. 1, at m 3), shows the angular posterior production of m3, which generically differentiates Trogontherium from Castor : it is associated, as we shall see, with many corroborative modifications, if of minor value, in other Trigontherian fossils. The molars (m 1 and m 2) in Mr. King’s specimen, from Mundesley, have a transverse section, or grinding surface, more triangular than in Castor: the inner side of the tooth is narrower and more rounded, not bilobed. The peripheral enamel is continued along that side, uninterruptedly, becoming thinner as it curves to the back part of the tooth. In Castor the inner enamel- wall is bent into the substance of the tooth near the middle of the inner surface, forming a fold, which extends nearly half-way across toward the outer surface. The well-marked difference, in this respect, between the upper grinders (m 1, m 2), of Castor and those of Trigontherium, is not due to different degrees of attrition; for the inner longitudinal groove produced, in Castor, by the fold above-mentioned, is co-extensive in that genus with the length of the enamelled crown. In m1 and m 2 of Trogontherium, there comes next, behind the anterior enamel-wall, a narrow and long insular fold of enamel curving across the crown nearly parallel to that wall, but slightly receding from it, as the island extends from without inwards; the ends of the island touch, or nearly so, the peripheral wall of enamel. There is no such narrow enamel-island curving from the outer to the inner side of the front half of the molar in Castor; it is represented by an outer fold which passes inward in front of and beyond the blind end of the inner fold above described, together with that fold, in Castor. Behind the anterior enamel-island, in Trogontherium, there is a second shorter island, sub-parallel there- with, commencing from, or close to, the outer wall, and terminating opposite the middle of the posterior border of the grinding surface. In m 1 and m 2 of Castor there are two folds of enamel penetrating from the outer side, the anterior of which extends to near the inner and hinder angle of the grinding surface. The last upper molar of Trogontherium has the second transverse island parallel and co- extensive with the first, with a third and a fourth shorter transverse fold or island; the grinding surface is triangular, with a curved or convex anterior base; the fore-and-aft extent equals that of the two preceding grinders. In Castor the dimension of m 3 is less than that of the contiguous molar, m 2, and its grinding surface, instead of being more, is less complex. The lower molars, p 4,1 m 1, m 2, of which the grinding surface 1 There seems to be more loss than gain in reversing the usual way, viz., from before backward, of counting teeth; and so I retain my method of considering the the Recent and Fossil Beaver. 51 is figured of the natural size in my “ British Fossil Mammals,” p. 189, fig. 73, are from an aged individual, with crowns worn down to near the base. As both m1 and m 2 were in place and use before p 4, they show the effects of attrition in a greater degree. In this portion of lower jaw obtained by Mr. King from the Forest-bed at Mundesley, and the remarkable similarity of which to the figured specimen from Cromer’ is noted by my accomplished and much lamented friend, the degree of wear is less, and the cha- racter of the grinding surface of m 1 and m 2 is better shown. The outer side of the crown is not indented, so as to become bilobed, as in Castor; the fold of enamel which extends from the outer side half-way across, and corresponds with the wider fold dividing the lobes in Castor, begins more abruptly, and as acloser fold, of the outer enamel- wall; and, as the fold or in-doubling is not con- tinued so low down the outside of the crown in Trogontherium, the fold is sooner separated from the outer enamel-wall, and appears as a narrow, slightly bent island, curving from the outer, obliquely backward, half-way toward the inner side of the crown. Anterior to this fold are two narrow enamel-islands: one begins close to the inner enamel-wall, or as an infolding of that wall, and runs parallel with the outer fold or island, more than half way to the outer side. In advance of this is a narrow island of enamel near portions of Left ramus to the anterior enamel-wall, with the ends LowerJaw, (Trogonthe- equidistant from the outer and inner borders of Rev. 6 Wr eines Seen the grinding surface ; this island is nearly oblite- ™- rated in m 1; as it was wholly so in the Cromer specimen (fig. 73, op. cit.) Behind the first-mentioned island or fold, from the outer surface, is one from the inner surface, extending parallel with the posterior enamel-wall rather more than half-way across the tooth; this last coronet fold is quite insulated and shortened in m 2 of the Cromer specimen, and has disappeared from m 1. This anterior grinder, 4, p shows an insular remnant of an enamel fold anterior to the four long islands or folds in fig. 73, Brit. Foss. Mamm., and a rather more produced and narrower anterior termi- nation of the crown than in the specimen of the older Trogonthere from Cromer. It is remarkable that the hindmost grinder should be wanting in the five examples of mandible, including the more perfect specimen hindmost of the pre-molars, like the hindmost of the true molars, as the last of its series, which in Diphyodonts is the fourth. ‘The order in which both kinds of teeth follow one after another, viz., from before backward (if there be an interval in appearance), also weighs with me in rejecting Rutimeyer’s innovation of counting the hindmost and last appearing milk-molar and pre-molar, as the “first”? of their respective series. — ‘‘ Beitrage zur Kenntniss der fossilen Pferde,” in ‘* Verhand- lungen der Natur-forsch. Gesellsch. in Basel,” Bd. iii. Ht. 4, 1863. 1 Brit. Foss. Mamm. p. 186, fig. 72. o2 Prof. Owen—On Castor and Trogontherium, from Bacton (fig. 71, Brit. Foss. Mamm.); and in 1845 I could only remark, in regard to m 3, that its socket shows it to have had a larger antero-posterior diameter than the antecedent grinder, corre- sponding with the character of its homotype above, both molars showing proportions the reverse of those in the genus Castor. In my last visit to Norwich, I found in the well-known collection of Robert Fitch, Hsq., F.G.S., which was opened to my inspection with that gentleman’s usual liberality, a portion of the right ramus of the mandible of Zrogontherium, from the Forest-bed at Mundesley, having the series of four grinders complete. The specimen was also from a younger individual than those I had previously seen, showing rather larger dimensions of m1 and m 2, which slightly con- tract toward the roots, and affording a more perfect gC condition of the enamel character. In p 4, the small ‘6 anterior island of Fig. 3 retains (b) its character as a Zz3mn3 short fold from the outer part of the anterior end =} of the tooth. The beginning of the outer submedian fold, a, is rather wider, the continuation of the two i 2572 ~«inner folds, 6, ¢, with enamel-wall is more distinct. ro This beginning of the folds a, 6, ¢, is also manifest in m 1, and m2. In ™m 8, the two minor folds, 6 c, diverge from each other as they penetrate the tooth more than in the other grinders; the outer fold a inclines more obliquely backwards; there is an indi- é cation of a very short bend of the enamel-wall at the cee Surface Produced and rather contracted hind-end of m3. In of the Molar Series, all the teeth the anterior long and narrow enamel- eet Tipontte, iSland is shown ; and in m 2 and m 3 are indications rium nat.size.(Mr. of its being an infolding from the inner enamel-wall. Fiteb’s specimen) Tn Castor the last grinder of the mandible, like that of the maxilla, is smaller than the rest, which, with the difference of pattern of the grinding surface of all the molars, gives ground for generic distinction of the great Castorine rodent of the Forest-' bed, as good as for any accepted genus of the order. The outer part of the mandible in Trogontheriwm is much more prominent or convex below the small crotaphyte fossa than in Castor. The rough surface for insertion of masseter extends to beneath the anterior grinder, p 4; in Castor it does not advance beyond the interspace between p 4 and m 1. A distal epiphysis of a right humerus, obtained by Mr. Gunn from the Forest-bed of Mundesley, indicates a larger proportional size of the fore-limb in Trogontherium than in Castor. The radial convexity of the trochlea has more fore-and-aft extent in Trogontheriwm; its contour is nearly that of an equilateral triangle, with the sides rather convex : in Castor the transverse diameter of the radial con- vexity much exceeds the antero-posterior one. ‘The ulnar channel is much deeper in Trogontherium than in Castor: the posterior or olecromal part of the pulley is relatively wider and shallower in Trogontherium. In an old British beaver (Castor fiber), from a Cambridgeshire the Recent and Goasil Beaver. 53 fen-deposit, the breadth of the olecromal part of the articular trochlea of the humerus is 0-010 — 5 lines; in Trogontherium it is 0-023 —104 lines. The breadth of the fore part of the trochlea in Castor is 0-019 —9 lines; in Trogontherium it is 0-024 — 114 lines; the antero-posterior diameter of the radial tuberosity of the humeral trochlea in Castor is 0:008 = 4 lines; in Trogontherium it is 0-020 = 9 lines. The femur, Pl. IIT. Figs. 1 and 2, was obtained by the Rev. John Gunn, M.A., F.G.8., from the Forest-bed, at Mundesley. A faint trace of the distal epiphysial line indicates it to have belonged to a young, but nearly, if not quite, full-grown animal. The processes, ridges, rough pits, etc., indicative of muscular insertions and actions, are well-marked. Among the characters of the femur in the order Rodentia may be noted, a slender femoral neck, high trochanter major with deep trochanterian fossa, well-marked trochanter minor, a third trochan- terian process or ridge, distinctive of the rotular articular surface from that of the condyles. These characters do not concur in every rodent femur, but are found in most. They are present in the fossil in question ; the third trochanter being represented by a long ridge, Fig. 1, e, d, but the present bone has not the ordinary cyclindrical shaft of the rodent femur, being rather flattened from before back- ward, and expanding transversely at the distal half. The above characters sway me to the conclusion that the specimen in question is the femur of a large rodent quadruped ; the shape of the shaft, and other characters presently to be noticed incline me to refer such rodent to the beaver-family (Castoride), Hitherto, no evidence of a large rodent animal has turned up in any locality of the Norfolk littoral Forest-bed, save that to which the teeth and portions of jaws above described or referred to, belong, viz., the Trogontherium Cuvieri. I, therefore, deem it highly probable that we have in Mr. Gunn’s unique specimen (now, by the liberality of that acute and persevering investigator of the geology and fossils of the Norfolk coast, in the Museum of the town of Norwich) evidence of a part of the skeleton, of the rare and interesting extinct Cas- torine animal, hitherto unknown and undescribed. This proba- bility may engender in others, as in myself, a strong belief, if not conviction, from the correspondence of the degrees of resemblance and difference which the femur in question presents, with those pre- sented by the dentition of Trogontherium in the comparison with the beaver (Castor Europeeus), in which belief I assign this bone to Tro- gontherium. The cervix femoris (Pl. III. Fig. 1, a, a.) is slender and sub-com- pressed from before backward, the little that remains (the head being broken off) indicates it to have inclined forward as well as up- ward and inward, like the cervix femoris of Castor. The trochanter major (ib. b), is a lofty three-sided process, with a large, rough, convex summit, as in Castor, but it is relatively shorter, with a broader base, and a deeper post-internal fossa (ib. ¢) Below the fossa a low ridge extends towards the trochanter minor (ib. g), which 54 Prof. Owen—On Castor and Trogontherium, is as much developed as in Castor, but is more triangular in shape, less thickly and obtusely terminated than in Castor. ‘The chief dif- ference, however, is in the third trochanter, which in Trogontherium, is represented by a ridge (ib. e, d), continued from the outer part of the base of the trochanter major downward and slightly backward, subsiding before attaining the mid-length of the bone, a little behind the outer border of the shaft at that part. In Castor the corres- ponding ridge is thinner, sharper, and extends directly outward, thickening and projecting as an obtuse anteriorly bent process from the mid-half of the outer side of the femur, a ridge is con- tinued down from the base of the process to the ectocondyloid tuberosity. In Trogontherium there is a channel (Fig. 1, e) along the fore part of the ridge d, that causes its free border to curve forward, though in a less degree than in the process of the beaver’s thigh-bone. There is also a depression indicative of muscular in- sertion at the back of the third-trochanterian ridge (Fig. 2, f) in Trogontherium. After the subsidence of this ridge, the shaft of the femur is free from ridges, etc., for the extent of nearly an inch, yielding from its compression, a transverse irregularly oval section. No part of the shaft of the beaver’s thigh-bone is in this condition ; like the mole’s humerus it is invaded from end to end by outstand- ing processes or ridges. The outer border of the distal third of the femoral shaft of Trogon- therium assumes by its expansion and posterior excavation (Fig. 2, /) the character of a ridge, but much thicker and more obtusely termi- nated than in Castor, in which the well-defined posterior “muscular” depression is wanting. The inner side of the distal third of the femoral shaft retains the transverse convexity to the entocondyloid tuberosity (Fig. 1, 7.); in Castor it is produced and thinned off to an edge; the tuberosity is alike in both, but a little more defined from the shaft in Trogontherium. Above the rotular canal there is a large smooth depression (Fig. 1, k.) in Trogontherium, scarcely a trace of which exists in Castor; the rotular canal (Fig. 1, J.) has the same breadth and outer inclination as it descends, in both. In both, also, its articular or synovial surface is detached from that of either femoral condyle, though nearest to the outer one, m. As the distal end of the femur is relatively less expanded than in Castor, the rotular canal is broader in the like relation in Zrogontherium. 'The posterior intercondyloid channel (Fig. 2, 0) is deeper and narrower in Trogontherium. I am not cognisant of such differences in femoral structure in two species of any genus of Rodent, now accepted in Mammalogy; and regard those above specified as concurring, with the dental differences, in establishing the genus Trogontherium in the Castorine group. I also infer from the femoral modifications, that the Trogontherie was less aquatic and a swifter mover upon land than the Beaver. This inference has some support from the characters of the tibia; for, if the present femur have attained or nearly attained its full-length, wanting only consolidation or complete confluence of its distal epi- physis, it is shorter in proportion to the tibia than in Castor. the Recent and Fossil Beawer. 55 The tibia of Trogontherium (PI. IIL., Figs. 4, p, y, 5 and 6), besides the superiority of size as belonging to a Rodent larger than the European or Canadian beavers, differs in the much less depth of the cavity (Fig. 6, r), impressing the back part of the proximal half of the shaft: in the thicker and more obtuse inner (tibial) border (s) of that concavity : in the stronger antero-posterior sigmoid flexure of the entire bone: and the greater extent of the confluent distal ends of tibia and fibula (w, y). The medullarterial canal (Fig. 6, v) -has a similar position and direction. The anterior ridge (Fig. 5, p) is thicker and subsides sooner in T’rrogontherium: the outer concavity (uw), and inner flat or subconvex surface, resemble those in Castor. The inner malleolus is longitudinally grooved as in Castor ; its back part (z) is produced: the outer malleolus (y) projects a little above the distal articular end of the fibula. Calcanewm, Pl. III, Fig. 8. The calcaneum in both Castor fiber and Castor canadensis, Fig. 9, is remarkable among rodents, for both the considerable length and breadth combined, of the hind or fulcral process, which, with the articular part of the bone placed hori- zontally for renewing and supporting a superincumbent vertical tibia, is so inclined as to seem to be flattened vertically (depressed), rather than from side to side (compressed)." From the “ Forest-bed” of Mundesley, Mr. Gunn obtained a caleaneum (left) of this castorine type, (Pl. III, Fig. 8), equalling that bone of a full-sized beaver in length, but exceeding it in breadth. I assume it to belong to the Troyontherium. The articular part of the bone presents two surfaces superiorly a, 6, for the astra- galus, and part of the larger anterior surface, c, remains on the fossil for the cuboides. The outer and upper surface, a, is longer and narrower in Zrogontherium than in Castor ; the inner process, 8, is simply concave, not also convex, and flat posteriorly, as in Castor. The fulcral process, d, is broader and thicker, relatively much broader to its length, since in Trogontherium the bone is equally divided between its articular and fulcral parts, whereas in Castor the latter is the largest. In Castor the inner and lower border of the fulcral part is almost straight in Trogontherium by the inclina- tion of the tendinal canal to the under and fore part of the bone; the inner border of the fulcral process is somewhat convex. The specific difference is obvious at a glance; the degree of the dif- ference brought out by detailed comparison suggests a generic distinction concurring with that demonstrated by the dentition of Trogontherium. The original or type specimen of Trogontherium has been described and figured by Dr. C. Rouillier, in his “ Jubileeum Fischeri,” p. 388, Tab. 5. It was discovered at Taganrog, Sea of Azoff. In the “‘ Quarantine Ravine,” near Odessa, in a yellow argillaceous deposit, beneath a thick stratum of “ Calcaire d’Ossessa,” the “ Old Caspian Deposit” of Murchison, various mammalian fossils* were 1 Catal. of Osteol. in Surgeon’s College, 4to, No. 2193, p. 392. * Elephas, Rhinoceros, Cervus, Equus, Hyena, Ursus. 56 Dakyns— Geological Notes on the Lake District. discovered in 1846, among which were “ parties separées de squelette (not specified) d’un animal resemblant au Castor (Trogontherium).” * DESCRIPTION OF THE DOUBLE PLATE III. Trogontherium Cuvieri. . Front view of left femur. . Back view of 2.° . Distal articular surface, or condyles, 2d. A . Outer side view of femur and tibia (the latter drawn without reversing.) . Front view of right tibia and confluent part of fibula. . Back view of 7. . Distal articular end of 7. . Calcaneum. — Fig. OMOWI]SEUMP wh of the recent Castor fiber (for comparison). All the figures are of the natural size. II.—Norzs on THE GrotoGy oF THE LAKE District. By J. R. Daxyns, of the Geological Survey. WISH, through the medium of your pages, to call the attention of Geologists to an important point in the Geology of the English Lake District. I made a short tour in that district early in December of last year, when I thought I discovered evidence of an “ unconformity ” between the beds of the Greenslates and Porphyry series and the Skiddaw Slates. I walked from Keswick to Buttermere in company with another geologist, whose name I do not feel at liberty to mention, as I could not get him to agree with me in the view I took of the relation of the two sets of beds to one another. We went by way of Littledale, and crossed the watershed between Robinson and Hindscarth, both of which hills we found to be com- posed of Skiddaw Slates, and not (as wrongly coloured on Ruthven’s map, edition of 1855) of the Porphyry series. When standing on the watershed overlooking the Buttermere valley, and facing Honister Crag, due south of us, I noticed and pointed out to my companion that the beds of the Crag, which are of the Porphyry and Greenslate series, appeared to lie at a low angle of, perhaps, 30° on the Skiddaw Slates, which on our or the north side of the valley, had their normal dip and strike of from 50° to 70° to the §.8.H., and appeared to have the same on the op- posite side. Fic. 1.—Rovew Sxztcu or Honister CraG, BurrerMERE VALLEY. N.W. S.E. \\X 2S N Lue > : cro NY Ais ~ The appearance presented seemed to be of the character shewn in 1 Nordmann, Découverte de gites riches en Ossemens Fossiles, faite in 1846 ; Odessa, 8vo., 1847, p. 2. Dakyns— Geological Notes on the Lake District. 57 Fig. 1, where a. represents the Greenstone of Honister Crag lying on the upturned and denuded edges of the Skiddaw Slates (B.) ; though, as I was not able to examine the rocks on the spot, the appearance may have been deceptive from the effect of fore-shortening. It put into my head, however, the idea of an unconformity, which I expressed to my companion. The next excursion bearing upon the question I made alone. I mapped the line of junction between the Skiddaw Slates and over- lying series from near Lowdore, by Grange in Borrowdale, across the western fells by Hel Crags up to Dale Head. Fia. 2.— BoRROWDALE FELLS. re A. Greenstone. 3B. Skiddaw Slates. In ascending the fells from Borrowdale, I distinctly made out that continually higher and higher beds of the Greenstone series abutted against the Skiddaw Slates, as shewn in Fig. 2, where a. represents the Greenstone lying unconformably on the Skiddaw Slates (B.), and the higher beds of Greenstone overlapping the lower. How far this extended I had not time to make out, but, probably, not far, as Professor Ramsay tells me that he never saw such an unconformity among the old rocks on a large scale. It also seemed to me that not only were the Upper Beds lying at a comparatively low angle of perhaps 30 deg. on the denuded edges of the highly inclined Skiddaw slates, but that their strike was also different, Unfortunately I had not time nor favourable weather for satisfying myself on these important but minor points. The line of junction between the two sets of beds crosses the ridge at Castle Nook. I walked southward from that point along the top of Hel Crags, and got into the next valley between the southern end of those crags and the cliffs of Dale Head, and there to my surprise and joy, I found the Skiddaw Slates in place, with their normal dip and strike of 70 deg. to §.8.H., more than a mile south of Castle Nook, and not more than 500 feet lower, if so much. As the line from Castle Nook to this point runs but little west of south, it is manifest that unless the Skiddaw Slates change their strike between those points from a. general east and west to a general north and south direction, or un- dergo some roll, of neither of which changes did I see any evidence from my various points of view, the upper beds must be resting un- conformably on the lower, unless the Greenstone is intrusive, of which also I saw no evidence, but rather the reverse, for I believe it to be distinctly bedded. It has been suggested to me that I may have mistaken cleavage for bedding in the Skiddaw Slates ; but I considered that point at the time. My reason for thinking the planes to be bedding and not cleavage planes is, besides the fact that they looked to me much more like bedding than cleavage, that I saw them rolling about and con- 58 H, Woodward—WMan and the Mammoth. torted in places, which, if I am not mistaken as to the fact, is conclusive against their being cleavage. Norz.—I subjoin a third figure to show the le of the beds along Eel Crags. Fic. 38.—Liz oF THE BEDS ALONG EEL CraAGs. A. Greenstone. 3B. Skiddaw Slates. In Fig. 3, (a) represents the Greenstone lying on the Skiddaw Slates (B); the line a 6 separating the two sets of beds, makes an angle of 6° with the horizon; the Skiddaw slates are shown dipping - at 60°, as their full dip is not seen. I1J.—Man anp tHe Mammotu; Brine an Account oF THE ANIMALS Founp AssoctaTEeD with Harty Man 1n Pru-uistoric Times." By Henry Woopwarp, F.G.S8., F.Z.8., of the British Museum. AVING a short time since drawn up a brief statement of the evidences upon which the presumed antiquity of the human race in Western Europe is based, and also some account of the animals found associated with early man in this region, I have ventured to think it may be found of sufficient interest to lay before this Society. It is based only in a very small part upon my own observations, being chiefly composed of materials gathered from the published labours of my friends and colleagues, who have specially devoted their time and energies to these researches. The question of primeval man and his contemporaries is now, by common consent, admitted to be one of the most important geological topics which has occupied the attention, not only of men of science, but also of the educated classes generally, in the present day, and notwithstanding the works already published, it may be said that the public mind is still craving for fuller information. Nor need that craving remain altogether unrelieved, for every month contributes its quota to the general store of published facts and discoveries, and we may ourselves add thereto by careful obser- vations in our own district if we only know how, when, and where to observe for ourselves. The class of deposits which have yielded the evidence of which I am about to speak, cannot be said to have been altogether pre- viously unnoticed, but it is only during the past ten years that the painstaking, careful investigations of such men as Prestwich, Fal- coner, Lubbock, Lartet, Christy, Pengelly, Hvans, Boyd-Dawkins, Sanford, Dupont, and others of the same high stamp, have resulted in the real discoveries and vast additions to our knowledge of this last chapter of geological history heretofore unwritten, and in which Man and the Mammoth take part. 1 This paper was read before the Grotocists’ AssocrATIoN, on January Ist, 1869, and is printed here by permission of the Council. Fsiieatena=Manand wealarinoth. 59 Let us for a moment retrace the course of these events. So long ago as 1823, that distinguished British geologist, Dr. Buckland, published his celebrated work, the “ Reliquie Diluwiane,” in which he described the organic remains contained in ossiferous caverns and fissures, and “diluvial gravel” in various parts of Europe. But the Dean, although so acute a geologist, concluded that none of the stone implements or human remains met with in these deposits could be considered to be as old as the Mammoth and other extinct and foreign animals, with the bones and teeth of which they were associated. So little was the study of Geology then understood, that the idea of any remains of man being found in deposits older than those at- tributed to the Noachian deluge was rejected as contrary to Scripture, and generally received opinion. At this early period, however, 1824, the late Rev. Dr. John Fleming, F.R.S.E., at that time a minister in the Scotch Presby- terian Church, (afterwards Professor of Naturai Philosophy in Aber- deen, and latterly Professor of Natural History at New College, Kdinburgh,) contributed an article to the “ Hdinburgh Philosophical Journal,” vol. xi., 1824, “On the Influence of Society on the Distri- bution of British Animals,” in which he ably argued against the views of Dr. Buckland, and showed (even from the then com- paratively scanty evidences) that there was incontestible proof of the contemporaneity of the human and animal relics found associated together in these cave-deposits, and that they were clearly the remains of the former denizens of the same region, entombed in their present burial places by similar causes to those now in action, and not by any wide-sweeping catastrophe, such as was assumed by the advocates of a universal deluge. There was (1824-5) a highly intelligent Roman Catholic Priest living at Torquay, the Rev. J. McEnery, who, having examined a certain cavern, known as “‘ Kent’s Hole,” discovered flint implements of undoubted human workmanship associated with bones of the Mammoth, the tichorhine Rhinoceros, cave-bear, and other mam- matlia, about the contemporaneity of which he does not seem to have doubted, and the correctness of whose views have been now well- established by subsequent investigation. The next (1833-4) earliest systematic work of exploration we find was carried out in the valley of the Meuse, Belgium, by the late Dr. Schmerling, of Liége, who carefully searehed for and exhumed the fossil human and animal remains buried together in the ossiferous caverns around Liége, an account of forty of which he published, with figures and descriptions of their buried contents. In 1841 M. Boucher de Perthes commenced to collect, and, in 1847, to publish the result of his researches in the gravel-deposits of the valley of the Somme, around Abbeville, and the sight of his col- lection of flint-implements induced Dr. Rigollot to search the gravel- pits around Amiens, which also yielded singular proofs of pre- historic man. Notwithstanding the publication of these discoveries, however, public interest was not as yet aroused, and the French savans of Paris only laughed at Monsieur de Perthes and his researches. Meanwhile English geologists were accumulating facts and ma- 60 H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. terial, which only needed some fresh motive force to give it vitality and importance, and it came at last after long years of waiting. To the late Dr. Hugh Falconer, F.R.S., we no doubt owe the initiation of a new era in the investigation of ossiferous deposits. For, although Mr. Trimmer, Mr. Godwin-Austen, Mr. Prestwich, and many other good geologists were at work long before this period, it was the systematic exploration of the Brixham cave, near Torquay (commenced in 1858), which first excited public attention to this interesting branch of geological inquiry, and set in motion similar explorations in France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Malta, and elsewhere. Added to this, we became aware of those remarkable discoveries made by Prof. Keller and others of ancient Lake-habitations in Switzerland, somewhat resembling the Crannoges of the Irish Lakes (now mostly buried in peat-bogs, which have filled up these ancient fresh waters). At the same time, our countryman, Mr. Henry Christy (then fresh from his Mexican travels), brought home to us not only the contents of the French caves, but also those of the Danish peat- mosses and refuse-heaps, thus adding new interest to the investiga- tion of pre-historic man. Nor have these varied materials been allowed to remain as idle curiosities in our Museums, to be objects of marvel or conjecture ; on the contrary, they have been subjected to the most severe in- vestigation by the best and ablest among our archeologists and geologists, and, like the vision deseribed by the prophet Ezekiel (xxxvil.), we have seen the dry and mouldering remains of these ancient inhabitants of our island arise; we have seen the animals they followed in the chase, the weapons which they used, the orna- ments they wore, and have even learned a good deal concerning the rude arts they practised. Nor is this all we have gained, for we can now compare each fresh discovery with such a series of recorded prece- dents, spread over such wide areas of explored country, that we can refer each find to one or other of a series of stages representing periods in the history of these ancient races, which, although not re- ducible to years, or even centuries, yet are capable of being dealt with in chronological sequence, just as the earlier deposits have been arranged by geologists long since. The evidences of the remote antiquity of man are derived from various sources :— . The ancient quaternary river-gravel deposits. . The ossiferous caverns and rock shelters. . The shell-mounds or refuse heaps of Denmark, the Orkneys, the Welsh coast, etc., ete. . The Danish peat-mosses. The Irish lakes and peat-bogs (crannoges). 6. The Swiss pile-works, or Pfah/bauten. 1. The first of these is, undoubtedly, of the most ancient character ; but is also (as might naturally be expected) of the most meagre and restricted kind, chiefly consisting of flint implements of rude and simple form, and with but little variety of pattern. No authentic instance of human remains associated with these flint weapons is recorded ; but, after the most careful investigation of these deposits CTH = DO de Woanisand = Mancand ae Maanoth. 61 by Messrs. Prestwich, Evans, Falconer, and a number of other un- doubted authorities, whose judgment may well be relied upon, the following conclusions were arrived at :—Ilst. That the flint imple- ments are the result of design, and the work of man. 2ndly. That they are found in beds of gravel, sand, and clay, which have never been artifically disturbed. srdly. That they oceur associated with the remains of land, freshwater, and marine testacea, of species now living, and most of them still common in the same neighbourhood, and also with the remains of various mammalia, a few of the species now living, but more of extinct forms. 4thly. That the period at which their entombment took place was subsequent to the Boulder- clay period, and to that extent Post-glacial; and also that it was among the latest in geological time—one apparently immediately anterior to the surface assuming its present form, so far as it regards some of the minor features.1 Jt is hardly needful to point out to you the regions included in this first division. The valley of the Waveney at Hoxne, Suffolk, where flint implements were found in the year 1800 by Mr. Frere. Archezologia for 1800, vol. xiii., p. 206.) The Ouse at Bedford, where Mr. Jas. Wyatt has found flint implements and remains of Hlephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, etc. The Thames-valley high level gravel, where, in an excavation in Gray’s Inn-lane, London, a flint weapon associated with the skeleton of an Elephant, was found so long ago as 1715; at Fisherton, near Salisbury ; in the Trent, not far from Nottingham; in the Vale of Pickering, the Somme, the Seine, the Rhine, ther Val’ d’ Arno, and many other localities. 2. The ossiferous caverns and rock-shelters have long been known, but not systematically explored until ten years since. Their contents, as might have been expected, are more rich and varied, and they have given us a greater insight into the state of civilization of their ancient occupants than almost any other. The British localities are in Devon and Somerset, near Torquay and Brixham, and in the Mendip Hills; the promontory of Gower in South Wales, where eight caves have been carefully explored by Colonel Wood and the late Dr. Falconer ; the Coygan Cave, near Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, partially ex- plored by Mr. Henry Hicks, of St. David’s. (See Guot. Mac., vol. IV., page 807, 1867.) The historical cave of Kirkdale, rendered famous by Dr. Buckland’s researches. The Caves of Liege and of the Valley of the Lesse in Belgium; of the Vezere, the Dordogne, and the Aveyron in France, explored by Schmerling, Dupont, Lartet and Christy, the Vicomte de Lastie, the Comte de Vibray, and many others. Rich as is the fauna revealed by our English Caves, they cannot be compared for one instant as regards the human re- mains and works of art which the French Caves have made known to us, I say, advisedly, works of art, for we have now ample materials in this country even to show the wonderful ingenuity and skill dis- played by the ancient Aquitanians in the fabrication of needles, weapons of the chase, buth in wood and stone, swords made of rein- deer horn, ornaments in the same material; and, lastly, in depicting the animals they knew living around them.? 1 Falconer, Paleontological Memoirs, 1868. Vol. II. p. 598. * Those interested in these researches, who have not yet personally inspected the 62 H,. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. The time forbids me to enter upon an account of the Shell-mounds and Danish Peat Mosses ; nor of the Irish Peat-bogs and Swiss Pile- works, each of which would form a chapter by itself. On the con- trary, I shall, by your permission, occupy your attention with a brief account of the fauna of the Pre-historic period generally, as revealed to us in the various superficial deposits included in what is now generally termed the Quaternary epoch. In the accompanying Table I have endeavoured to show the species of animals found in association with early man, as evidenced by his weapons in one set of deposits, and by his osseous remains and handiwork in another. I have also introduced certain other species (those whose names are enclosed in square brackets) whose remains are not found with man, but in a somewhat older set of deposits, containing, however, some of the animals common to the Pre-historic epoch. Those names of species not enclosed in square brackets, are again divisible into—I. Animals known to man, but now extinct. II. Animals whose geographical distribution has been changed. II. Animals which have been exterminated by man; and, IV. Animals still indigenous to Britain and the neighbouring continent. TABLE OF ANIMALS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE PLIOCENE AND QUATERNARY Deposits or Brirain, FRANCE, AND BELGIUM. Castor Europeus, Owen.........|.-- soo 2&C Ovis aries, Linn..........0Je.| «ee [ee] L » [| Lrogontheriwm, Fischer ]|X Cervus elaphus, Linn. ...... oe-ch sell b al alla Mus musculus, OWEN ......0.0+5- 500|lacollaoa L » capreolus, Linn. ...|...| -.- L Arvicola amphibia, Owen....... s05]|con|Is00 L », tarandus, Linn. ...|...| M » agrestis, Fleming...... 204l[acalfaoc L » [Sedgwickii, Gunn}| X » pratensis, OWeN.......).0+|\:..|--0 L » [| Brotenii, Dawk.].|X Spermophilus citillus, Linn...... ...|M a GleioGr, What Soe, Sshseal| sa eal » erythrogenoides, Fale.|X Alces matchis, Linn......... sy | Lagomys speleus, Owen...... pepe Megaceros hibernicus, Owen| X Lepus timidus, Linn, ........+00. fo0||coallboe L| Machairoduslatidens,Owen| X » cuniculus, Linn............ ...|..-[...| | Felés spelea, Goldf..........| | M? Lemmus lemmus, Lann........+++. ...|M Sy LEI (02) 353502 .0008 x Elephas primigenius, Blum...... Bxe 99), CAUUS, OWT... .c20een50 alenctle stall » antiquus, Falconer...... x Hyena spelea, Goldf....... X| M3 5» [meridionalis,Nesti.]...|X Canis lupus, Linn. ......... ...| M |K4 Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Cuv....| X » vulpes, BYISS......0++. Pale esas on leptorhinus, Owen...|X Lutra vulgaris, Owen...... seal! goo.|o00 L 3 megarhinus, Christol| X Mustela martes, Ray........ she! 660 |[e00 L a [ Ztruscus, Falconer ]}) X » putorius, Linn. ...|...|... |---| Equus caballus, Linn. ........... sollocallaaa|| Ly », erminea, Linn. ...|,..| M Sus scrofa, ferox, Linn..........|...|M|K} Meles taxus, Owen .........|... bod llbod ' Hippopotamus major, Nesti...... x Gulo luscus, Linn. .........|... M Bison priscus, Bojanus..........|.+:|... K Ursus speleus, Blumenbach| X Bos primigenius, Boj..........0+ x » Gretos, Linn. ........-|...| M » longifrons, Owen ....... seeelee-[ee[..-[L]| Zadpa europea, Schmerling}...| ... |..-| L Ovibos moschatus, Pallas..... Spso|oaa| Wl Sorex vulgaris, Owen ......)..-| ++ j-«-| L Capra hircus, Linn............... Pad seal ase | Jb », moschatus, Linn......|...| .-. |*+« L | QIAGIPUS, Cri be soon6cedcen bosons (eas L| Saiga tarbarica, Pallas ...|\...| M X = Extinct. M =Mierated. K=Killed. L=Living. rich collection of Pre-historic remains, so admirably arranged and displayed in the Ethnological department of the British Museum, and the Christy Collection (exhibited on Fridays,—admission by ticket, obtainable gratis any day at the British Museum), under the able direction of A. W. Franks, Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S.,—should take the first occasion to do so, and they will find themselves well repaid by seeing pro- bably the best collection extant of works of early and savage man from all countries. 1 The wild boar Sus scrofa ferox has been killed off in England, but is still found in France and elsewhere on the continent. 2 F, spelea is extinct, but if considered equivalent to F. Jeo it has migrated. 3 Hyena spelea is extinct, but if considered to be the same as Hyena crocuta, it has migrated. 4 Killed off in Britain. IE Woodword—=Man tnd the Mammoth. 63 Of the names in brackets I will not say much, merely observing that the Forest-bed of the Norfolk Coast has yielded a most wonderful series of Pre-glacial forms, associated with many which lived on into the Post-glacial period, and were known to man. The most remarkable, perhaps, are (1) the gigantic Beaver, Castor Trogontherium, which occurs in widely-separated localities, viz., the Norfolk Forest Bed, and in a sandy deposit on the borders of the sea of Azof. Dr. Schmerling also found its remains in the Caves of Liege. Another gigantic Beaver has lately been found in America, the Castoroides Ohioensis, Fost. (2.) A remarkable form of deer, Cervus Sedgwickii, which occurs in the Forest-bed, and is nearly allied to Cervus dicranios of the Italian Pliocene. (38.) Another species of deer, closely allied to the Fallow Deer, the Cervus Brownii, lately described by Mr. Boyd-Dawkins, now quite extinct, from the Plio- cene deposit of Clacton, Essex. See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1868. Vol. xxiv., p. 511. Pl. xvii. and xviii. (4.) The Hlephas meridionalis, common to the Forest-bed and the Val’ d’Arno, in Italy—a form somewhat more like the African than the Indian species as regards the arrangement of the enamel-layers of its molar teeth. 5. The Rhinoceros etruscus, found in the Norfolk Forest-bed, and also in the Val’ d’ Arno. Animals known to man, but now extinct.—I have always felt some hesitation in accepting the statement that the Machairodus existed down to the Pre-historic period; but its discovery by the late Rev. J. McHnery, in Kent’s Hole, in 1825 (published by H. Vivian, Esq., 1859), having been confirmed by Mr. Pengelly, F.R.S., in 1867, (see British Association Reports, Dundee, 1867), there seems reason to believe that it may have lived on till the commencement of this period. Certainly this was the most remarkable of the con- temporaries of early man, and probably his most formidable rival in the hunting-grounds of Western Hurope. The sabre-toothed lion has only been met with in this one cave in England, but it also occurs in the district of Auvergne, in France, and in the Val’ d’ Arno, in Italy. The largest species of this carnivore is found at Buenos Ayres, on the La Plata. Of the species of Bear which occur in the fossil state, two at least, the Ursus speleus of our caves, and the Ursus priscus of the Gailen- reuth cavern, have been considered as well-marked extinct forms. The Bears are, perhaps, of all the carnivora, the most difficult to determine, on account of their mixed diet and’their consequent variable denti- tion : they have been as widely distributed in times past, as in our own." Of the one extinct species of the Cervine family—the Megaceros Hibernicus, or Gigantic Irish Deer, deserves especial notice. This splendid animal was not by any means confined to Ireland, although it is quite possible that it may have lingered on in that country after it had been exterminated in Britain. There is a fine specimen of the entire skeleton of this animal in the British Museum. The sizeof this deer ' 1 The teeth of pigs, dogs, and bears, are all subject to considerable variation, owing to their mixed diet. 64 H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. is immense, even when compared with our largest living species; when erect, the topmost prong of his antlers was more than ten feet from the ground, and in breadth across they measured more than nine feet. The bones of the Irish deer occur in the beds of marl which under- lie the peat-bogs, and they are generally very perfect, being stained more or less deeply by tannin or iron, and sometimes partially in- crusted by pale blue phosphate of iron. Even the marrow of the bones oocasionally remains in the state of a fatty substance, which will burn with a clear lambent flame. Groups of skeletons have been found crowded together in a small space, in a peat moss, with the skulls elevated and the antlers thrown back upon the shoulders, as ifa herd of deer had fled for shelter or been driven into a morass and perished on the spot. Besides the numerous remains of this deer found in Ireland, its bones and horns have been obtained from Kent's Hole, the Forest-bed on the Norfolk coast, Kirkdale Cave, and numerous other localities. Of the Oxen, the most ancient is the Bos primigenius. Professor Owen maintains the opinion that this gigantic ox (the Urus of Cesar, which dwelt in the great Hercynian forest), was never tamed by the Britons or Romans, but was only an object of the chase. Its remains are alike common to the caves, the river-valley deposits, and the peat-bogs. A grand head, and entire horn-cores, with a large proportion of the skeleton of Bos primigenius, was obtained from beneath the peat near Cambridge. The peat had grown into and filled tke cavities of the skull and all the bones. On the removal of the peat from the frontal - bones, a stone celt was disclosed, broken off short in the forehead, which it had pierced, and had been apparently left there as useless by the hunter, to whose skill the mighty beast had fallen. The specimen is now inthe Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge. I was present at the disinterment of two magnificent pairs of horn-cores at Ilford, in the Brick-earth of the Thames valley, only a short time since. ‘This species is readily distinguished from the Bison by the large size, length, and curvature of the horn-cores and by the form of the skull. Bos primigenius is found both in deposits with human remains, and in those anterior to man’s era. Of the Elephants, two forms, long confounded together, are now known to have been contemporary with man in Europe, viz., 1. Elephas antiquus, Falc., and 2. Elephas primigenius, Blum. The former of these (H. antiquus) was long considered as identical with E. primigenius, but Dr. Falconer has shown that by the characters of the molar teeth they may be distinguished. Ist. By the narrowness of the tooth in proportion to its length and height. 2nd. By the great height of the plates, being twice that of the width of the crown. 38rd. Mesial rhomboidal expansion of disks of wear. 4th. Great crimping of the enamel plates. The tusks of EH. antiquus are nearly straight. The remains of this species are almost as widely distributed in our bone-caverns and River-valley gravels and Brick-earths, as are those of H. primgenius. No fewer than 2,000 elephants’ grinders are re- H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. 65 corded by my father, the late Mr. Samuel Woodward, as ascertained to have been dredged during a period of thirteen years upon the oyster-bed off Hasboro’, on the Norfolk coast; “by far the largest number of these,” says Dr. Falconer, “‘ belong to Hlephas antiquus.” Hlephas primigenius (the ‘‘Mammoth,” properly so called,) pos- Sesses unusual interest in connection with early man. Not only because it is one of those forms which, there is reason to believe, extended back into Pre-glacial times; but also because it is ap- parently brought so near our own day by the discoveries of entire. bodies of this remarkable beast embedded in the frozen soil and ice of the great rivers of Siberia and in Behring’s Straits; no fewer than nine of which are on record. Its range in geographical area was equally great. It has been found in Ireland, Britain, through Hurope, from the extreme north to the hills of Rome, and from France to the Ural Mountains, thence across Siberia into N. America, and southward to the Ohio, where its remains occur with those of the Mastodon in Big-bone-lick, Kentucky. In October, 1864, I had the pleasure to visit Ilford, in Hssex, and there see and examine the only existing cranium of Hlephas primigenius with the tusk attached which has ever been obtained and preserved in this country. It is entirely owing to the skill and great practical judgment of Mr. W. Davies, of the Geological Department of the British Museum, that this fine fossil was ever raised from its matrix to adorn our National Museum.’ No doubt hundreds of these remains have turned up in the valley of the Thames alone, but never before was the requisite skill brought to bear upon so unwieldy and friable a relic. The right tusk, which was found detached from the skull, measured ten feet ten inches, in- cluding the portion which in the left side is enclosed within the alveolus. From the top of the cranium to the end of the socket of the tusk is four feet. The circumference of the tusk, one foot from the socket, is twenty-six inches. The three species of Rhinoceros are all extinct. Of the three— (1) B. megarhinus, or the great slender-limbed Rhinoceros, with largely- developed nasals, appears to be characteristic of the Norfolk Forest- bed and Grays Thurrock. It also occurs in France, associated with the Mastodon brevirostris, and in Italy with the Mastodon arvernensis. (2) BR. tichorhinus and (8) R. leptorhinus are the two species common to the ossiferous deposits of our caverns, and they also are found together in the Brick-earth of Ilford. A unique skull (the only one known) of Rhinoceros leptorhinus, was obtained from the same brick-field at Ilford which yielded the Mammoth skull. We are indebted also to Mr. Davies for the preservation of this most valuable relic. All these Rhinoceri were bicorn, and resembled the Sumatran species. Like the Mammoth, the Rhinoceri had an enor- mously extended range in Pre-historic times. One of the earliest remains found in Russian Siberia, imbedded in ice, was an almost entire example of the great woolly R. tichorhinus, found in 1772 by Pallas, on the banks of a tributary of the Lena, lat. 64 degrees. 1 See GzoLogican Magazinz, 1868, Vol. V., p. 540, Pl. XXII. and XXIII. VOL. VI.—NO. LIV. 5 66 H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. This carcass emitted an odour like putrid flesh ; part of the skin was still covered with short, crisp wool, with black and grey hairs. The head and foot are preserved at St. Petersburg, in the Royal Museum. Hippopotamus major.—As might be expected, the remains of the Hippopotamus are more frequently found in river-deposits than in caves. Yet this remark does not hold good in all cases. Remains have been found in one of the Gower Caves (Raven’s Cliff), Durd- ham Down Caves, in Kent’s Hole near Torquay, Kirkdale, and other localities, but in the Grottoes of San Ciro and Maccagnone, in Sicily, the Hippopotamus remains formed by far the greater bulk. Many ship-loads of these interesting relics were quarried and sent to Marseilles and England to be used in sugar-refining! Professor Ferrara, who examined the remains, stated that the great mass belonged to two species of Hippopotamus. Those collected by Dr. Falconer are preserved in the British Museum, and identified with H. major and H. Pentlandi. It is abundantly distributed through our River-valley, gravel and Brick-earth deposits, and occurs from Yorkshire southwards through England, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, ete. From observations of the habits of the living animal (H. amphibius) in South Africa, we learn that, where undisturbed, it frequents with equal pleasure the coast as it does the rivers, and that north of Port Natal they not only swarm in the rivers but upon the sea-shore, re- treating to the sea when disturbed or attacked. Such evidence as this enables us to understand the presence, in Pre-historic times, of the Hippopotamus in Britain during the summer, even after this country had been isolated from the Continent, although this seems not to have been the case, until nearly the close of the Quaternary eriod. ; A species of Marmot (the Sphermophilus erythrogenoides of Falconer), and another Rodent (Lagomys speleus), a species of tail- less hare, completes the list of extinct species contemporaneous with man. For, incredible as it may seem, it appears that after a careful investigation of the remains of Felis spelea, the Cave-lion, Messrs. Boyd Dawkins and Sanford have concluded that it cannot be differentiated in any way whatever from the existing lion of Africa. And again that Hyena spelea is only a variety of H. crocuta, the great spotted Hyzena of 8. Africa. We now pass therefore to Animals whose geographical distribution has been changed. These we can analyze more fully than the extinct forms before enumerated; and they arrange themselves naturally into two divisions—those which have migrated north, and those which have migrated south. The first division, as you will have anticipated, is by far the largest of the two, including nine species. The second consists of two only (the Cave-lion and Cave-hyzena already referred to). Spermophilus citillus — “the pouched Marmot” is the first. Its remains have been found at Fisherton, the Mendip Caves, and else- H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. 67 where in England, and also in the Liege Caverns. It is still met with in northern and central Europe, near the snow-line. The Lemming (also found at Fisherton, near Salisbury) is now represented in Lapland, Norway, Greenland, Siberia, and Arctic North America. Its migratory and gregarious habits have been ably described by Richardson and others. The Qvibos moschatus—‘“ Musk-ox,” or ‘“‘musk sheep,” possesses peculiar interest, as one of those generalized species still left us, which we were long at a loss where to place with certainty, whether with the Oxen or the Sheep. M. Lartet has shown, however, reason for placing it with the Ovide and Capride. The gravel of the Avon, the river-gravel near Maidenhead, and Green Street Green, in Kent, and the Crayford brick-pits, in the valley of the Thames, have all yielded examples of this animal. It has also been detected by M. Lartet in France. In Siberia its remains occur in the frozen mud of the great rivers, which yield the bodies of the Mammoth, along the whole line of the shores of the Polar Sea. Its living habitat is now the barren, treeless wastes of the high northern latitudes of North America, and our Arctic voyagers have traced it and lived upon it so lately as 1856. Captain (now Sir Leopold) M‘Clintock gives the follow- ing statistics of the Musk-ox in a paper read before the Royal Dublin Society, 25th January, 1857: — Musk-oxen on Melville Island, April 4 and May 18, saw 59 (shot two); third visit, July 1 to 19, saw 30 (shot two) ; Prince Patrick’s Island, May 14 and June 26, saw 5 (shot three)—total seen, 94; number shot, seven. They were so unused to man’s presence that, when one of a herd was shot, it was often difficult to induce the rest of the party to move off, so as to allow M‘Clintock and his men to take possession of their fallen comrade. We cannot help contrasting this brave and noble sailor’s conduct with that of the Laird of Lamont. M‘Clintock observes, “ We never killed more than we absolutely needed.” Mr. Lamont, on the contrary, gives a list of walruses and other victims “ shot for pastime,” and left to render still more desolate with their decaying carcases these northern seas. 4. The “‘Saiga Antelope” deserves a word. It has lately been determined as occurring in the caves of France, with the reindeer, ete. An antelope is recorded as being found fossil, together with several species of deer, beaver, wild boar, etc., in shell-marl beneath peat, near Newbury, in Berkshire, by Dr. J. Collet, F.R.S., in 1757.— (Phil. Trans.) May not this also have been the Saiga antelope ? It is now found to inhabit the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, and the shores of the Sea of Azof. On a small island a number were found living, so tame as to be undismayed at a discharge of fire-arms. Itis to be seen alive in the Zoological Gardens. It is the only tapir-snouted antelope known. 5. The brown bear, Ursus arctos, occurs both in Britain and Ireland. Undoubted remains from Longford, in Ireland, and Manea Fen, Cambridgeshire, are preserved in the British Museum. It still lives in Russia. So lately as a.p. 1057 bears were natives of 68 H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. Scotland and Wales, and reckoned among the beasts of the chase, equal to the hare or the boar (Ray, Syn. Quad. p. 214). 6. Gulo luscus—the ‘‘ Wolverine,” or ‘‘Glutton’—was once a native of this country, as its remains testify from the caverns of Banwell, Bleadon, and Gower. It is still common in Siberia and North America, and is the pest of the fur-hunters of those countries. 7. The “Hrmine,” Mustela erminea, is another of the Weasel tribe, now gone North-east, and over the Ural chain into Siberia. 8. The “ Elk,” Alces malehis, has been met with in Scotland, at Chirdon Burn, beneath peat, in a similar deposit as the Megaceros in Ireland. A lower jaw also has been obtained from Llandebie Cave, in South Wales. It is the true Elk of Norway, or Moose-deer of the Canadians. 9. If wetake into consideration the relative importance of the various animals to man in his hunter state, the whole list is probably sur- passed by the Reindeer (Cervus tarandus). Not only do we find its remains in greater profusion than that of any other animal in those eaves in which man undoubtedly resided, but his weapons were for the most part fabricated from its horns, bones, and sinews; and doubtless, his clothes were composed of its skin. The later investi- gations of Mr. Pengelly, at Torquay, have led to the discovery of similar barbed javelins of Reindeer horn to those of the French Caves. That fewer cut antlers have been found in England than in France, may be due to the more savage condition of the early Britons ; but it cannot be attributed to lack of the reindeer. In Boscoe’s Den, Gower, South Wales, more than 1,000 antlers have been obtained by Colonel Wood; indeed, their remains are almost co-extensive with the cavern and river-valley and peat-deposits. It is reasonable to suppose that the reindeer may have retained a footing in Scotland even long after the Roman occupation of Britain ; but it must have yielded, if living there, not only before the pursuit of the chase by man, but also before the overpowering influence of the red-deer, Cervus elaphus, and still more to the great change in physicial conditions which effected our climate. That the reindeer could continue to live for long in Britain after its isolation from France, seems unlikely, for the migratory instincts were as strong in the race then as at the present day. The only change pro- duced has been to modify the area which the migration formerly extended over. Instead of migrating southward in winter, from Norway and Denmark into France and Britain, they are not only pressed northward by the great tide of human beings which has occupied their former territory, but also by the change in the thermometer. Vast as was the range of the reindeer in past times, we see how enormous is its kingdom in our own day. Through Northern Europe, Asia, and America, it occupies the area from the edge of the woods to the farthest northern latitude, crossing the frozen sea fearlessly in vast herds from land to land. Sir Leopold M‘Clintock mentions seeing, on Melville Island, in April and May, on two visits, 29 head of reindeer, two of which he shot. In July, on two visits, he saw 74, and again shot one. On Prince Patrick’s H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. 69 Island, in May and June, he saw eight, and shot five. On Emerald Island, in June, 13 head; being a total of 124 head seen in these three far northern islands, between 76° and 77° North lat. When migrating: in Siberia, says the Russian Admiral von Wrangel, the migrating body may consist of many thousand head of deer, and though they are divided into herds of some 200 or 300 each, yet they always keep so near as to form only one immense mass, some- times 60 miles in length. In crossing the rivers they all follow the same route. They select a place where a dry valley leads down to the stream on one side and a flat sandy shore facilitates landirg on the other. As each separate herd approaches the river, the deer draw more closely together, and the largest and strongest buck takes the lead. He advances, closely followed by a few of the others, with head erect, and apparently intent on examining the locality ; having satisfied himself that all is right, he enters the river, the rest of the herd crowd in after him, and in a few minutes the surface is covered with them. It is doubtless due to casualties in these migrations that we owe some, if not all, of our reindeer bones in river-valley deposits. Detached antlers may easily be ex- plained where they occur in quantities (as in the peninsula of Gower, in South Wales) by the annual shedding of the horns; but most of those from the Caves have a part of the skull attached to the burr of the horn. This is so in more than 50 from the Cave of Bruniquel, which have passed through my hands. In many of the Caverns of Central and Southern France we have abundant evidence that the wild Horse was largely eaten by the Cave-dwellers, and that its bones formed an important article for the fabrication of many of their weapons of the chase, and also for their needles. Remains of Horse are abundant in the Bruniquel Cave. Of the animals now living, but become extinct in some regions, the Beaver—Castor Europeus (or Castor fiber ? of Canada) from being killed by man is, probably, quite extinct in Hurope. Only one refuge seems left to it by any chance, and that is the mouths of the Danube in the Huxine Sea, where its fossil congener is found. It was formerly abundant in our Welsh rivers, even at a late date, com- paratively speaking. It was scarce in the 9th century, in the 12th it was only found in one river in Wales, and another in Scotland. There can be no doubt the Beaver was killed off the face of the land for the sake of his fur coat. His remains are abundant in the Cam- bridgeshire fens, and he did his best to divert the rivers and de- stroy the land for his own pleasure, but like other selfish pleasure- seekers, his would-be pools became peat, and in it are embedded the bones of the curious, ingenious, but destructive rodent, who aided the mischief. In a single night, not long since, the Beaver at the Zoological Gardens diverted all the water of his pond, by the introduction of mud into his tank, and sent several dozen gallons of very dirty water over the gravel walk. He wanted to make a dam—failing which he made a mess! The Lithuanian Bison—preserved by Imperial ukase of his Majesty 70 H. Woodward—Man and the Mammoth. the Emperor of all the Russias—ence roamed the Prairies of Europe as his congener now does those of America. But he couldn’t be tamed and made to plough like B. longifrons and B. taurus, and so the natives killed him off, and he would be soon extinct, like his old rival primigenius, but for the Emperor. The wild boar and the wolf were only killed yesterday. The former (Sus scrofa ferox) abounded in Henry II.’s time, whilst the latter (Canis lupus) survived in Ireland till 1710. Blood-money was put upon his head as upon the tiger in India atthe presentday. The present foxes are mostly re-introduced, and owe their existence to Protection. The Wild-cat, Badger, Marten, Pole-cat, and even the Otter, are becoming rare as British species. These all owe their extinction to man. The Red Deer, Roebuck, and Fallow Deer only exist by means of protective legislation. Of birds, the Capercailzie, or ‘‘ Cock of the Wood,” is extinct with us, though still occurring in Norway. The two Bustards (Otis tetrax, the little bustard, Otis tarda, the great bustard), are both ex- terminated. Formerly they could live on the wastes of West Nor- folk and Wiltshire. The great Crested Grebe—Podiceps cristatus, the great Bittern—Botaurus stellaris, and the freckled Heron, Botawrus lentiginosa, once rejoiced in the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Dorset. The fen-lands are gradually becoming drained and cultivated, and these birds are mostly dead. The White Spoon Bill (Platalea leucorodia), the White Stork (Cicornia alba), and the little Glossy Ibis (Falcineila igneus), once were summer visitants of ours, now they come no more. The Herons are fast dying out, and require “‘ Protection” like the Grouse and Partridges. The Golden Hagle and numbers of Falconide and lesser birds of prey have also been lost. Among the interesting associations of the past, to the Naturalist, will always be counted the Great Auk, once an inhabitant of the Orkneys and the shores of Denmark, found in the Kitchen- Middens of both, and also in the Indian Shell-heaps of New England. The last of his race is believed to have perished so lately as 1846. And no wonder! for the poor bird could not fly, so the old Danish sailors used to lay a plank from the ship to the shore, and compel their unfortunate victims to “ Walk the plank,” “single file,” and fall into the ship’s waist, where they were killed and eaten. One skipper boasted that he had brought off thirty boat- loads in an hour. Once this bird covered the shores of the north— Labrador, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland. Now we look in vain for a single one. The Dutch sailors were just as merciless to the Dodo in the Mauri- tius, and the Maories to the Dinornis and the Great Rail in New Zea- land, and the people of Madagascar to the Epyornis. Changes (insensibly it may be, yet, nevertheless, surely) are going on year by year around us. We see but little in the lifetime of an individual ; but the retrospect of a century shows vast changes in our condition as a race for example. Hach step in retregression will appear more and more marked. iT; Woadisacd ian ee the Mammoth. a Go back a century, where are our railroads, our telegraphs, our steam-vessels, our rifled cannon ? Still further, and we have not our colonies, and the world is only half-known. Further still, and we have not learned Christianity, and worship idols; we are ignorant, superstitious, and cruel. Still further, and behold the savage depending on the chase, trusting to his instincts to supply his wants. And now to ignorance, superstition, and cruelty, he has added dirt; for he is not at all particular about his abode, provided he be dry, warm, and his hunger appeased. His life was not one constant state of alarm—indeed, he was happier in this re- spect than his black representative of to-day. The Negro lives in a stockaded village in terror. Why? Because, although slavery is at an end in America, it is not quite at an end elsewhere; and the cruel passions that ardent spirits and vice have engendered in the slave-trading population of the coast, seek gratification in acts of cruelty and violence, often of a far more terrible nature than any pre-historic savage would have invented. There can be little doubt that the designation, ‘the noble savage,” belongs almost entirely to the past. If we except the New Zea- landers, the savage races of to-day are probably, as a whole, less civilised than the men of the French caves and the Swiss pile-works. Witness the Andaman Islander, the Terra del Fuegian, and the Australian native. The old Cave-men represented the population of the less-civilised portions of the globe, as these aborigines do now in our own day ; for there never was a time in the Harth’s past history when a uniform condition of things obtained, unless in pre-Silurian epochs. Faunas slowly but constantly migrate, a part becoming extinct, some races improving, some remaining persistent. Peoples migrate—some are exterminated (witness the native races dying out before the over-mastering effects of a too-advanced white civilization)—the remainder in part improve (being, as individuals, capable of improvement) those which remain unchanged, do so be- cause they are not exposed to the elements of change. There is little doubt that man has been upon the earth long enough to have witnessed many physical changes, and even con- siderable modifications in the climate of Europe. We can the more readily accept this, because from the brief portion of the record of our race embraced in the historic period, we know that many changes in physical conditions have come to pass, and some, indeed, are even now taking place around us. The duration of the Pre-historic period, as compared with the historic, may best be conceived when it is borne in mind that very old countries like India, whose history goes back further into the past than any other, have still a lost history apparently far longer than that handed down to us, evidenced by Megalithic and other monuments of unknown antiquity; and again, beyond that, Prof. Blanford ; Messrs. King, Foote, Wynne, and other of the Geological Surveyors, have obtained evidence of a still earlier and barbarous Py G: Maw—Raised Shell-beds, Lancashire. race, whose only relics are their stone-implements, fashioned of the Neolithic and Paleolithic types, like those of the aborigines of Gaul and Britain. How many thousands of years must have been occupied in the gradual distribution of these earliest representatives of our race, whose implements have been found in almost every portion of the globe (formed in the same simple yet persistent types), can only be realized by the geologist who has learnt that many prior races of beings lived and spread out over the whole globe, and have been as gradually exterminated and re-placed with other races, who have followed in successive eons, differing in form, yet modelled on types analogous to those now existing. TV.—On some Ratsep SHELL-BEDS ON THE Coast oF LANCASHIRE. By Gzorcre Maw, F.G.S., ete. Na portions of the Lancashire coast in the Furness district give evidence of considerable changes of level since the first elevation of the Glacial deposits. The Boulder-clay formation of Cumberland and Lancashire exhibits a well-marked subdivision into a lower tough blue Boulder-clay, overlain, apparently on its eroded surface, by a redder silty clay of more variable composition. The same subdivision holds good along the coast of N. Wales; but I cannot satisfy myself that it can be definitely correlated with the succes- sion of the Glacial series of the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, or that the lower tough blue Clay can be traced inland much above high- water level. The superposition of these two clays is well exhibited on the coast, a little to the south of Workington, where (Fig. 1), the blue Clay (66) from 25 to 30 feet thick, containing many transported boulders of considerable size is overlain by the reddish clay (aa), containing fewer blocks. Fic. 1.—BouLDER-cLAY CLIFF SOUTH OF WORKINGTON, CUMBERLAND. ec. Sea-Beach high-water mark. At Rampside, near Peel Harbour, Lancashire, isolated portions (a) of a reddish Boulder-clay, apparently identical with the Upper Fic. 2,—BoULDER-CLAY OVERLYING SHELL-BEDS, RAMPSIDE, PEEL HarBour, CUMBERLAND. a*® a*® ec Sea-Beach high-water mark. Boulder-clay of the Workington section, rise up as low cliffs along James Geikie— The Boulder-clay near Glasgow. 73 the coast and contain a large proportion of granite and other trans- ported boulders. Here the subjacent blue clay is not visible, but it probably occurs below the sea-level. My attention has been drawn by Professor Harkness to the occur- rence of extensive shell-beds (a*) at this point above high-water mark. In some places, for example, behind the cottage near the beach at Rampside, it is difficult to determine that they are distinct from the Boulder-clay deposit, but a little to the east it is apparent that they are superimposed on its eroded surface. The Boulder-clay (a) rising up in isolated masses, and the evenly stratified sand and shell beds (a**) lying between them. The shells Ostrea, Mytilus, Car- dium, Pecten, Littorina, etc., are identical with those on the adjacent shore, and occur in profusion, unlike the shell-remains of any Glacial deposits. These beds may probably be of similar age, and represent the same elevation as the raised beaches occurring along the north and south Devon coasts, though from the absence of cohesion of the materials they have a different mineral aspect. The series at Workington and Rampside appear to imply several distinct oscillations of level, possibly one at the interval between the deposit of the lower tough blue Boulder-clay and the Reddish Clay, for an eroded surface seems toseparatethem. 2nd. Emergence after the deposit of the Red Clay, with an irregular erosion of its surface. 3rd. Re-submergence during the deposit of the Post-Glacial shell beds, and lastly a rise of the coast of at least ten or fifteen feet to place the shell beds above high-water-mark. V.—Apopitionat Nore on THE Discovery or Bos Prruigenius In THE Lower BovuLpEr-cLay, AT CROFTHEAD, NEAR GLASGOW. By James Gerxis, Geological Survey of Scotland. N my former note on the discovery of Bos primigenius in the Lower Boulder-clay, I stated that there was some “slight twist- ing and confusion” of the stratified deposits below the superin- cumbent Boulder-clay, which might have been caused by the pressure of glacier-ice. As the crumpling of sand, clay, and gravel, below Till, is by no means uncommon, and has frequently been described, I did not think it worth while at the time to give any drawing of the contortions exposed in the new railway cutting. Butsome geological friends having asked me about the character of these crumplings, it may not be out of place if I nowadd a few particulars. When my former note was written the disturbed portions of the stratified deposits were not very well exposed, and consequently I did not in my communication lay much stress upon their occurrence, although I had little doubt as to their origin. Upon visiting the section some weeks later, however, I found the crumplings well displayed. In October last I saw them again, in company with my brother, Mr. A. Geikie. By that time the section had been still better developed, 74 James Geikie—The Boulder-clay near Glasgow. and the annexed sketch of a portion of the crumpled clays was made. [Stratified Beds in the Lower Boulder-clay, from which were obtained the remains of Bos primigenius. | WwW w Crumpled Clays in Railway Cutting near Crofthead, Renfrewshire, as seen on 22d Oct., 1868. L. Level of Railway Cutting—the overlying Boulder-clay removed. W. Level of course cut for water. The drawing represents a thickness of about seven feet, but as the cutting did not go down to the underlying Till, the depth to which the crumpling extends could not be ascertained. These crumplings have not been confined to one portion of the section, for during the progress of the cutting they were exposed in several places, and were noted at the time by one of my colleagues and myself; but when I saw the cutting in October it was quite evident that since my last visit in July the navvies had not been idle. A large part of the stratified beds had been removed, and the twisted and confused areas first observed had disappeared. In one part, since demolished, we could distinctly see that the crumpling had been caused by pressure from above, for underneath the crumpled beds (which were confined to the top of the section), the clay and sand were quite undisturbed. I have nothing material to add to the description of the stratified beds given in my former communication. The plant-remains, to which I referred, were only obtained after a careful search, and they were much too decayed for me to recognise them; but when I saw the section at a subsequent time there was a better exposure, the vegetable matter forming in places a dark peaty layer. I did not put this peaty matter under the microscope, but it appeared to be made up chiefly of grasses, and was just such a deposit as was likely to have accumulated in a lake.! A further examination of the glacial strie of the Cowdon Valley has convinced me that instead of one there are three sets. The common direction of the ice scratches in that neighbourhood is from about north to south ; and the Lower Boulder-clay contains fragments of gneiss, mica schist, granite and other north country rocks. Hven as far south as the valley of the Irvine, such wanderers from the Highlands may be detected. The prevailing movement of the ice, 1 I understand that these plant-remains will shortly be described before the Natural History Society of Glasgow, by Mr. Mahony. Notices of Memoirs—Dr. A. Gaudry’s Address. 75 which deposited the Lower Boulder-clay of this region, must there- fore have been from north to south; but in the Cowdon valley there is evidence of a movement in the opposite direction. The knob of trap-rock, against which the Bos-bearing beds have been deposited, is glaciated down ( i.e. north-east), and not up the valley as stated in my note. An olderand much fainter set of striz (the direction of which is not apparent, but may either be up or down the valley) are nearly obliterated by the later set; while on the north side of the valley above the railway cutting, and quite close to Orofthead, the rocks are glaciated wp the valley or towards the south-west. Similar appearances have been noted elsewhere, showing that the ice-streams, from the various centres of outflow sometimes prevailed the one against the other. In concluding this short note it may be remarked that the inter- calated deposits of sand, gravel, and clay, so commonly met with in the Lower Boulder-clay, are of much greater extent sometimes than is generally known. During the progress of the Geological Survey in Scotland we have collected many data bearing upon this point, which we expect to publish ere long. Meanwhile, it is to be hoped that local geologists will lose no opportunity of searching the intercalated beds of the Boulder-clay, for the discovery of Bos primigenius in this position renders it not improbable that there may be other mammalian remains waiting to be disinterred. INfCMbatGaziS\ | (Gas) Vaca Ve@ esse —— J. Panm#onrotocicaL Appress. By Dr. Apert GavuprRy. [Faculté des Science. Cours annexe de Paléontologie. Leon d’ouverture.—Extrait de la Revue des Cours Scientifiques. Paris, 1868.] FTER a few introductory remarks, Dr. Gaudry gives a brief sketch of the history of paleontology. The notions respecting fossil remains were very vague, until George Cuvier asserted that in order to arrive at a definite opinion on the subject, it was necessary to study living animals. From that time paleontology has steadily progressed. Between 1823 and 1867, so M. D’Archiac relates, 5,852 plates of fossils were published ; the figures sufficiently express the advance of the science. Cuvier was, above all others, the founder of Paleontological Science, and well may France be proud of him. “The beings of geologic times,” says Dr. Gaudry, “‘ present a mar- vellous diversity, but more marvellous still is the unity which is concealed under this diversity.” In regard to the interesting question of the origin of species— does each species represent a production independent of that which has preceded or followed it? or were they descended from beings found in the more ancient geological epochs ?—Dr. Gaudry’s opinion may be surmised from his again asking “Is it not the history of a slow evolution which, harmonious in all its phases, has been going on since the first days of the world ?” 76 Notices of Memoirs—Mr. Pengelly’s Essays. “The hour for definitely deciding this question,” he continues, “has not yet arrived, but we can, at least, work towards its solution.” The founders of paleontology have paid attention to the differences rather than to the resemblances between fossils and living animals. Cuvier’s design was to prove their distinctive character. Moreover, the older writers had not sufficient materials for studying the con- necting links, which are now more and more apparent. In the time of Cuvier, it was not known that there were fossil apes, whence have been descended the existing species; the inter- mediate forms between the dogs and the bears, between hyzenas and civets, between the mastodons and the elephants, between horses and the other pachyderms, were not known at that time; and further, it was not known that there are certain transitions between reptiles and fishes, between fishes and crustacea. Now we have the labours of Falconer and Cautley, of Lartet, Kaup, Leidy, Owen, Huxley, Hermann von Meyer, Agassiz, Deshayes, Barrande, Pictet, Davidson, Milne Edwards and Haime, Unger, Heer, de Saporta, and a host of others. We must not only admire their works, we must also profit by them. They have accumulated treasures so well that we begin to feel embarrassed by our riches. Dr. Gaudry concludes with an outline of subjects to be embraced in his course of paleontological lectures for the year. Commencing with the Lake-dwellings of Switzerland, and the Kitchen-middens of Denmark, he will take the formations in de- scending order, noticing the fauna and flora of each. ‘“ Among the molluscs,” he remarks, “ the Ammonitide, above all, will interest us by the numerous examples of evolution which they present, from the straight Baculite to the spiral Ammonite.” And among the Paleo- zoic Cephalopods the transformations between the simple Aphrag- mites, Ascoceras, to the complicated Nautilus and Goniatites. “ Finally,” says the Doctor, “J shall say some words on the Eozoon, that rudimentary animal, which, as its name indicates, marks the dawn of life. Arrived at the mysterious point of origins, I shall make some remarks on the evolution of beings, to make apparent the simplicity and beauty of the plan which has been followed by the Author of Nature. IJ.—ContrisutTions To THE GEOLOGY OF DEVONSHIRE. 1. Tut Supmercep Forrest AND THE PEBBLE RIDGE OF BARNSTAPLE Bay. 2. Tut History or tHE Discovery or Fossin Fish IN THE DevontAn Rocks oF Drvon anp CorRNWALL. 3. THe Literature oF Kent’s Cavern, Torquay, PRIOR To 1859. By W. Preneetry, F.R.S., F.G.8., Ere. [Reprinted from the Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, 1868.] i. HE Pebble Ridge is situated on the southern shore of Barn- staple Bay, in North Devon, where it forms a natural break- water to protect an extensive, sandy, and grassy plain, but little, if at all, above the level of spring-tide high-water, and known as Notices of Memoirs—Mr. Pengelly’s Essays. Wh Northam Burrows. ‘The pebbles, or boulders, vary from half an inch to a yard in mean diameter, the majority being about nine inches. The greater number of them are oblate spheroids, but occasionally prolate and nondeseript forms present themselves.” They are derived from the Carboniferous grit of the district, and without doubt came from the cliffs westward of the ridge,—between Northam Burrows and Hartland Point—the southern shore of the bay. “Seaward from this ridge, the tidal strand at first consists of small pebbles, of which the great majority are also of grit, whilst a few are of flint. Beyond this, to the low-water-line, it is composed of fine sand, beneath, and frequently projecting through which, are ‘large accumulations of tenacious blue clay and vegetable matter, containing roots, trunks, and branches of trees. The vegetable remains are known as ‘The Submerged Forest of Barnstaple Bay.’” The clay is in some places six feet thick, and reposes on a bed com- posed of rounded and angular fragments of the grit of the district, which, with the exception of the angular pieces only, resembles in all respects the Pebble Ridge. The present position of this Forest-bed may be hypothetically explained either by a subsidence of the country, or by the removal of some natural breakwater which formerly protected the Forest from the ravages of the sea. Mr. Pengelly shows that the former supposition is the only one with which the facts agree. “That the entire country around Barnstaple Bay has undergone upheaval in times geographically recent, is established, beyond a question, by the fine Raised Beaches which fringe its coasts.” It is obvious, then, that the Forest and the Raised Beach represent two distinct periods. Mr, Pengelly regards the Beach as the more ancient—that the elevation preceded the depression, and that during the Forest era the height of the Raised Beach above the sea-level was, at least, twice as great as it is at present. He finishes by remarking “how utterly fallacious must be any conclusions based on the assumption that our country has stood still ever since the ancient beaches were first raised.” 2. Until very recently but four specimens of fossil fish from the Devonian rocks of Devon and Cornwall were on record, and two of these were considered very doubtful. But now “the paucity is by no means so marked as was then believed; and this, not in conse- quence of the discovery of new specimens, but because certain fossils, formerly supposed to be sponges, have been found to be veritable ichthyolites.” Mr. Pengelly’s object is to give an histori- cal statement of the discovery and examination of the fossils alluded to. In his own collection he has upwards of three hundred fragments of Pteraspides from the Devonian rocks. “We have been taught to believe that the Devonian System and the Old Red Sandstone System are of the same age, One of the greatest difficulties in the way of the acceptance of this doctrine, was the fact that, whilst the Old Red Sandstones teemed with fossil fish, there were none in the 78 Notices of Memoirs—Scientific Journals. Devonian rocks. The shoal of Pteraspides now caught in Devon and Cornwall will go very far to remove this difficulty.” Twenty-five years ago, Mr. C. W. Peach introduced these fossils as fish—for eight years their claims were unquestioned—they were then determined to be sponges, but confessedly on imperfect materials. ‘‘For seventeen years this has remained the prevalent opinion, but it now proves to be incorrect. Mr. Peach’s judgment has received the fullest justification, and we all congratulate him heartily on the fact.” 3. In the third paper, Mr. Pengelly gives extracts from all the papers he has been able to ascertain which relate to Kent’s Cavern, and have appeared prior to the year 1859. Amongst them the writings of Blewitt, Godwin-Austen, Owen, and Vivian, appear prominent. III.—SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 1. Taz QuarTERLY JourNAL oF Scrence, begun in 1864, has just commenced its sixth volume, and will in future be published by Messrs. Longmans & Co. The editors, Messrs. James Samuelson, and William Crookes, F.R.S., each contribute an original article to the January number, on ‘The Ethereal Hypothesis of Light” by the former, and on “The Great Solar Eclipse of 1868,” by the latter gentleman. Mr. J. Arthur Phillips gives an acccunt of “The Alkaline Lakes of California ;” there is also an able Review of Dr. Bigsby’s Thesaurus Siluricus, and a Notice of the principal discoveries in science during the past year; with many other topics of general interest. Besides these there are the usual Quarterly Chronicles of Archeology, Geology and Paleontology, Mineralogy, Mining, etc. 2. Tur Porvunar Scrence Review for January, contains an article on “True and False Flint Weapons, by Mr. N. Whitley, C.E. His remarks refer chiefly to the implements of the so-called Palzo- lithic age. ‘These stone implements pass, by such insensible grada- tions, into other forms of fractured flint, obviously the result of natural causes, that their advocates find it difficult to determine whether they are artificial or natural ;” while ‘the implements of Neolithic age,” he says, ‘“‘ cannot be inspected without producing the conviction of their human origin.” He regards the flint flakes, of which about 30,000 were found in one Belgian cave, associated with human bones, as formed by natural causes, some of them being afterwards selected and adapted for use by man. He has made a large collection of these: flint flakes from various localities. ‘‘ They show a gradation in size from 4 inch to 8 inches in length. A gradation in form from the roughest fracture to the most perfect flake. The good and the bad are all mingled in indis- criminate confusion; but the most degraded savage would not cast away his well-formed implements with the refuse chips. They Notices of Memoirs—Scientific Journals. 79 show no additional workmanship beyond the ordinary fracture of the flint, and bear no evidence of use.” We would ask, before accepting Mr. Whitley’s interpretation of these flakes, may they not be the refuse-chips left from the formation of flint implements or weapons ? 3. Tur Compres Renpus, tome LXvItI., contains an account of the discovery of a new locality for Adamite (Arsenate of Zinc) in France. This mineral, hitherto only observed in small quantities on some specimens of silver ores from Chamarcillo, Copiapo, Chili, has been discovered by Messrs. Gory and Boutigny in the refuse heaps of a copper mine situated at Cape Garonne, near the town of Hyéres, Department du Var, France. In a qualitative examination M. Gory found arsenic, zinc, and cobalt. At the request of the finders M. Damour undertook the analysis of this interesting mineral. The following are its principal characters. The crystals are lenticular, curiously grouped and macled, sometimes coated and interpenetrated with minute acicular crystals of olivenite. Colour grey, with a slight rose tint. Some specimens show a cloudy carmine-red, somewhat similar to that of some varieties of erythrine. Hardness, a little above that of calcite. LHxhibits two cleavages, with angle of 107°, as observed by M. Des Cloiseaux in the Chanarcillo mineral. Specific gravity, 4:352. M. Friedel obtained 4°338 for that from Chili. Heated in a tube disengages a little water neutral to test papers, and takes a slight bluish tint. Dissolves completely in acids, only partially soluble in caustic potash. B.B. on charcoal, melts into a blackish scoria, giving off white fumes with an arsenical odour. On cooling, leaves a white ring around the scoria, tinted with blue upon the edges. When fused with borax, or microcosmic salt, this gives the characteristic blue colour of cobalt. Deducting the cupric and cobaltic arsenates, regarded by Damour as accidental admixtures, the numbers obtained approach near to those which indicate the formula, Zn, As. H. Isomorphous with olivenite, as observed by Des Cloiseaux in the Chili mineral. The Adamite of Cape Garonne is found in thin layers lining the fissures of a quartz rock, which is traversed by veins of sulphide and carbonate of copper, and is situated on the side of a hill more than 900 feet high, composed of Keuper Sandstone A small quantity only of this mineral has yet been obtained.—T. D. REVIEWS. HEALTH AND GEOLOGY COMBINED. I. Pustio Heatra. Tents Report or tHE MeEpicaAL OFFICER oF THE Privy Counort. With Appendix. 1867. Published 1868. F late some little attention has been turned to the connection be- tween Geology and the prevalence of certain diseases. The fol- lowing reports have reference to this subject. Dr, Buchanan reports on an Outbreak of Typhoid Fever at Guild- 80 Reviews— Health and Geology combined. ford, wherein he clearly shows that its origin may be traced to a contamination of one section of the water-supply. The sufferers had been supplied with water from a new well, situated in the Chalk, which obtained its water not by percolation only, but from a fissure also in the same rock, into which it was easy for excrementitious im- purities to have entered. Within ten feet of the well were various sewers; through some cause, the bricks of one of them had become loosened, some escape of its contents ensued, this saturated the Chalk around and reached the water in the well, thence the impurities were supplied to a certain portion of the inhabitants, and 21 deaths en- sued from typhoid fever. Dr. R. Thorne Thorne reports on an Epidemic of Typhoid Fever at Terling in Hssex.—Hyvyery possible source of pollution both for air and water existed there. The peculiarly porous soil underlying the area was continually absorbing the filth; the water-supply of the popu- lation was derived from wells, most of them sunk in that excrement- sodden sponge of earth. In consequence, the water was contami- nated, and the inhabitants one by one poisoned. Dr. Buchanan reports on the Distribution of Phihisis as affected by Dampness of Soil—A general sanitary enquiry entrusted to him in 1866, having appeared to show a relation between wetness of soil and prevalence of consumption, the subject was further examined with direct reference to geological considerations. The results are now published. Systematic enquiries were instituted—(1), As to the Local Distribution of Disease, and the circumstances by which it is regulated; and (2), Particular Processes of Disease were investi- gated in scientific detail. With the first of these enquiries only, we have to deal. Among the results, the local distribution of Pulmonary Phthisis stood in particular relief. The Memoir is accompanied by a short account of the geological formations of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, by William Whitaker, Hsq., B.A., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England and Wales, and illustrated by an excellent geological map of the three counties, made up of published and unpublished Survey work. Mr. Whitaker has also furnished a small geological map of Terling, to illustrate the re- lations of phthisis to the character of the soil, and together with Dr. Buchanan has given (1) a short geological account of all the “ Re- gistration Districts,” (except in London,) in the three counties. (2 An estimate of the population living upon each geological formation in those counties, and then a series of conclusions as to the relation between geological and topographical features, with the consumption death-rate. The following are the general conclusions which result from this inquiry :-— 1) Within the counties of Surrey, Kent, and Sussex, there is, broadly speaking, less phthisis among populations living on pervious soils than among populations living on impervious soils. (2.) Within the same counties, there is less phthisis among popu- Reviews— Geo- Theology. 81 lations living on high-lying pervious soils than among populations living on low-lying pervious soils. (3.) Within the same counties, there is less phthisis among popu- lations living on sloping impervious soils than among populations living on flat impervious soils. (4.) The connection between soil and phthisis has been established in this inquiry— ; (a.) By the existence of general agreement in phthisis-mortality between districts that have common geological and topo- graphical features, of a nature to affect the water-holding quality of the soil. (b.) By the existence of general disagreement between districts that are differently circumstanced in regard of such features ; and (c.) By the discovery of pretty regular concomitancy in the fluctuations of the two conditions, from much phthisis with much wetness of soil, to little phthisis with little wetness of soil. But the connection between wet soil and phthisis came out last year in another way, which must here be recalled— (d.) By the observation that phthisis had been greatly reduced in towns where the water of the soil had been artificially removed, and that it had not been reduced in other towns where the soil had not been dried. (5.) The whole of the foregoing conclusions combine into one— which may now be affirmed generally, and not only of particular districts—that wetness of soil is a cause of phthisis to the population living wpon it. We have brought these reports under the notice of our readers, because we consider them of great interest as showing the very im- portant aid that a knowledge of geology may furnish in affording a clue to the origin of pulmonary diseases. Similar valuable results may, no doubt, be looked forward to in regard to the connection between other diseases and the geological structure of a country—which will give a new value to the published maps of the Geological Survey, and greater stimulus to the study of the science; it is extremely interesting also to notice that many eminent medical men rank among the foremost of our geological leaders. II. Geo-Turoxoey. I. JPN 1810 Major-General Twemlow’ accidentally picked up some chalk fossils, ‘‘ which then gave him the impression that the upheaved chalk downs must be part of the garment of the earth renewed at the Deluge.” Since that date he has been busy collect- ing a series of specimens, which he illustrates and describes in the volume now before us. They are from various localities, and from different deposits, principally from the Chalk, and seem to have been simply collected, without reference to the mode of their 1 Facts and Fossils adduced to prove the Deluge of Noah, and modify the transmu- tation system of Darwin, with some notices regarding Indus Flint Cores. By Major- General George Twemlow. Illustrated with Photographic plates, 8vo., pp. 256. London: Simpkin & Co. VOL. VI.—NO. LVI. 6 82 Reviews— Geo- Theology. occurrence. Nor does the author seem to be aware that there is a regular order of succession in the strata composing the‘crust of the earth. His desire is to reconcile geology with the Bible, and with this object in view he proceeds to the interpretation of the specimens he has collected, and which he has taken much pains to illustrate by photographs. In the frontispiece we have :-— “No. 1. Head apparently of a mammal from solid Chalk, Guild- ford, Surrey. It is now solid flint, whatever it may have been originally.” “No. 2. A piece of fossil wood from under the Hog’s-back, Guildford, on which four creatures appear to have clung, probably to escape diluvial waters.” (!) Among other specimens figured are: “ A Pear, in solid black flint, from the Chalk ;” ‘‘a Bird of Plumage, like the Bird of Paradise, it has an Hchinus eating into its back ;” an antediluvian Monkey from the Chalk at Guildford ; fish, reptiles, and all various forms of flint are identified by the fertile imagination of Major-General Twemlow. These and other fantastic forms of flints are the “ Fossils” adduced by the author in support of a universal deluge. Unfortunately for his argument, there are no indications of bone in any of the specimens supposed to represent vertebrate animals, and, as is well known, the silicification is simply a replacement, we cannot conceive how the author has been led to theorise on such materials. The fruits found in the Coal-measures, the Purbeck beds, the London clay, ete., are considered by the author of this Book, to be those (mentioned in Genesis i. 29) which were to serve as meat for man. (! Ty es abba for the Deluge is touched upon by Major- General Twemlow. Volcanic eruptions and artesian wells are called into play to give evidence of the ‘“ waters under the earth.” As fish have been found in these subterranean reservoirs, the author asks whether some of the Saurian monsters may not have had their abodes in them, and been “upheaved when ‘the fountains of the great deep were broken up.” Major Twemlow’s Paleontological aspirations may be judged from the following expression :— “Tf some of the five hundred species of Ammonites should prove to be the gigantic Planorbi,” which ‘‘fed in the primeval gardens and forests,” ete. !! Again, he says, ‘‘ We do not find fossils now forming, or very rarely.” (!) We recommend to him a careful perusal of Lyell’s Principles of Geology. In regard to his objections to the Transmutation system of Darwin, we need say nothing; they depend upon the acceptation of his “ Facts and Fossils adduced to prove the Deluge.” The Flint Cores alluded to were described and delineated in the Grotocicat Magazine, Vol. III. p. 423. We have been highly amused with this book of Major 'Twemlow’s ; Reviews— Geo- Theology. 83 its highest recommendation is its harmless absurdity. We have seldom seen a better “ Book of Nonsense.” II. The Rey. Mr. Kirk’ has come under our notice before. In the GronocicaAL Magazine for July, 1866, a short review was published of his “Age of Man Geologically Considered in its Bearings on the Truths of the Bible.” In this book the author displayed his great powers of illogical reasoning, and no inconsiderable amount of dis- respect towards Sir Charles Lyell. We regret to find but little improvement either in Mr. Kirk’s geology or his reasoning. He talks of “the fond partiality with which favourite hypotheses are almost worshipped,” and then tries to throw ridicule on some of the generally accepted inferences re- garding bygone periods, and to substitute in their stead hypotheses invented by himself for the professed purpose of supporting the Mosaic writings. His reasoning in regard to time is especially faulty. gsesine of the upheavals and downthrows, Mr. Kirk says, “Tt is amusing to see how happy many great minds are in their enjoyment of vertical motion alone. ‘Their sea-beds sink to no- where, and their mountains and continents rise from nowhere; but they themselves are not troubled with the incongruity in the dream ! Is it not possible that there may be a horizontal motion of the earth’s surface ? ” Satisfied with the simple asking of the question, he proceeds, “If, then, we give up the merely vertical movement of upheaval and subsidence, with latitude maintained, and believe that since half an English county could be turned over like a turf on its grassy side, any number of such formations could be pushed along from tropical to temperate, and thence to arctic positions on the great globe. We have, at least, one line of thought marked off, by which changes of climate, and all consequent changes of species, may ultimately be accounted for.” In this way he elucidates the origin of the London clay! “Is it not evident that this clay was formed within the tropics, and that somehow it has been removed, until it lies in our northern latitude ? ” And he concludes, that “we must recast our ideas of the ex- tinction of species, and alter our views of what is called geological time.” Major Twemlow gives us quite as good a theory to account for the London clay. He talks of a mighty rush of waters bringing tropical fruit to the valley of the Thames, and spreading drift and commingling fossils as we find them ! That such theories should be promulgated at the present day seems astonishing ; and the publication of such papers would greatly impede the progress of Geological Science, if the writers were only as able as they are willing to make proselytes to their own views. * Geological Theories; being a Discourse on the Past and Present Relations of Geological Science to the Sacred Scriptures. Read before the Victoria Institute. By the Rev, John Kirk. 8yo. pp. 51, London. 84 Reports and Proceedings. The great delight of such men as Mr. Kirk is to perch themselves on some great man,—like Sir Charles Lyell for example—and then, in the words of the fable of ‘‘The Fly on the coach-wheel,” to ex- claim “See what a dust I make!’ But, like the fly, they don’t attract much notice after all. III. Mr. Pattison’s pamphlet,! both in style and matter, is well written, and deserves a far more thoughtful consideration than the foregoing Essays, being written by a gentleman who is a careful observer, and a very good geologist. It is likewise an attempt ata reconciliation of Geology with the Scriptures. The evidence of fossils is dismissed by the author with the remark, that the Scrip- tures do not refer to them at all. Mr. Pattison’s main argument is, that the antiquity of man ought not to be so far extended beyond the date assigned by Scripture Chronologists, because ‘‘ Geology affords no reliable scale of time.” But, may we not venture to ask, is Archdeacon Usher’s chronology more indisputable than that of the Hindoos or Chinese? We cannot tell exactly how long it has taken to deposit the beds of gravel, clay, and brick-earth containing the Flint Implements; for the widening, scooping out, and partial refilling of our present valleys; for the formation of peat, containing stone, bronze, and, iron implements, corresponding pretty nearly with the successive flourishing of the Scotch fir, the oak, and the beech, and indicating three different periods of civilization. “Nevertheless,” to quote Mr. Prestwich, “just as, though ignorant of the precise height and size of a mountain-range seen in the distance, we need not wait for trigono- metrical measurements to feel satisfied in our minds of the magnitude of the distant peaks; so with this geological epoch, we see and know enough of it to feel how distant it is from our time, and yet we are not in a position at present to solve with accuracy the curious and interesting problem of its precise age.” { Phil. Trans. 1864, p. 308. | devisni= CisaiS) o-NVIN—D) JSa5jOl@as aap Elin ers Grotogican Society or Lonpon.—December 28rd, 1868.—Pro- fessor T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the chair. 1. “On the so-called ‘Hozoonal’ Rock.” By Prof. W. King and Dr, T. H. Rowney. Communicated by Sir R. L Murchison, Bart., K.C.B., F.B.S., V.P.G.S. The authors noticed that, since the reading of their former com- munication in 1866, further descriptions of Hozoon have been published by Hochstetter, Gimbel, Carpenter, Dawson, and Logan ; and after a few words on those by the first two, they proceeded to criticise the others more fully, intimating that the English and Canadian observers have by no means mastered all the difficulties of the subject, nor answered the objections brought forward by them. 1 New Facts and Old Records; A Plea for Genesis. By S. R. Pattison, F.G.S. Svo. pp. 32. London: Jackson & Co. Geological Society of London. 85 In the course of these remarks, Messrs. King and Rowney, objecting to the specimen from Tudor, of which they have seen the photo- graph, and which was described and figured in 1867 (Q. J. G.S., No. 91), suggested that it is nothing more than the result of infiltration of carbonate of lime, with entangled impurities, between two layers of the sandy limestone. They also stated their belief that the term ‘* Hozoonal” is applicable to any of the ophites they describe, inas- much as it was contended that the structure of the latter is similar to that of the Canadian rock containing the so-called Kozoon. The authors then proceeded to treat of the supposed foraminiferal characters of “‘Hozoon.” First, as to the “cell-wall” or “nummu- line layer,” they advanced repeated evidence of the value of their former proofs that the typical form is due to acidulate serpentine (or modified chrysotile) of inorganic origin, having examined, be- sides others, a Canadian specimen presented by Dr. Carpenter. Secondly, nothing new was adduced with regard to the mineral structure of the so-called “intermediate skeleton.’ Thirdly, in proof that the “chamber-casts” are not of organic origin, the authors referred to their former work, and stated that chondodite and pyral- lolite may be added to the list of minerals that occur, as such disse- minated in limestones. They thought it strange that a carbonate, as well as a silicate, should not have been found filling the so-called chambers ; and they decidedly refused to accept the Tudor specimen having some tubuli filled with calcite, to which they suppose Dawson refers when speaking of chambers filled with calcite, as a case in point; they were unacquainted with any published in- stances of this mineral being an infilling. Fourthly, reiterating their observations on the so-called ‘“canal-system,” they suggested that the globoso-vermicular bodies noticed by Dawson and Giimbel may be metaxite; and they insisted on the difficulty of explaining the presence of isolated unbroken tube-casts in patches of pure lime- stone. The Madoc specimen, described by Dawson as having its “canals” and “chambers” filled with calcite, was next referred to; and it was argued that the so-called calcite, both in this and in another specimen, described by Carpenter, is doubtful and not proved ; for they had not been able to confirm the accuracy of the observations in these cases, having examined a Canadian specimen, presented by Dr. Carpenter as an example of the kind, which had in it “homogeneous and structureless forms of the canal-system ” that were not dissolved im the decalcification. TFifthly, the organic nature of the so-called “stolons,” was regarded as quite disproved. Minera- logical considerations of Eozoonal rocks were next entered upon ; and from the study of Canadian specimens, and of others from Con- nemara and Neybiggen (?), described in full, the authors concluded that they fully prove the ‘“canal-system,” ‘“ chamber-casts,” and “‘nummuline layer” to be structural and inorganic modifications of serpentine—that the whole have originated from the change or waste of granules, plates, etc., of serpentine ; and they incline to the belief that the calcite of the “intermediate skeleton” is pseudomorphic after one or other form of serpentine by infiltration and replacement. 86 Reports and Proceedings. The rounded form of the granular masses of chondrodite, coccolite etc., in some limestones was also referred by the authors to the gradual removal of their surfaces by deep-seated hydrothermal agency. It was then argued that the organic nature of Hozoon cannot be supported by the cumulative evidence afforded by the combination of foraminiferal features; for these features, combined and due to purely mineral paragenesis, had occurred to the authors in certain ophites, though some are wanting in other ophites, just as they are not always present in the Hozoonal rock of Canada. Serpentine has been described as having been deposited in the cavities of Hozoon, and having taken the place of its sarcode; but the authors criticised all the quoted analogies of such a precipitation . of any siliceo-magnesian substance, disbelieved them, and put aside glauconitic infiltration as beside the question. Considered geologically, with reference to its occurrence in a metamorphic rock, the authors regarded the Zozoon as an organic impossibility ; and they asked why it should never be found in any- thing but crystalline or semi-crystalline rocks—in ophites or ophi- calcites of widely different ages. Particularly they found Hozoonal structure in the Liassic ophite of Skye; and this they described in full. They criticised Sterry Hunt’s change of opinion, who used to think that the serpentinous rocks of Canada were once earthy amorphous silicates, and afterwards metamorphosed, but who now supposes they were deposited in a crystalline state; and they asked why, if so, may not all the Laurentian rocks have been so deposited? In con- clusion, they totally denied that Hozoonal structure has anything to do with any organism, and repeated that, like all analogous conditions of serpentine, chondrodite, etc., it is of purely mineral origin. Discusston.—Prof. Ramsay had been struck long ago by the organic appearance of the structure now regarded as Zozoon. He had also felt a difficulty in accounting for the existence of large masses of limestone, except by the operation of organisms living in the sea, in which such deposits had been formed. He could not imagine the sea-water so overcharged with calcareous matter as spontaneously to deposit limestone. Mr. Parker, on examining the various parts of the Hozoon as shown him by Dr. Carpenter, had been able to recognise in them similar structures to what he had already met with in recent Foraminifera. Prof. T. Rupert Jones accounted for the difficulty that sometimes existed in re- cognizing Eozoonal structure by the contortion of the containing beds subsequently to their deposition. Dr. Duncan had been struck in the earlier known specimens of Eozoon by the shape of the tubules of the canals: he had never seen similar outlines in inorganic odies. Dr. Carpenter said that he need not repeat the grounds on which he regarded this as an organic structure. He objected to criticisms unless founded on examination of actual specimens. Sir Wm. Logan had been first led to regard the Hozoon as organic by finding alternations of caleareous and siliceous layers in various minerals. A speci- men which Sir William had brought from Canada contained much iron, and had the canal system wonderfully preserved ; and it presented this character—-that the larger branches were infiltrated with serpentine, and the middle branches with sulphide of iron, while the smallest branches were filled with carbonate of lime, of the same nature as the matrix. It was only under a favourable light that these smaller tubes were visible, as the calcite in them was of the same crystalline character as the surrounding network. This was conclusive evidence of the structure not Geological Society of London. 87 arising from the mere inflltration of one chemical substance into another. Moreover this foreion matter could not penetrate the cleavage-planes. When cut, some speci- mens had given out a strong odour of musk, which they to some extent still retained. This, again, seemed to be evidence of organic origin. He regretted that Prof. King had not examined the large collection of specimens in his (Dr. Carpenter’s) collection. Recent Foraminifera, when decalcified, exhibited precisely the same asbestiform layer round the chamber-cast as the fossil Hozoon. Different genera of Foraminifera in recent seas were infiltrated by different minerals, which presented some analogy with the condition of the fossil under consideration. In the great seas of the present day, at various depths and temperatures, was a large extension of sarcodic substance, and in this there were Rhizopods with and without shells, but of similar low structure ; and such forms might have continued in existence through any length of time, so that the occurrence of Zozoon so far down as Jurassic times could afford no matter for surprise. He would not be astonished even if such a structure as Hozoon were found in deep-sea dredgings of the present day. The President mentioned the Bathydius, which he has found with coccoliths and other forms in deep-sea soundings. In some newer specimens of Atlantic mud given him by Dr. Carpenter he had found Bathybiws forming a sort of network somewhat similar to the plasmodia of botanists. He could not call it either plant or animal. It was, however, a living substance, susceptible of apparently indefinite growth. ‘This re- moved one of the difficulties in believing in the wide extension of the Hozoon. The Hydrographer had since sent him the soundings taken by Captain Shortland in ‘The Hydra.’ In soundings from 2,800 fathoms in the Arabian Gulf Bathybius was ' plentiful; and over an area 7000 miles long the same organism occurred in abundance. He agreed in thinking it possible that such organisms might have gone on living from the earliest geological times. In answer to Prof. Ramsay, the President stated that the soundings in which the Bathybius occurs alone, as analyzed by Dr. Frankland, contained 13 per cent. of nitrogenous organic matter. 2. “Notes on the Geology of China, with more especial reference to the provinces of the Lower Yungtsi.” By Thomas W. Kingsmill, Esq. Communicated by the President. The sedimentary deposits of the south of China were described as commencing at the base with a series of coarse grits and sandstones, having a thickness of about 12,000 feet, and overlain conformably by limestones and shales (with coal in the lower part), attaining a thickness of between 6000 and 8000 feet. The whole of these rocks were described by the author as the “'Tung-ting Series.” In the Nanking district this formation is succeeded by sandstones, grits, and conglomerates, which the author has grouped together under the name of the “Chung-shan Series.” Its uppermost member contains beds of coal, and possesses an unknown thickness; but the remaining beds are together about 2400 feet thick. Mr. Kingsmill described in detail the geological relations and geographical extension of these rock-masses ; he then gave a sketch of the superficial deposits, which occupy an important position in the geology of China, and from the older of which Mammalian bones and teeth have been obtained; and he concluded by stating that he had been uniformly unsuccessful in his frequent searches for traces of Glacial action. Discussion.-—The President remarked that if the South of China had been dry land since so early a period, the fauna might have been expected to resemble that of the Siwalik Hills. Among the teeth was the molar of a very small horse, presenting some of the characters of Hippothertum or Hipparion, which might possibly be of Miocene date. Prof, T. Rupert Jones alluded to the general parallelism of the axial folds of the strata with the coast-line, and to the similar strike of the gold-bearing rocks in the Gulf of Petchele, and mentioned that Cycadaceous remains occurred in the Coal of some parts of Germany as in China. 88 Reports and Proceedings. Mr. W. Boyd Dawkins remarked that one of the equine molars was the largest of the class he had seen. He agreed with the President as to the smaller molar. He was unable, from the specimens, to determine whether they were Miocene or Pliocene. He mentioned the discovery in the Laterite of India of a portion of a human femur of most remarkably slender make. II. January 18th, 1869.—1. “On Hyperodapedon. By Professor T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.RB.S., Pres. G.S. The author described the characters of the genus Hyperodapedon, dwelling especially upon those presented by the head and dentition. The head presents indications of a bone forming a second zygomatic arch on each side; the upper jaw is produced and bent downwards, forming a strong beak; and the lower jaw is produced on each side of the symphysis into a pointed process, between which the decurved beak of the upper jaw is received. The maxillary and palatine teeth are arranged in rows, and present some resemblance to the large nails in the sole of a boot ; they are inserted on each side of the upper jaw upon the sloping sides of a deep grove, and are worn down and polished by the action of the mandibular teeth, which form a con- tinuous and very close single series along the upper edge of the mandible. The author remarked upon this peculiarity of arrangement, which, he said, enables the teeth of Hyperodapedon to be recog- nized wherever they may occur. The vertebre have their centra slightly concave at each extremity. The other known parts of the skeleton described by the author were the ribs, scapula, coracoid, and part of the humerus, the pelvis, femur, and proximal ends of the tibia and fibula, and the abdominal false-ribs, which are largely developed in this Reptile. The author declared the affinities of Hyperodapedon to be de- cidedly Lacertilian. Its nearest fossil ally is the Triassic genus Ehynchosaurus, and in the present day its type of structure is most clearly reproduced by the singular genus Sphenodon = (Hat- teria) of New Zealand. In its habits Hyperodapedon was probably terrestrial, or perhaps fluviatile; in Warwickshire and India it is associated with Labyrinthodonts. 'The remains hitherto met with do not justify the formation of more than one species, Hyperoda- pedon Gordom; and the genus ranges from Britian to Central India, indicating a great extent of dry land during the period to which it belongs. Specimens of Hyperodapedon from the Trias of Warwickshire, collected many years ago by Dr. Lloyd, were exhibited; but in discussing the question whether Hyperodapedon is to be regarded as determining the Triassic age of any rock in which it may be found, the author referred to the fact that Crocodiles bridge over the whole interval between the Mesozoic and existing conditions, and Beryx in like manner connects the Cretaceous with our present fish fauna. As Hyperodapedon is at least as nearly allied to the existing genus Sphenodon (= Hatteria) as it is to the Triassic Rhyn- chosaurus, the author inquires why may it not have inhabited the dry land of the Permian, Carboniferous, or Devonian period ? Car- rying the idea thus raised still further, he indicates from certain rela- Geological Society of London. 89 tions between the Reptilian faunz of Europe, 8. Africa, and India at the period when Hyperodapedon lived in the first and third of these localities, not only that there must then have been a vast extent of continental land, but that this may have persisted with but little change in the nature of its inhabitants, while the fauna of the neighbouring seas underwent great alterations. He remarked that our Geological chronology rested too much upon a marine founda- tion, and that such a persistence of dry land as was now suggested by him was not only possible but, in the present case, probable. He suggested the use of Conybeare’s term “ Poikilitic” for the series of deposits containing the remains of terrestrial and fluviatile plants and animals, and corresponding with the marine beds deno- minated Permian and Triassic. Finally, the author remarked upon the important light thrown upon the question of the geographical distribution of animals by the discovery of these reptiles and other recently detected fossils, and upon the interest attaching to them from their high grade of development. The five great classes of Vertebrata were represented during the “ poikilitic’” epoch by species so high in the scale that we can hardly dotibt their having been pre- ceded by other forms, so that some of us may yet hope to see the fossil remains of a Silurian Mammal. Sir R. I. Murchison (who occupied the chair during the reading of the foregoing paper by the President, Prof. Huxley), argued in favour of the overwhelming im- portance of paleontological evidence, and maintained that Hyperodapedon was ‘Triassic. He objected to the use of the term “ poikilitic,’” which was merely indica- tive of the spotted character of the beds, and protested against the mingling of the Permian and Triassic series. [The discussion of the above and the succeeding paper was then agreed to be taken together. | 2. “On the Locality of a new Specimen of Hyperodapedon on the South Coast of Devon.’ By W. Whitaker, Esq., F.G.S. The author described the section presented by the South Devon coast westward from the great landslip at Dowlands. The cliffs here show Rheetic beds passing down into Red Marls of Upper Triassic age, which have greenish layers among them, favouring the view that the Rheetic beds might as well be classed with, the Trias as with the Lias. Below these beds are Red Marls and Sandstones, and at Budleigh Salterton a bed of quartzite pebbles occurs. West of the Exe the cliffs are of sandstone with layers of breccia; and be- yond Dawlish the breccia gradually predominates, until towards Teignmouth the cliffs are almost wholly formed of it. This breccia forms the base of the New Red of Devonshire. The thickness of the whole series is several thousand feet—Mr. Pengelly estimates that it may be four miles or more. The jaw of Hyperodapedon referred to by Professor Huxley was found in the sandstone on the left bank of the Otter, immediately above the Budleigh Salterton pebble-bed, in the lower part of the uppermost bed of Sandstone, which, with the other sandstones and marl-beds, the author regarded as belonging to the Keuper. He referred to the opinions of Mr. Pengelly and Mr. Ormerod, and suggested that the breccias might possibly be of Per- Inian age. Discussion.—Sir Charles Lyell, referring to the occurrence of Hyperodapedon 90 Reports and Proceedings. with Stegonolepis and Telerpeton in the uppermost sandstones of Elgin, remarked that he came to the conclusion that these beds were Triassic in 1859, and that Mr. Symonds had in that year stated them to be the equivalent of the Rhynchosaurus- sandstones of Shropshire. Professor Ramsay regarded the Red Marls and Sandstones described by Mr. Whit- aker as Keuper, and the lower members of his section as of Permian age. He con- firmed Professor Huxley's views as to the existence of a great extent of continental land at the epoch when Hyperodapedon and the Reptiles associated with it were in existence, and remarked that these Reptiles inhabited the shores of the great salt lakes of the Triassic land. He objected to the use of the term “ poikilitic,” and re- marked that if the idea embodied by Professor Huxley under it were to be accepted, it would have to be extended to all terrestrial deposits from the Silurian period to the present day. Dr. Guntuer referred to his description of Sphenodon (= Hatteria), and re- marked that in that genus there are uncinate processes on the ribs, as in Birds, which do not exist in Hyperodapedon. He remarked upon the resemblance of the beak in the latter to that of the Tortoises, especially Zrionyx, and suggested that the jaws might have had a horny covering. Dr. Meryon inquired as to the implantation of the teeth in the jaws of Hyperoda- pedon, and suggested that the position and direction of the orbits were not accordant with terrestrial habits, and also that the absence of processes on the ribs indicated a flexibility of the body consistent with a fluviatile mode of life. Professor Huxley showed that no conclusion could be drawn from the want of processes on the ribs or the position of the orbits as to the habits of the animals, and remarked that the processes in Sphenodon were not anchylosed to the ribs; he con- sidered it possible, but not probable, that the jaws had a horny covering. He stated that in using the term ‘“ poikilitic,”” he was desirous of indicating that while several marine formations with changing forms of life succeeded each other, the terrestrial fauna may, in certain cases, have been continuous. He believed that terrestrial forms were at least as persistent as marine. Mr. Carruthers remarked that the Permian vegetation showed Mesozoic affinities, and in fact that the commencement of the Mesozoic flora was to be sought in the Permian. Norwicu Groxrocican Socrery.—The first monthly meeting for the current year, of the Norwich Geological Society was held on the 14th January, at the Museum, the President, the Rev. J. Gunn, F.G.8., in the chair. The President exhibited a fine humerus of a cetacean, dredged up off Yarmouth, and now in Mr. J. J. Owles’ collection. It shows marks of having been partially cut through by some sharp instrument, and numerous holes, which, it is presumed, were bored by the Pholas. Mr. Fitch called attention to a magnifi- cent fossil Ammonite, which is of great interest, as being the first flint Ammonite derived from the Chalk in which the septa are shown. The President said there was a specimen in the Museum, which showed the septa, and another in the possession of Mr. Wright, of Buxton. These were, however, obtained from the Boulder-till, and not from the Chalk. Then followed a discussion on some Piles recently discovered at Trowse, of which coloured diagrams and sections had been prepared by Mr. Reeve to show their position. These were explained by Mr. J. EH. Taylor. As the investigations have not yet been completed, we shall defer a more lengthened notice of their discovery. Although the position of the piles at Trowse differed in one respect, namely, in their being placed in regular lines, from the position of those used for crannoges, yet the argument seemed in favour of their having been applied to the formation of such a dwelling, and it was strengthened by the state- Norwich Geological Society. 91 ment of Mr. John Evans and Mr. Flower, that the whole district abounds with fragments of flint implements, which shows that the country was occupied at the time when crannoges were constructed. The President then read the following paper :—‘“‘On the Discovery of new Beds of Crag.” Much credit was gained by the Norwich Geological Society through the labours of Mr. Taylor in ascertaining the distinction between the fluvio-marine, and the upper marine portion of the Norwich Crag. The position of these crags is beneath the Chillesford clay, which appears above them in the Bramerton section. Since that discovery, the Zellina Balthica Crag has been observed at Belaugh, Coltishall, Wroxham, Horstead, Sherringham, and Weybourne, above the Chillesford Clay, of a more Arctic character, and approaching nearer to the Glacial period, which is evidenced by the Lower Boulder-clay or Till. As this crag will be descrided by Mr. Harmer, Mr. Gunn said he would leave it in his hands, and proceed to mention another bed of crag at Sherringham, which occurs far above the Tellina Balthica bed—it rests on the Upper Boulder-clay. The deposit is 15 feet in thick- ness, and is composed of sand with shells, which are so abundant as to justify the term “Crag” being applied to it. Most of the shells are in a very fragmentary state, so much go, that only one species could be determined—it is, according to Mr. Searles Wood, a thickened form of Tellina Balthica.—Norwich Mercury, Jan. 16, 1869. CORRESPONDENCE, THE PLEISTOCENE FRESH-WATER DEPOSIT AT HACKNEY DOWNS. Sir,—I must again trespass on your valuable space for a few final lines with reference to the above subject. Since my letter appeared in your journal I have seen Mr. Grugeon, and understand that some shells which he gave me early in the year 1866 were collected by Mr. Skertchly ; I was not aware of this before. The facts of the case are as follows. I called at Mr. Grugeon’s house; a few of the Hackney Down shells were lying there ; he told me I could have them, and then gave me to understand that they were collected by his son, but he now tells me they came from Mr. Skertchly. They were of the commoner species, unsorted and unnamed, and it is upon this only that the charge contained in GEOLOGICAL MAGaziInE, No. 50, is brought against me, and which in effect is, that Mr. Skertchly sent me ‘‘a set” of the Hackney Down shells, and that I afterwards published a list of them as my own. I leave your readers to judge how far such an accusation was justified by the facts of the case, and will only add, in conclusion, that the species enumerated in the Geological Repertory were my own collecting, the result of many visits to the spot, and of much time spent at home in examining the sand, etc., with a magnifyer, for the rarer and more minute species. ISLINGTON, 1868. GEORGE J. SMITH. CORBICULA (CYRENA) FLUMINALIS IN CAPE COLONY.” Srr,—This species, which is extinct—though very abundant in a fossil state in various parts of Europe—I found living in the Vaal river, in South Africa, in July last. I found it rather abundant about three miles from the junction of the Vaal and Great Orange rivers, about 29° south latitude. I procured about twenty specimens. The river here is rather rapid, though 92 Correspondence—Mr. J. R. Gregory. not deep, and runs over a bed of stones, mostly small boulders of Trap, from three to six or eight inches in diameter. Living examples have long been known from the River Nile, and there are also some specimens in the British Museum having the locality of Natal attached to them; but I believe these are the first that have heen found in Cape Colony. Between Natal and Cape Colony are the Drachenberg and other ranges of mountains, yet this species of Cyrena seems to be the same from both localities. Iam ex- pecting these specimens in a case which was packed before I left South Africa. In England this species is abundant, though extinct in many of our brick-clays, associated with remains of the Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, etc.; and in South Africa the same genera of animals still exist with this little shell, although during the last twenty years the larger animals are driven further up the country,and but seldom appear in these haunts. About the time, however, that I was in Hope Town two Hippopotami were reported in the Great Orange River near Hope Town, and many persons went out after them, but with no success, although I believe some shots were fired, but the tracks of the animals were visible, and were said to be those of an adult and young animal.—_J ams R. Gregory. PETROLOGY AND LITHOLOGY. S1r.—In the January number of the Quarterly Journal of Science, the reviewer of the progress of Mineralogy during the last quarter says, while noticing new works on Petrology—“ Probably it would be difficult to point to any branch of natural science which at the present time occupies a more unsatisfactory position in this country than that science which, according as it is pursued in the field or in the cabinet has been variously designated Petrology or Lithology, in other words, the study of rocks, as distinguished from that of minerals. No one can gainsay the first part of this quotation, as without doubt books in the English language on both Lithology and Petrology, especially the latter, are sadly required, the only work at all ap- proaching to the latter science being Lawrence’s translation of Cotta, ~ and any one who has studied it, must see how little the true science of Petrology has been regarded in the compilation of that book. But to return to the quotation—the latter part (now printed in italics) seems to be highly objectional, as in its present form it can scarcely fail to mislead students into imagining that Petrology is simply the study of rocks in any form, while Lithology is the study of minerals; when in reality the former is confined to the study of rocks in mass, and the latter to pieces of rock; by which means a rock may lithologically belong to one class, and petrologically to another. As for instance many of Cotta’s quartziferous porphyries are litho- logically granites, as they contain quartz, felspar and mica, while petrologically they are Felstones. A geologist divides rocks petro- logically or into their natural divisions, and a mineralogist lithologi- cally, as they wish to make a multiplicity of ‘“ distinct varieties.” The difference between Petrology and Lithology has been fully ex- Correspondence—Mr. G. H. Kinahan. 95 plained by Mr. Forbes in a recent number of the Popular Science Review, and previously by Professor Jukes in his Manual. The re- viewer in the Quarterly Journal of Science, by the context, would seem to be quite aware of the proper difference between Lithology and Petrology, my only excuse, therefore, for occupying any of your space is the vague way he expresses himself, which undoubtedly must mislead all young geologists. G. H. Kinanan. GzoLocicaL Survey or IRELAND, Recxss, CoNNEMARA. THE FETISH WORSHIP OF FOSSILS, Str,—The subject-matter of my letter, as indicated by the above heading, has upon various occasions pressed itself on my notice dur- ing my visits to collections belonging to private individuals, but more especially to soi-disant scientific persons, in various parts of England; and I think that a ventilation of it may do good by calling attention to a reform which is much needed. First of all, I will describe what I have seen in some of the “ Arcanas of Science.” Imagine a series of glass-cases and drawers crammed with specimens augmented in number in a duplicate ratio, guiltless of labels, piled one on another, “in confusion worse con- founded,” suggestive alike of the interior of a marine store, and of an attempt to give a practical illustration of the probable scheme of Creation according to the Mosaic account. These collections belong to Fossilists whose ignorance of Paleontology reminds one of the Naturalists of the old school, whom the late E. Forbes used to de- scribe as examining animals as though they were merely skins filled with straw, and whose scientific acumen displays itself in estimating the worth of a specimen by its wniqueness. The “ minatus amor natendi” is strong in the minds of these worthies, and to part with any of their duplicates would be in their opinion to run the risk of losing a future chance of immortalizing themselves as the fortunate possessors of some new and unique species. It is probable that I may have cast upon me the dregs of the “odium theologicum” which was poured out from the “phials of wrath” with such remarkable success during the late election; but if I can procure for some neglected pre-Adamite relic “a local habita- tion and a name” in some county museum, which would otherwise be fated in all probability to point a moral and adorn a grotto na country village, I shall consider myself amply recompensed. Example being better than precept, let me refer to the munificent gift of fossils lately made to the Norwich Museum by one of your reverend contributors. PHILO-TAXIS. Baotia Trans-Avontrensis, January, 1869. OBETU ARM. —>—_ Gxorer Victor Du Noyer.—On the third day of January, at Antrim, where he was engaged superintending the Geological Survey of the North of Ireland, died George Victor Du Noyer, M.R.LA., 94 Obituary—G. V. Du Noyer. F.R.G.S.L., ete. etc.; District Surveyor of H.M. Geological Survey of Iveland. This gentleman’s name is well known in connection with not only the Geology but also the Archeology of Ireland; and there is scarcely a work that has been published within the last quarter of a century on either of these subjects in which Ireland is mentioned but his name appears. About thirty years ago, when still quite a boy, he was appointed to the Geological Branch of the Ordinance Survey of Ireland, then commenced under the super- intendance of the late General Portlock. After that branch was given up he served for some time on the Archeological Section of the same service under the great Petrie, and subsequently, when the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom was resumed under the superintendence of the late Sir Henry de la Beche, he again joined the Irish branch of that service, and continued on it until his sudden and regretted early death by scarlet fever after four days’ illness. Mr. Du Noyer, on account of his long period of service, was more or less acquainted with the whole of Ireland, and has enriched many of the Memoirs of the Survey with his spirited Geological Sketches. They will also be found in ‘“‘Murchison’s Siluria,” ‘Jukes’ Manual,” ‘«‘ jukes’ Popular Geology,’ and many other works on the same subject; while Griffith’s and M‘Coy’s Paleontological Plates owe much to his pencil. Formerly he published many valuable and interesting papers in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, the Proceedings of the Dublin Geological Society, the Geologist, ete. ; but of late years he has altogether confined himself to writing for the Memoirs of the Government Survey, save a few short papers read before the Royal Geological Society of Jreland and the Geological Society of London. While engaged in the geological examination of Ireland, a love of archeology having been imbibed during his early life with Petrie, he studied and sketched the ancient structures both historic and pre- historic, and has established for himself a lasting monument in The Du Noyer Sketches. 'These consist of six large volumes of original drawings, which he presented to the Royal Irish Academy, and for this generous and patriotic act he was presented with its life mem- bership. He was also one of the original members of the ‘“ Kil- kenny Archelogical Society,” now the ‘‘ Historical and Archeological Association of Ireland,” and at the time of his death was their pro- vincial Honorary Secretary for the province of Ulster. During his geological researches in the Dingle promontory, he discovered the pre-historic city of Faha, of which he made elaborate drawings and plans illustrative of its cahers, raths, cloghauns, etc. Subsequently he wrote an account of them and read it before the British Association at their last meeting in Dublin, which afterwards was published by the Archeological Society of London. While in the county of Meath, he superintended the opening of the pre-historic carus Je Danaan at Lough Crew, and made minute drawings of the numerous archaic sculptures that covered the sides and pillars of the internal chambers of these ancient tombs. Of this discovery, only a short notice, with a few of the most characteristic sketches was published in the Obituary—James David Forbes. 95 journal of the Kilkenny Archeological Society. However, it was intended to publish a full account, but the death of the proprietor, Mr. Nappen, of Loughern, delayed it, and now it is to be hoped that the lamented and early death of Mr. Du Noyer will not deprive the archeological world of this treat. Of late years he had paid par- ticular attention to the Megalithic structures known by the general name of Cromlechs, and was publishing in the Journal of the Historical and Archeological Association of Ireland an interesting and most instructive series of papers showing their mode of con- struction and their uses. The principle official geological publications with which Mr. Du Noyer was connected, are as follows :—Forty-eight sheets of the Map of Ireland, with seventeen memoirs. Of the latter, those call- ing for special notice are the explanations to accompany sheets 102 and 112; sheets 160, 161, and 172; sheets 167, 168, 178, and 179; sheet 184; also sheets 185, 186. The two last memoirs illustrate the parts of Cork and Kerry in the neighbourhood of the far-famed lakes of Killarney, they being enriched by thirteen of the author’s sketches—all so spirited, that it is impossible to say which is the best, besides numerous maps and diagrams. The first of those enumerated above illustrates parts of the counties of Dublin and Meath; the second, the Dingle promontory in the county of Kerry, and the third, parts of the counties of Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, and Tipperary. To the last two, we would draw particular attention, more especially on account of the sketches, which for truthfullness and artistic skill will be rivalled in few, if any, geological works, and the loss of whose author will, we fear, subtract not a little from the beauty and interest of the future memoirs of the Geological Survey of Ireland. Mr. Du Noyer was of French extraction, he being the lineal descendant of the Chevalier du Noyer, his ancestors having come to Ireland as refugees. He was a Royal Arch Mason, having been initiated into that ancient order under the warrant of the Clonmel Lodge. By his death the post of District Surveyor of the Geological Survey of Ireland is vacant. In the middle of December he delivered interesting and instructive lectures to the inhabitants of Belfast. At the first meetings in this year both the members of the Royal Trish Academy and of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland had to lament the loss of one of their most eminent fellows, and—to many—of an intimate friend. At the meeting of each of these Societies his extreme private worth and his valuable services to his adopted country were mentioned, and resolutions were passed that the influences of the Societies should be used, in the hope that his long and faithful services may be recognised by Her Majesty’s Govern- ment granting a pension to his widow. We heartily join in the hope that the influence of these Societies may not be exerted in vain.—G.H.K. James Davip Forses, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S.L. & E., F.G.S., Principal of St. Salvator’s and St. Leonard’s College, St. Andrews, 96 Miscellaneous. was the youngest son of Sir William Forbes, the seventh Baronet of Pitsligo, in the county of Aberdeen. His death has just been re- corded (see Illustrated London News, Jan. 16,1869). Principal Forbes was born April 20, 1808, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he obtained several prizes, and where he held the Professorship of Natural Philosophy from 1833 until 1860. He was the author of several papers on heat, and other works on Physical Science; “Travels in the Alps of Savoy,” ‘‘ Norway and its Glaciers,” ‘‘ Papers on the Theory of Glaciers,” etc. He received the Keith medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Rum- ford and Royal medals of the Royal Society of London, for various papers he prepared, and which were published in the Transactions of those bodies. He was elected a Fellow of the Geological Socicty of London in 1881, but read no papers before that Society. In 1848 he married Alicia, daughter of George Wauchope, Hsq., of Hdin- burgh, and by her, who survives him, he leaves issue two sons and two daughters. Principal Forbes is succeeded in the College at St. Andrews by Professor J. C. Shairp, M.A. WEES Carre ALhEaOwmsSs: Lirnopomous Borines 667 Fr. ABOVE THE SEA.—Mr. Mackintosh, F.G.S., who wrote on Pholas-borings near Torquay, in this MaGa- zinE for July, 1867, has just discovered what he believes to be Lithodomous perforations up to 667 ft. above the sea on the eastern side of Hampsfell, on the border of Morecambe Bay. It is with ereat difficulty they can be detected at high altitudes, as they almost invariably occur on the protected or overhanging sides of rocks or boulders. It would appear that up to 250 ft. above the sea, Mr. Boulton and other inhabitants of Furness have been familiar with these perforations for many years, without having studied their im- portance in a theoretical point of view. Though rain has made numerous rough holes in limestone rocks, Mr. Mackintosh contends that the above smoothly ground-out perforations (some of which run into and through fossils, and most of which ignore the composition of the rock) could not have been formed by rain, as nearly all of them occur in positions to which rain could never have had access.— Abridged from the Ulverstone Advertiser of Jan. 7, 1869. GeroLocicaL Socrety or Lonpon.—Various changes have taken place in the staff of this Society. 1. Mr. Henry M. Jenkins, F.G.S., who has for the past six years so ably filled the post of Assistant Secretary, has been appointed to the position of Secretary and Editor to the Royal Agricultural Society of England. Mr. W. 8. Dallas, F.L.S., who, during the past ten years, has been the Curator to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society’s Museum at York, has been elected to the post of Assistant Secretary, Librarian, and Curator in the room of Mr. Jenkins. 2. Mr. Skertchly, the Library Assistant, has resigned, in order to accompany Messrs. Bauerman and Lord to Egypt. Mr. Frederick Waterhouse, second son of G. R. Water- house, Esq., Keeper of the Geological Department, British Museum, has been elected in Mr. Skertchly’s stead. Geol.Mag. 1869. Woll, WIL IAL, NC _ nal. Stxe % nat size W.G. Smith, FL. S. ad mat. Lith : W. West imp | Beania gracilis, Garr. Oolitic Shales of Yorkshire. 2.3.Zamia muricata, Willd. 4.Macrozamia spiralis, Mig. THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LVII—MARCH, 1869, ORIGINAL ARTICLIMS: ee I.—On Bzavia, A New Genus or Cycapran Fruit, rrom THE YORKSHIRE OOLITES. By Wo. Carrutuers, F.L.S., F.G.S., of the British Museum. (PLATE TY.) HE remarkable organs which are frequently associated with the Zamia gigas of Lindley and Hutton, and which have always been considered as in some way connected with the fructification of that plant, are the only fossils that can be referred to Cycadean fruits that have been hitherto observed in the Yorkshire Oolites, in which the remains of Cycadean leaves are so abundant. These organs have been made the subject of an elaborate memoir by Professor Williamson, presented to the Linnean Society some months since, and which it is to be hoped will soon appear in the Transactions of that Society. He has brought together so many observations, made during a life-acquaintance with these beds, that he has been able to re-construct, with every appearance of truth on his side, a singular genus, containing two well-marked species, and forming a new tribe of Cycadee very different from any living form. Fruits closely related to those of the recent Cycadee have been found in Oolitic strata. Lindley and Hutton described, as a Pinus, a cone from the Inferior Oolite, which in a former communi- cation to this Magazine (Vol IV. p. 101), I showed to be Cycadean, and named Cycadeostrobus primevus; and in the same paper I de- scribed a second species from the Oxford clay of Wiltshire, (C. sphericus). I now add a third from Phillips’s “ Upper Shale” at Scarborough, which though agreeing in all essential points with the two species named, and with the living forms to which they are related, yet differs sufficiently to demand its being placed in a distinct genus. My colleague, Mr. Woodward, drew my attention to this interesting fruit, in that part of the Bean collection acquired some years since by the British Museum. It is not associated with any Cycadean remains on the small slab on which it occurs, so that there is no indication to which of the several leaf-species it belongs. I hope the publication of this notice, accompanied with Mr. Smith’s admirable illustration, may bring to light other specimens that will supply this desirable information. Coal. | —z==M#§@=—NMy White fossiliferous shale. 6 Ee peceieoe . Coal. | ; ; : ( | 7 = _ Parting of blue clay. 17 29 cecccsces 99 Fossiliferous clay. 25 99 eeeveeves 99 10% Coal. Tronstone shales with fossil {?% ferns, etc. 12 Sandstone. Thickness not } : ascertained aS a Limestone. 14 A Mica-schist. Metalliferous limestone. 150 N. Plant—The Brazilian Coal Fields. little disturbed by eruptive rocks, although basaltic dykes of consider- able width are evident in the surrounding schistose and syenitic hills. The second basin lies in the valley of the Sao Sepé, one of the tributaries of the river Jacuahy, in about lat. 30° 20’, long. 58° 30/. Two distinct beds of coal, one of 7 feet and the other of 14 feet thick, appear in this locality underlying the same sandstone beds, which in some places have been tilted up and overflowed by trachytic dykes. The Carboniferous deposits in this valley have been traced over an area of about 15 miles. The third coal-basin is near the town of the Sao Jeronymo, on the banks of the river Jacuahy, lat. 30°, long. 51° 30’. The coal in this place is being worked by a Lancashire coal-viewer, Mr. James John- son. The sections of two shafts sunk on the edge of the basin shew a superposition of rocks similar to the deposits on the Candiota. At the depth of 19 yards, a bed of highly bituminous coal 6 feet thick was met with; below this is a bed of iron-stone shale containing fossils of the same genera as those found in the beds at Candiota. The shafts have been carried on to a depth of 61 yards, passing through beds of coal varying in thickness from 2 feet to 6 feet, interstratified with blue clay and ironstone. The Carboniferous deposits in the province of Santa Catherina are situated in the southern extremity in lat. 282°, long. 48° 14/ to 48° 44’, About 45 miles N.W. of the sea-port of Lagana the basin is intersected by the river Tubarao and its tributaries. By driving levels and sinking pits, five beds of coal of a thickness varying from one and a half feet to ten feet, have been met with, underlying a sandstone formation. An analysis of specimens from these beds, made by Professor Thomas Richardson, gave the following results :— Spec. No. 1. Spec. No. 2. 37°67 hee 35°42 ats Fixed Carbon. 18°33 see 21:10 wits Gaseous Matter. 44-00 we 43°48 Hes Ash. The specimens were taken from near the outcrop. In the Republic of Banda Oriental or Uruguay Carboniferous beds similar to the above, and underlying sandstone of the same character as that found above the coal-beds I have described, can be traced for many miles on the head waters of the Rio Negro, between lat. 31° and 82°, long. 54° and 55°. Here the sedimentary rocks have undergone considerable displacement from the eruption of the trachytic rocks which characterize the surrounding country. South of this district, as far as the river Plate, no sedimentary rocks occur, except along the banks of the river Uruguay, where limestones are found. In Paraguay, on the head waters of the Tibicuari, I observed the same Sandstone formation, with beds of coal-shale, as that seen , in Rio Grande do Sul and 8S. Catherina. Geol. Mag. 1869. Vol VI PLY WG Smith FL S.ad nate lith. Flemingites Pedroanus. Geol. Mag. 1869. ies Vol.VI. Pl VI. W.G. Smith FL.S. ad nat lith. W. West imp. 1 Noeggerathia obovata. 2.0dontopteris Plantana. W. Carruthers—Coal Plants from Brazil. 151 I1.—On rae Prant Remains rrom THE Brazizran Coat Bens, with Remarks on THE Genus Freuinaires. By W. Carruruers, F.L.S8., F.G.S. (PLATES V. anp VI.) HE specimens placed in my hands by Mr. N. Plant from Rio Grande do Sul consist of a few specimens of coal and a consider- able number of a highly ferruginous shale. The coal contains no re- cognizable fossils, but they abound in the shale. The substance of the plants is converted into a brittle coal, that possesses no structure, and exhibits the form only of the organism, but the superficial struc- ture and the venation is often so beautifully preserved on the surface of the shale, when the coal is removed, that the nature of the fossils is very clearly exhibited. JI have, thus, been able to determine with precision three species, and to recognise more vaguely a number of other forms, which, however, it would be injudicious, until additional material is obtained, to name or describe from the specimens in my possession. All these forms, as far as they can be determined, and certainly the three well-preserved species, belong to Palseozoic genera, species of which occur in the Coal-measures of Britain. We are thus enabled with certainty to refer the Coal-fields of the province of Rio Grande do Sul to the Carboniferous period, although the coal itself has more the aspect of being the product of a Secondary formation. The three species which I propose describing in this paper are new forms belonging to the genera Flemingites, Odontopteris, and Moeggera- thia. The most interesting of the three is the species of Mlemingites, of which there are a large series of specimens of the stems and foliage, as well as of the detached sporangia. The characters of the species are as follows :— Flemingites Pedroanus, sp. nov. Stem lepidendroid, scars small, obo- vate, without any markings; base of the petiole permanently attached to the stem; leaf slender, linear; venation parallel. Fruit a cone (?) the scales of which support numerous roundish sporangia. I have, at the suggestion of Mr. Plant, associated with this interest- ing fossil the name of Dom Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil, who has on many occasions rendered such substantial aid to scientific investigators, as to have laid students of science under a debt of gratitude to him. Some years ago (Guot. Maa. Vol. II. p. 483) I established the genus Flemingites on the fragment of a cone which exhibited the relation of the small round sporangia so abundant in many coal-beds to their sup- porting organisms. ‘There were no indications, in the only specimen I then had, of the plant on which the cone was borne, though it was evi- dent from the structure and arrangement of the parts that it was the fruit of a form of Lepidodendron. I have since seen more perfect speci- mens from Burdie House in the collection of the British Museum, and from the Newcastle Coal-field belonging to Mr. J. Duff of Etherly. In my recent examination of the rich collection of Coal plants in the Newcastle Museum I found that the specimen figured in Lindley and Hutton’s Fossil Flora, plate x. fig. 1, as a form of Lepidostrobus variabilis 152 W. Carruthers—Coal Plants from Brazil. is really a specimen of Flemingites gracilis. In passing, I may say that this supposed species was made the receptacle for all indistinct and badly preserved specimens of such cones; the variable appearance of the specimens arising from their belonging to different species, and even, as it now appears, to different genera. In all the specimens, however, of Flemingites which I have examined I have seen no indication of the branch or tree on which they were supported, and the characters of the genus have been consequently confined to those of the cone. It-is not a little interesting that the materials for completing our acquaintance with the fossil should be brought from South America,—a continent which, as far as I know, has not hitherto yielded any paleozoic fossil plants. The examination of the plate and of the description given will show, however, that the one organ wanting in the specimens from Brazil is the cone on which to a considerable extent I founded the genus. The sporangia abound, and though the co-relation of these organs with the lepidodendroid stem depends not upon direct observa- tion but upon induction, yet that induction is so conclusive that it appears to me to place the matter beyond doubt. The small round sporangia belong, as far is known either to Sigzi- laria or Flemingites. They abound in these Brazilian shales, and the only plants associated with them to which they could belong is that which is described in the diagnosis of the species. The arrangement of the leaf scars and the form of the leaf conclusively establish that this is not a Sigillaria. Among Mr. Plant’s small collection there are over twelve different specimens of the stem, with numbers of sporangia scat- tered over the surface of the fragments on which they are preserved, and in one specimen several sporangia occur among the mass of true leaves which remain attached to the end of the branch, though not re- lated to them as in the described cone of Flemingites. The spiral arrangement of the leaves on these stems also agrees with the arrangement of the fruit-bearing leaves on the cone, so that there can be no doubt that the stems belong to Flemingites. They have the ordinary aspect of the stems of Lepidodendron, the scars being arranged in a spiral order. There are nevertheless points of considerable im- portance by which the two forms can be distinguished. The scars are small, approaching in size and form those of Lycopodiolites cordatus, Sternb. (Flora d. Vorwelt, tab. lvi. fig. 1), from Yarrow in Durham, a fossil which has been overlooked by subsequent authors, except that Professor Morris, who never overlooks anything, records it in his Cata- logue of British Fossils under the name of Lycopodites cordatus. In the Brazilian fossil the scar is not cordate, but perfectly rounded on its upper margin (see enlarged scars, Pl. V. Fig. 11). But the most important character in respect of the scar is that it presents no im- pressions from an articulating surface like what is seen in Lepedoden- dron. This arises from the fact that the bases of the petioles per- manently invested the stem, the leaves disarticulating at a line about a quarter of an inch along the petiole from the stem surface. A somewhat similar structure is described by Corda in his genus Lomatophloyos 1 Prof. Morris has shown me specimens of Corda’s L. erassicaule from English strata, and I have a second species from the beds of volcanic ash in Arran to which I have given the name of LZ. Wunschianus, after my friend Mr. E. A. Wiinsch, of W. Carruthers—Coal Plants from Brazil. 153 (Beitrage, p. 17).1 In the only species described by Corda, L. crassi- caule, the bases of the leaves are larger and proceed from the stems in a line having the same direction as that of the leaves, which are articu- lated to them. In these stems from Brazil, the permanent slender bases of petioles (Pl. V. Figs. 1, 7, 8), shortly after leaving the stem, take an ascending direction parallel to the surface of the stem, and pass somewhat over the base of the petiole above before the leaf is given off. In the fresh plant the imbricated petioles would give a continuous sur- face parallel to the circumference of the stem. Although this appear- ance is not exhibited in any of the specimens from Brazil, it is clearly shown in a species from Cape Breton Island, for which I am indebted to Mr. Edgecombe Chevallier. A specimen of the same species is figured by Geinitz under the all-absorbing name of Lepidostrobus variabils, Lindl. (Versteinerungen, tab. ii. figs. 1, 8, 4). In these figures the stem is shown densely covered with the permanent petioles, and at B’ fig. 1, the imbricated surface of the end of the petioles is shown, while at the margins of the specimen the relation of the leaves themselves to the petioles is also clearly shown. It would be rash to affirm that this structure is peculiar to the genus Flemingites, but future discoveries may show that it is. In Plemingites Pedroanus the curve of the leaf is the reverse of that of the permanent petiole, being bent outwards and downwards. The impressions of the leaves on the shale is, in some specimens, so perfect, that even the venation can be seen; and this is parallel, as is shown in the magnified portion on Plate V., Fig. 6. The sporangia are considerably smaller than those of F. gracilis, as may be seen by a comparison of figure 4, Plate V., with figures 4, 5, 6 of Plate XII. Guor. Mac. Vol. II., 1865, these various figures being drawn to the same scale. The tri-radiate ridge on the under surface, by which the sporangia were attached to the supporting shale, is more delicate, and is produced further towards the circumference than in the British species. | The contents of one of the sporangia in a compacted condition, yet with indications of their original granular state, is shown in Fig. 2. The mineral condition of the sporangia is like that of the specimens I have examined from our British de- posits, and which Prof. Morris has described as “neither bituminized nor mineralized, but in a state of brown vegetable matter.” The discovery by Brongniart of a cone containing microspores in the sporangia of its upper portion, and macrospores in those of its lower portion, has led me to re-examine the nature of the contents of the sporangia of these fossils, and somewhat to alter the opinions I ex- pressed in the paper on Flemingites, which has been referred to. While the size of the individual plant is very variable among species of the same natural order of Cryptogamia, that of the organs of reproduction, the spores, is remarkably uniform. The spore of Glasgow, to whom science is indebted for the discovery of this very interesting deposit of coal plants. I may add to the synonymy of Corda’s species, Cycadium eyprinopholis, Guillard = Cycadites cyprinopholis, Morris, a fossil from the Coal-measures of the centre of France, hitherto considered to be a Cycadean stem. 1 Comptes Rendus des Séances del’ Académie des Sciences, Aout 17,1868. Trans lated in the Journal of Botany, Jan, 1869. 154 W. Carruthers—Coal Plants from Brazil. the humble Wall-rue (Aspleniwm Ruta-muraria, L.) is as large as those of the giant Alsophilas and Cyatheas of tropical regions. And this holds good also in respect of allied plants widely removed in time, as, for instance, in the spores of Equisetum and Calamites ( Volkmannia). The spore of quwisetum sylvaticum, L. measures 0019 of an inch across, while that of Volkmannia Binneyt, Carr. measures -002 of an inch. We find also a corresponding relationship between the spores of the paleeozoic and those of the living Lycopodiacee. The microspores of Selaginella selaginoides, Link (Lycopodium selaginoides, Linn.) are "0024 of an inch across, while those of Mr. Brown’s specimen of TZrip- lorposites are ‘0022 of an inch in diameter. On the other hand the macrospores of the same Selaginella are ‘0275 of an inch in diameter, while the macrospores discovered and described by Brongniart in his specimen of Zriplosporites are, he says, ten or twelve times the size of the microspores, that is to say, taking the measurement from Mr. Brown’s specimen, from -022 to 0264 of an inch. The singular rela- tionships indicated by these actual measurements between the spores of the Lycopodiace are very remarkable. They moreover establish beyond question that the spores of Zepzdostrobus, and those described by Robert Brown in his specimen of Zriplosporites, are microspores. The contents of the sporangia of Wlemingites have been so altered before fossilization that the individual spores cannot be separated. In £#, gracilis 1 found several specimens which presented slight promi- nences produced by grains in the interior. These prominences have a diameter of .0028 of an inch, which, making an allowance for increase of size produced by the interposed wall of the sporangium agrees exactly with the measurement of the microspores of Zriplosporites. The contents of some of the sporangia of F. Pedroanus present also a granulated appearance, a slight remaining indication of the original individual spores, and these agree in size with the prominences on the sporangia of /. gracilis. It follows, then, from these considerations, that these arborescent genera are true Lycopodiacee, completely agreeing in the structure, economy, and size of their spores with the living, though very diminutive, mem- bers of the Order; and further that, as among the living representatives, some genera (Selaginella and Isoetes) have both macrospores and micro- spores, and one large genus (Lycopodium) has, as far as known, only microspores, so, in the palaeozoic forms, Lepzdostrobus and Mlemingites have microspores only, while in Zriplosporites both forms exist. Mr. Binney lately communicated to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester a paper on Zepidostrobus and allied cones, the ab- stract only of which has been published. In this abstract itis said, ‘“‘ In the new genus (lemingites, described and figured by Mr. Carruthers in Vol. II. of the Gron. Mae. for October, 1865, there are two kinds of sporangia, those in the upper part of the long and slender cone being something like the sporangia of the Lepidodendron, but arranged in whorls, and probably filled with microspores, whilst the lowest scales sup- ported sporangia, containing macrospores. This the author gathered from much more perfect specimens than those which Mr. Carruthers had to work upon. Most certainly the little flattened discs which he described W. Carruthers—Coal Plants from Brazil. 155 as sporangia are found on scales at the base of the cone, and not in the middle or upper portions of it, as many of the author’s speci- mens clearly proved.” Being unable to understand precisely the structure of the cones in Mr. Binney’s collection from this abstract (made obviously by some one ignorant of the subject with which the author was dealing), and being engaged in working out the points treated of in this paper, I asked Mr. Binney for some additional information, but he informed me that he was about to publish a full account with illustrations, and there- fore wished to reserve his more detailed description till then. As, however, the statements published in this quotation are in opposition to the views I formerly published, and have more fully explained above, it is necessary that I say a word or two on the more important points contained in it. There can be no doubt, as there stated, that the little discs were borne on the scales of the lower half of the cone of Mlemingites, seeing that the original specimen was the lower half of a cone; but it is also equally certain that these little discs were borne as well on the scales of the middle and upper portions, for the British Museum has recently acquired a complete specimen, in which they are to be found on all the scales from the top to the bottom. The specimen to which I have already alluded as figured by Lindley and Hutton under the name of Lepidostrobus variabilis, shows also this structure. Besides these I have seen two specimens from Burdie House which, though not so well preserved, are equally decisive as to this point. So that what- ever is the nature of Mr. Binney’s cone with Lepidostrobus-like sporangia on the upper half, it has nothing whatever to do with Fleningites. It is also certain, if the points I have stated in this paper are of any value, that the sporangia on the lower half of the cone do not contain macrospores. But the cone described in this abstract cannot belong to any of these palzeozoic Lycopodiacce, as it would be an anomaly in the vegetible kingdom, and would contradict the ascertained laws of vegetable morphology, if a plant which had its true leaves arranged in spirals, had its modified leaves, forming the fruiting cone, arranged in whorls. The words of the abstract imply a still less possible structure, for it gives Mr. Binney the credit of believing the leaves of the lower portion of the cone to be arranged in spirals, as described and figured by me, while in the upper portion they are arranged in whorls, but this must be one of those errors which the person making the abstract has unwittingly made. Neggerathia obovata, sp. nov. Frond sessile flat, entire, elongate- obovate, attenuated towards the base; nerves dividing dichotomously, parallel. (Plate VI. Fig. 1.) Odontopteris Plantiana, sp. nov. Pinnules broad at the base, irregu- larly lobed, obtuse at the apex, basal pinnules large, much and irregu- larly lobed ; nerves arcuately parallel, dichotomous. (Pl. V. Figs. 2 & 3.) I have associated the name of Mr. Plant with this species, as it is to his intelligent investigation of these deposits that I am indebted for the interesting specimens I have described. 156 Rev. J. D. La Touche—On River Sediment. EXPLANATION OF PLATES V. AND VI. PLATE V. Flemingites Pedroanus. Fig. 1. Fragment of’a stem showing the permanent bases of the petioles attached, and imbrieating. Wig, 2. Sporengum laid open showing the granulated contents.—Greatly mag- nified. Fig. 3. Upper surface of a sporangium.—Greatly magnified. Fig. 4, Sporangium, magnified to the same scale as those of F. gracilis.—GuOL. Maa., Vol. II., Plate XII, Fig. 5, Sporangium with part of the upper surface removed, and showing the depression in the interior produced by the inferior tri-radial ridge.— Greatly magnified. Fig. 6. Fragment of leaf shewing the parallel venation. Fig. 7. Termination of a branch showing the solid axis, permanent bases of the petioles, and leaves. Fig. 8. Fragment of a branch, Fig Heat ” ” Fig. 10, 3 A : Fig. 11. A few scars from Fig, 10 magnified four times. PLATE VI. Fig. 1. Weggerathia obovata (natural size). Fig, 2. Portion of a pinna of Odontopteris Plantiana. Fig. 3. Lower pinnule of the same (both natural size). IV.—On THE MEASUREMENT OF RIVER-SEDIMENT. By the Rev. J. D. La Tovcue. LLOW me to call the attention of your readers to an investiga- tion which promises to be of considerable geological importance, and which might be pursued in many places without any difficulty —I mean the determination of the quantity of sediment carried down to the sea by rivers. Obviously, if this could be ascertained, we should have some measure of the rate of denudation of the surface of the country, and that vagueness which attends most calculations relating to geological epochs would, in some degree, be removed. For this purpose it will he, perhaps, best to detail some experi- ments which I have myself been making with this view, upon the River Onny which flows by my house. Ist. A tolerably straight and uniform reach of the river was chosen, and along the bank 100 feet were measured and marked by pegs driven into the ground. Here a marked post was erected in the water, to take the height of the flood from time to time. This is done every day after any considerable fall of rain, and at the same time the rate at which the centre of the stream moves is ascertained, by counting with a watch the number of seconds any floating sub- stance takes to pass the measured 100 feet. 2nd. An accurate section of the river is made by sounding. From these data the number of cubic feet of water which pass this point in a given time can be calculated, by knowing the ratio of the speed of the centre, to the mean velocity of the whole stream. J am informed by an able practical engineer, who has had much experi- ence in this matter, that this is represented by the fraction four- J. Croli—Influence of the Gulf-stream. 157 fifths. But it seems to me that this rule can hardly be very accurate, and that it would be desirable to find the mean ve- locity by the use of a current metre, working in different parts of the section. However, this element once determined, it is of course only necessary to multiply the area of the section in feet, by the mean velocity in feet for a given time, to ascertain the number of cubic feet which flow past in that time. 3rd. The proportion of sediment held in’suspension is ascertained by collecting a certain measure of water (a quart bottle answers the purpose very well), and then decanting and filtering it. If the filter be carefully dried and weighed, before and after the experi- ment, the difference gives the weight of mud from which the per centage of grains to ounces of water can be obtained. We shall now have sufficient data to determine how much solid matter passes down the river in a given time at any flood. 4th. Besides these observations, the rainfall’at different points of the watershed of the river should be carefully registered. Thus some correlation between the two could probably be ascertained, so that from year to year an average rate of the wear and tear of the surface of the land might be obtained. Many subjects of interest will naturally suggest themselves as we proceed with these experiments, such as the variation of the sediment after a long drought, and after a continued fall of rain. Of the above data, the most unsatisfactory are those relating to the mean velocity of the stream at different heights. Perhaps some of your readers may be able to furnish suggestions upon the best mode of ascertaining this. Besides the mud actually held in suspension, it would be very desirable to determine the rate at which the mud, sand, and gravel which compose the bed of the river are propelled. Some suggestions on the means of doing so would be very acceptable. StorEesay, Craven Arms, Saop, February 5th, 1869. V.—On tHE INFLUENCE oF THE GULF-STREAM. By Jamzs Croix, of the Geological Survey of Scotland. HE modern method of determining the amount of heat effects in absolute measure is no doubt destined to cast new light on all questions connected with climate, as it has done and is still doing in every department of physics where energy under the form of heat is the phenomenon under consideration. Owing to the complicated nature of the phenomena with which the meteorologist has generally to deal, the application of this method will very often be found practically impossible. The method, how- ever, is particularly suitable to all questions regarding the direct thermal effects of currents, whatever the nature of those currents may happen to be. If the question, for example, is anaes 1s the heat conveyed. by the Gulf-stream sufficient to affect to any great extent the 158 J. Croll—Influence of the Gulf-stream. climate of Northern Europe and the Arctic regions ?” the answer can be given in the most positive manner by determining the absolute quantity of energy in the form of heat conveyed by the stream. The fact of the climate of our island being greatly modified by the heat derived from the Gulf-stream has lately been called in question by Mr. A. G. Findlay and some others. Mr. Findlay takes the breadth of the stream, as it issues from the Gulf of Mexico, at 45 miles, and its depth at 900 or 1200 feet, and maintains that a stream of this size, leaving the Gulf with a velocity of only a few miles an hour, would not be able to force itself across the Atlantic and onwards to the Polar Regions against the Arctic current and other impediments in its way; and even supposing it were able to do this, still its volume, he asserts, is too small and its temperature too low to produce the thermal effects attributed to it. It is certainly, no doubt, true that if the Arctic current was an opposing current as well as a contrary one, and if the Gulf-stream had to push its way to the Polar Regions by means of some impulse received before leaving the Gulf, it is not at all likely that it would ever reach to even the latitude of New York, far less to the shores of Great Britain. But neither the Gulfstream nor any other ocean current moves in this manner. It is, however, not with this phase of the objection that I am at present concerned, but with the other and more important one, viz. that a current 45 miles broad and 900 or 1200 feet deep is too small to convey the amount of heat necessary to produce the warming effects usually attributed to the Gulf-stream. There are perhaps few, if any, who have not actually subjected the matter to calculation, but would be inclined to agree with Mr. Find- lay, that a stream so comparatively small, leaving the Gulf of Mexico at a temperature of not over 70° or 80°, and losing heat during a journey of several months across the Atlantic, could not possibly be able to maintain the winter temperature of the whole of Northern Europe 20° or more above the normal. They would naturally con- clude that the only way of meeting Mr. Findlay’s objection would be by denying that the stream is so small as he asserts it to be. Although [ am inclined to believe that Mr. Findlay has under- estimated the volume of the Gulf-stream, still I can see no necessity for insisting on this in order to be able completely to meet his objection ; for, taking his estimate of its size, it can be proved that his conclu- sion is incorrect, as the following, it is hoped, will show. In the following calculations the breadth of the stream is taken at 50 miles, and its depth at 1000 feet, and its velocity at four miles an hour. This is almost exactly Mr. Findlay’s estimate. The tem- perature of the water on leaving the Gulf is taken as low as 65°. «The enormous effect that ocean-currents have in equalising the temperature of our globe by diminishing the difference between the temperature of the equator and the poles, has never been duly estimated. This will be seen if we merely consider for a moment the effect produced by one current alone, viz., the Gulf-stream. The total quantity of water conveyed by this stream is probably equal to J. Croil—Influence of the Gulf-stream. 159 that of a stream 50 miles broad and 1000 feet deep, flowing at the rate of four miles an hour. And the mean temperature of the entire mass of moving waters 1s not under 65° at the moment of leaving the Gulf.”! J think we are warranted to conclude that the Gulf-stream, before it returns from its northern journey, is on an average cooled down to at least 40°, consequently it loses 25° of heat. Each cubic foot of water, therefore, in this case carries from the tropics for distribution upwards of 1500 units of heats, or 1,158,000 foot-pounds. According to the above estimate of the size and velocity of the stream 5,575,680,000,000 cubic feet of water are conveyed from the Gulf per hour, or 133,816,320,000,000 cubic feet daily.” Conse- quently the total quantity of heat transferred from the equatorial regions per day by the stream amounts to 154,959,300,000,000,000,000 foot- pounds. From observations made by Sir John Herschel and by M. Pouillet on the direct heat of the sun, it is found that were no heat absorbed by the atmosphere, about 88 foot-pounds per second would fall upon a square foot of surface placed at right angles to the sun’s rays.’ Mr. Meech estimates that the quantity of heat cut off by the atmosphere is equal to about 22 per cent. of the total amount re- ceived from the sun. M. Pouillet estimates the loss at 24 per cent. Taking the former estimate, 64:74 foot-pounds per second will there- fore be the quantity of heat falling on a square foot of the earth’s surface when the sun is in the zenith. And were the sun to remain stationary in the zenith for twelve hours, 2,796,768 foot-pounds would fall upon the surface. It can be shown that the total amount of heat received upon a unit-surface on the equator during the twelve hours from sunrise till sunset at the time of the equinoxes is to the total amount which would be received upon that surface, were the sun to remain in the zenith during those twelve hours, as the diameter of a circle to half its circumference, or as 1 to 1:5708. It follows, therefore, that a square foot of surface on the equator receives from the sun at the time of the equinoxes 1,780,474 foot-pounds daily, and a square mile 49,636,750,000,000 foot-pounds daily. But this amounts to only s1zta7o part of the quantity of heat daily conveyed from the tropics by the Gulf-stream. In other words, the Gulf-stream conveys as much heat as is received from the sun by 8,121,870 square miles of surface at the equator. The amount thus conveyed is equal to all the heat which falls within 68 miles on each side of the equator. According to calculations made by Mr. Meech,‘ the annual quantity 1 Phil. Mag. for February 1867, p. 127. 2 Captain Maury considers the Gulf-stream equal to a stream 32 miles broad and 1200 feet deep, flowing at the rate of five knots (38,415 feet) an hour (Physical Geo- graphy of the Sea, § 24). This gives 6,166,700,000,000 cubic feet per hour as the quantity of water conveyed by this stream. Sir John’s Herschel’s estimate is still greater. He considersit equal to a stream 30 miles broad and 2200 feet deep, flowing at the rate of four miles an hour (Physical Geography, § 54). This makes the quan- ay Ho 92,900;000,000 cubic feet per hour, Sir John estimates the temperature at ° Trans. of Royal Soc. of Edin., Vol. xxi., p. 57. Phil, Mag. S. 4, Vol. ix. p. 36. * Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. IX. 160 J. Croll—Influence of the Gulf-stream. of heat received by a unit surface on the frigid zone, taking the mean of the whole zone, is 5+3,5 of that received at the equator. Conse- quently the quantity of heat conveyed by the Gulf-stream in one year is equal to the heat which falls on an average on 6,873,800 square miles of the arctic regions. The frigid zone or arctic regions contain 8,130,000 square miles. There is actually, therefore, nearly as much heat transferted from the tropical regions by the Gulf-stream as is received from the sun by the entire arctic regions ; the quantity conveyed by the stream to that received from the sun by those regions being as 15 to 18. But we have been assuming in our calculations that the per- centage of heat absorbed by the atmosphere is no greater in polar regions than it is at the equator, which is not the case. Jf we make due allowance for the extra amount absorbed in polar regions in con- sequence of the obliqueness of the sun’s rays, the total quantity of heat conveyed by the Gulf-stream will probably nearly equal the amount received from the sun by the entire arctic regions. If we compare the quantity of heat conveyed by the Gulf-stream with that conveyed by means of aérial currents, the result is equally startling. The density of air to that of water is as 1 to 770, and its specific heat to that of water is as 1 to 4-2. Consequently the same amount of heat that would raise 1 cubic foot of water 1° would raise 770 cubic feet of air 4°-2, or 8284 cubic feet 1°. The quantity of heat conveyed by the Gulf-stream is therefore equal to that which would be conveyed by a current of air 3234 times the volume of the Gulf-stream, and at the same temperature and moving with the same velocity. Taking, as before, the width of the stream at 50 miles, and its depth at 1000 feet, and its velocity at 4 miles an hour, it follows that in order to convey an equal amount of heat from the tropics by means of an aérial current, it would be necessary to have a current about 1+ mile deep and at the temperature of 65° blowing at the rate of four miles an hour from every part of the equator over the northern hemisphere towards the pole. Ifits velocity were equal to that of a good sailing-breeze, which Sir John Herschel states to be about twenty-one miles an hour, the current would require to be above 1200 feet deep. A greater quantity of heat is probably con- veyed by the Gulf-stream alone from the tropical to the temperate and arctic regions than by all the aérial currents which flow from the equator. Weare apt, on the other hand, to over-estimate the amount of heat conveyed from tropical regions to us by means of aérial currents. The only currents which flow from the equatorial regions are the upper currents or anti-trades, as they are called. But it is not possible that much heat can be conveyed to us directly by them. The upper currents of the trade-winds, even at the equator, are no- where below the snow-line. They must, therefore, lie in a region actually below the freezing-point. In fact, if those currents were warm, they would elevate the snow-line above themselves. The heated air rising off the hot burning ground at the equator, after ascending for a few miles, becomes exposed to the intense cold of the J. Croli—Influence of the Gulf-stream. 161 upper regions of the atmosphere. It then very soon loses all its heat, and returns from the equator much colder than it came. It is impossible that we can receive any heat directly from the equatorial regions by means of aérial currents. It is perfectly true that the south-west wind, to which we owe so much of our warmth in this country, is a continuation of the anti-trade. But the heat which this wind brings to us is not derived from the equatorial regions. This will appear evident, if we but reflect that, before the upper current descends to the snow-line after leaving the equator, it must traverse a space of at least 2000 miles; and to perform this long journey several days will be required. During all this time the air is in a region below the freezing-point ; and it is perfectly obvious that by the time it begins to descend it must have acquired the temperature of the region in which it has been travelling. If such be the case, it is evident that a wind whose temperature is below 82° could never warm a country such as ours, whose tem- perature does not fall below 38° or 89°. The heat of our south-west winds is derived, not from the equator but from the warm water of the Atlantic—in fact, from the Gulf-stream. The upper current derives its heat after it descends to the earth. There is one way, however, whereby heat is indirectly conveyed from the equator by that current; that is, in the form of aqueous vapour. In the forma- tion of one pound of water from aqueous vapour, as Professor Tyn- dall strikingly remarks, a quantity of heat is given out sufficient to melt five pounds of cast iron.! It must, however, be borne in mind that the greater part of the moisture of the south-west and west winds is derived from the ocean in temperate regions. The upper current receives the greater part of its moisture after it descends to the earth. The greater part of the moisture received at the equator is condensed and falls as rain in those regions. _ These, as well as many other considerations which might be stated, lead to the conclusion that, in order to raise the mean tem- perature of the whole earth, water should be placed along the equator—and not land, as is generally believed. For if land is placed at the equator, we prevent the possibility of conveying the sun’s heat from the equatorial regions by means of ocean-currents. The transference of heat could only then be effected by means of the upper currents of the trades; for the heat conveyed by conduction along the solid crust, if any, can have no sensible effect on climate. But these currents, as we have just seen, are ill adapted for con- veying heat. The surface of the ground at the equator becomes intensely heated by the sun’s rays. This causes it to radiate off its heat more rapidly into space than a surface of water heated under the same conditions. Again, the air in contact with the hot ground becomes also more rapidly heated than in contact with water; and consequently the ascending current of air carries off a greater amount of heat. But if the heat thus carried away were transferred by means of the upper currents to high latitudes and there employed to warm the 1 Heat as a Mode of Motion, article 240. VOL. VI.—NO. LVIII. 11 162 T. Davidson—On Continental Geology. earth, then the heat thus conveyed might to a considerable extent compensate for the absence of ocean-currents, and land at the equator might in this case be nearly as well adapted as water for raising the temperature of the whole earth. But such is not the case; for the heat carried up by the ascending current at the equator is not em- ployed in warming the earth, but is thrown off into cold stellar space above. This ascending current, instead of being employed in warm- ing the globe, is in reality one of the most effectual means that the earth has of getting quit of the heat received from the sun, and of thus retaining itself at a much lower temperature than it would other- wise be. It is in the equatorial regions that the earth loses as well as gains the greater part of its heat. So of all places it is here that we ought to place the substance best adapted for preventing the dis- sipation of the earth’s heat into space if we wish to raise the general temperature of the earth. Water, of all substances in nature, seems to possess this quality to the greatest extent; and, besides, it is a fluid, and therefore adapted by means of currents to carry the heat which it receives from the sun to every corner of the globe.’ VI.—Nores on ConTINENTAL GEOLOGY AND PAaLmonTOLOGY. By Tuomas Davipson, F.R.S8., F.G.S. (Parr I.) ECENT considerations of health having induced me to spend from five to six months on the continent, I beg to submit to the readers of the Gronocican Magazine the result of my notes made during my journey, which may perhaps prove not entirely uninteresting. I. On the Cretaceous System.—All the foreign geologists with whom I have had occasion to converse in France, Switzerland, and Italy, concur in the opinion that no country has been better studied than Great Britain, and that the Museum of the Geological Survey and its published Maps are unsurpassed by any works of a similar kind hitherto produced.’ Our geologists have done their work well, and justly deserve the favourable judgment so liberally bestowed upon them by their continental colleagues ; but we must not therefore suppose that our geological work is perfected and that we have no more to learn— for example—that our classification of British strata is either com- plete or entirely satisfactory. It is absolutely necessary we should know and compare the labours of continental observers with our own and see whether their discoveries or hints might not lead us to 1 Trans. of Glasgow Geol. Soc. vol. ii. part iii. p. 185; Phil. Mag. Feb. and June, 1867. 2 See “ De la Science en France’? by Jules Marcou, 1869. This work, to which I would call the attention of British geologists, is being published in numbers, and treats of the Imperial School of Mines, the Geological Map of France, the Academy and Institute of France, and of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, and may be obtained from C. Reinwald, Bookseller, 15, Rue des Saint Peres, Paris; or through Messrs. Trubner & Co. T. Davidson—On Continental Geology. 163 improve or correct our system: at the same time carefully avoiding the introduction of any foreign terminology on English ground until such may have become a well-recognized and absolute necessity. With reference to the Cretaceous system and its divisons there still remains in England ground for improvement, but I must at the same time remind the English reader that the French, Swiss, and German geologists are far from unanimous in their terminology, or as to the number or value of all their divisions. Very earnest discus- sions are now in active progress between those who in France are best qualified to express an opinion upon this difficult and important topic. t will not enter here upon the general literature of the subject, my object being simply to draw attention to the most recent views entertained by continental geologists. It may however be desirable for the better understanding of what will follow to mention at once that the Cretaceous system in England has been divided in the fol- lowing manner: 1. Upper Chalk 5. Upper Green Sand 2. Lower Chalk 6. Gault 3. Chalk Marl 7. Lower Green Sand 4, Chloritic Marl 8. Neocomien 9. Wealden and that it is mainly due to Mr. Judd’s admirable labours on the Speeton Clay, that the existence of a large portion of the Neocomien formation in England has been recently established. Mr. Judd is prepared to stand by the succession of beds which he described at Speeton,' admitting at the same time that their grouping is to a great extent arbitrary, as there are no stratigraphical breaks, and that he was guided by all he then knew of the character of the French and Jura Neocomien especially, from d’Archiac and the Swiss geologists. Mr. Judd would, however, be prepared to modify his classification So soon as sufficient cause may be shown. I am happy to be able to state also that foreign geologists have warmly acknowledged the great value of Mr. Judd’s researches and inductions.—The valuable labours of Mr. C. J. A. Meyer, Prof. Morris, the Rev. T. Wiltshire, Mr. J. F. Walker, and of some others,” have also materially contri- buted within the last few years towards clearing away some of those difficulties which still beset the final settlement of our divisions. In France the old nomenclature was rejected by M. Alcide d’Or- bigny, who divided the system into the following stages : 1. Danien 5. Albien 2. Sénonien 6. Aptien 3. ‘Turonien 7. Urgonien 4, Cénomanien 8. Neocomien. For many years M. Coquand, a very able and experienced geolo- gist, has been devoting considerable attention to the Oretaceous 1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. for August, 1868. * These papers will be found in the volumes of the Grotoctcan Macazineg, the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, and the Quarterly Journal of the Geologi- cal Society. 164 LT’. Davidson—On Continental Geology. systems generally, and especially to those divisions so largely developed in the South of France, and during my passage through Marseilles he kindly wrote out the following table, in which his views are correctly defined. ee I. Upper C#atx. . GarumNIEN (Leymerie), named after the department of the Garonne— Spherulites Leymerti (Bayle), Cyrena garumnica, Lychnus Matheroni. It is‘ of fresh-water origin in Provence, and fluvio-marine in the Pyrenees. It comprises the Pisolitie stage of d’Orbigny. Mr. Leymerie places it on a parallel with the étage Danien, but I believe this to be a mistake. It does not exist in England. . Dorponten (Coquand), after the department of Dordogne— Spherulites ingens, Hippurites radiosus, Radiolites Jouanneti, Ostrea Villet, etc. It includes the upper beds of Maestricht which contain the same Rudists as in the Dordogne. It also comprises the Sénonien of d’Orbigny (upper portion), and is wanting in England. . CampantrEen (Coquand), fromthe country of Champaign or Cognno— Ostrea vesicularis, Belemnitella mucronata, Terebratula carnea, Ananchytes ovatus, Hemipneustes radiatus, Baculites Fawjasi, Radiolites Heninghausi. It corresponds to the Sénonien of d’Orbigny : to the Danien of the same author, who, by mistake, identifies it with the Pisolitique: it is the White Chalk of the English, the Craie blanche de Meudon of the French; the Obere Kreide of the German Geologists. . SanronieN (Coquand), from Saintonge— Micraster cor-anguinun, Belemnitella quadrata, Spondylus truncatus, Rhynchonella vespertilio, Ostrea semi-plana, O. frons Radiolites fissicostatus. It corre- sponds to the Sénonien of d’Orbigny: to the upper portion only of the Lower Chalk, to the Craie Marneuse, and Craie de Velledieu; to the Oberer Planer of the Germans. . Contacten (Coquand), from Cognac— Rhynchonella Baugast, Spheerulites Coquandi. It corresponds to the base or lower portion of the Sénonien of d’Orbigny: to the Sables d’ Aix-la~Chapelle (base), and is not found in England. Il. Mipprte CHAtex. . Provencien (Coquand) after the Provence— Hippurites cornu-vaccinum, H. organisans, Spherulites Sauvagesi, S. angeiodes, Caprina Coquandi. It corresponds to the Turonien of d’Orbigny. . Mornasten (Coquand), after Mornas Vaucluse— Ammonites Requieni, Arca Matheront. It comprises the celebrated Grés d’ Uchaux (Turonien of d’Orbigny), and is wanting in England. Ancoumien (Coquand), after Angouleme— Radiolites cornu-pastoris, R. lumbricalis, Hippurites Requient. Is wanting in England, but corresponds to the Turonien of d’Orbigny. . Ligerten (Coquand), after the Loire— Inoceramus problematicus, Ammonites Fleurianus, A. papalis, Terebratella Caren- tonensis. It corresponds to the lower portion of the Lower Chalk of England, to the base of the Craie Marneuse: to the Craie Tuffeau, to the Turonien of d’Or- bigny: Mittler Quadermergel, Planerkalk of the Germans. CARENTONIEN (Coquand), after the department of the Charente— Caprina adversa, Spherulites foliaceus, Ostrea biauriculata, O. columba, O. fla- bellata, Terabratula phascolina. It corresponds to the Cénomanien of d’Orbigny : i the Sables du Mans, Chalk Marl of English geologists, Unterer Planer of the ermans. 6. 4 LT. Davidson—On Continental Geology. 165 GaARDONIEN (Coquand), after the Gard— Vicarya Renauxiana, Teredo Fleuriansi. This stage is of lacustrine origin, and will require hereafter to be united either to No. 5 or 7. Rornomacien (Coquand), after Rouen— Ammonites Rothomagensis, A. varians, A. falcatus, Scaphites equalis, Turrilites costatus, Pecten asper, Terebratella pectita, T. lyra, Ostrea conica, Radiolites Mortont. It corresponds to the Craie Chloritée or Glauconieuse, to the Upper Green Sand (Warminster Sand), the Cénomanien of d’Orbigny ; Unterer Planer inferieur (Greensand of Essen). . Vraconien (Renevier), from Vraconne in Switzerland— Ammonites inflatus, Rhynchonella sulcata, Am. auritus, A. latidorsatus. Tt corresponds to the Gault Superieur of the Swiss, to the Cambridge Upper Gault or Green Sand, Flammenmergel of the Germans. ALBIEN (d’Orbigny)— a Ammonites splendens, A. mamillaris, A. Raulini. Jt corresponds to the real Gault of Folkstone and Wissant, to the Oberer and Mittler Gault of the Germans. III. Lower Car. . Urco-Arrrmen— 1. Argiles & Plicatules—Ammonites nisus, A. Gargasensis ; Plicatula placunea, Belemnites semicanaliculatus, Ostrea cequila, Terebratella Astieriana (Lower Green Sand of the English geologists), Aptien of d’Orbigny, Unterer Gault, Mergel, and U. G. Thon of the Germans. 2. Couches & Orbitolites—Ancyloceras Matheronianum, Plicatula placunea, Be- lemnites semicanaliculatus, Ammonites fissicostatus, Nautilus plicatus, Hete- raster oblongus, Pseudodiadema Malbost, Caprotina Lonsdalii, Ostrea aquila, 0. macroptera, Orbitolites lenticularis. (Ktage Rhodanien of Renevier). 3. a. URGONIEN (d’Orbigny) Regwienia Lonsdali, R. ammonia, Nerinea Co- quand, N. Archimedi, N. gigantea, Heteraster oblongus, Ostrea aquila. Nautilus plicatus, Orbitolites lenticulata, Scaphites Trani. 6. Barremien (Coquand) Aneyloceras Duvalit, A. Emerici, A. Tabarelit, Terebratella Astieriana, Ostrea Leymerti. a. and b, are parallel, a. represents the coral aspect, 4. the littoral aspect: both correspond to the Argiles Ostréennes. As we find them in Pro- vence so is it in the Pyrenees and Spain; there exist alternations between the Aptien beds and the Urgonien, and it became con- sequently necessary to form of the two a single division. The sub- divisions denote a peculiar facies, a petrographical character, which nevertheless varies according to the country where observed. These three subdivisions correspond with the Upper and Middle Neocomien of Mr. Judd, to the Neocomien Superieur of M. Cornuel. NrocomrEN— Ammonites Astiertanus, A. multiplicatus, Ostrea Coulonit, O. rectangularis, Toxaster complanatus, Belemnites latus, and dilalatus. It corresponds to the Marnes d’Hauterive, Lower Neocomien of Judd; Hills, of the Germans. VALENGIEN— Ammonites Gervilianus, Strombus Sautieri, Pygurus rostratus. The equivalent of the Wealden of England, and of the first stage of the Neocomien inferieur of Cornuel. From the above it would appear that M. Coquand divides the Cretaceous system into seventeen étages or divisions, of which nine only would seem to occur in Great Britain. To our White Chalk he applies the term Campanien, while to the upper portion only of our Lower Chalk the term Santonien is given, then according to the same geologist, four divisions would intervene, 166 R. Tate—Oldest British Belemnite: in France, between the upper portion and the lower one of our Lower Chalk, to which last the term Ligérien is applied. This is followed (always inthe descending order) by Coquand’s étage Carentonien, which comprises our Chalk Marl. Here again another break would seem- ingly occur in the shape of his étage Gardonien, prior to reaching our Upper Green Sand, his Rothomagien. Under this last comes the étage Vraconien or Cambridge beds, which I found was well developed in the neighbourhood of Nice, and to which we will hereafter refer, while treating of the geology of the department of maritimes Alps. Immediately under the Vraconien we find the true Gault, (of Folk- stone and Wissant) or étage Albien of French geologists. In the étage Urgo-Aptien, he places the Lower Green Sand, the Aptien and a, portion of the Neocomien of Judd, while the true Neocomien would comprise the Lower Neocomien of the last named author. That gentleman informs me that the reference of the Speeton Clay to the Aptien, made by so many geologists on the Continent, is due to the fact that, with two or three exceptions, all the specimens figured by Phillips in the “ Geology of Yorkshire,” are from the cement beds, which he regards as certainly of Aptien age. (To be continued). VII.—On tHe Oxpest British BELEemnire. By Rapriuy Tare, Assoc. Lin. Soc., F.G.S., ete. ROFESSOR PHILLIVS remarks that “from the Inferior Oolite downwards through the Liassic series Belemnites are almost never absent from the section till we reach the zone of Ammonites Bucklandi; only in the upper part of this zone have they been found—at Salford and at Lyme Regis,” But as the unique example— the subject of the present communication—was collected from the zone of Ammonites angulatus, it is the oldest known British Belem- nite, and as such claims some attention. The only notice that I am acquainted with of the occurrence of Liassic Belemnites in strata older than the Bucklandi beds is that by Jules Martin, who records Bel. acutus, Miller, in his zone of Ammonites Moreanus, which is the equiva- lent in the Cote d’Or of the zone, of Ammonites angulatus. a. Outline of B. prema. Description of the Species.—Belemmites preema- oP a gee iurus, mihi. Guard, slightly subhastate, (termi- ; : nating in an acute central point,) ? contracted in all the regions about the alveolar apex, and tapering very gradu- ally to the point. On the lateral faces of the anterior part of the guard there are two distinct lateral furrows which extend to about the middle part. Axis apparently straight. Phragmocone in its transverse section sub-oblong, the dorso-ventral diameter being the longer. Extreme length -35 inch; length of axis, so far as traceable, :11 inch. H. A. Nicholson—On the Lake District. 167 Locality and Formation—In the zone of Ammonites angulatus, Lower Lias; Island Magee, Co. Antrim. Remarks.—The only Belemnites in the Lower Lias of Ireland are B. acutus, Miller, and B. pencillatus, Sow., which occur in strata newer than the zone of Ammonites Bucklandi, which intervenes be- tween these Belemnite beds and the zone of Ammonites angulatus, whence B. prematurus was obtained. Naturally the question arises, may not this form be the young state of one or other of these species, but the presence of lateral furrows in B. preematurus precludes such a relation. The affinity to B. clavatus is more obvious, but it has not the elegant fusiform outline of the young of that species; how- ever, the smallest specimen of B. clavatus, Bl., with which I have compared B. prematurus, is not less than one inch in length; my Species has more of the form of B. dorsalis, Phillips. The uncertain value of specific determinations based on immature specimens must apply in great force to the species I have described ; yet on the other hand insignificant characters observable in the young assume magnified importance in adult individuals, and from such considerations I regard B. prematurus as distinct from, though closely allied to, B. clavatus. VIII.—On tort RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SKIDDAW SLATES AND THE GREEN SLATES AND PorPHYRIES OF THE LAKE-pDisTRICT.! By Henry ALLEYNE Nicuoxson, D.Sc., M.B., F.G.S. N the former portion of this paper, the upper or south-eastern boundary of the Skiddaw Slates, in their main area, had been traced. from Troutbeck, on the N.E., as far as the head of Buttermere, on the §.W. From this point (i.e. the north-western end of Honister Crag), the Skiddaw Slates can be traced for a very short distance across Warnscales Bottom. They are still overlaid by the felspathic trap and succeeding band of slates and breccias, which together com- pose Fleetwith Pike and the §.E. end of Honister Crag, and the rela- tions between the two formations are the same as in the Gatescarth Valley. When however the pass of Scarf Gap on the south-west of Warnscales is reached, the Skiddaw Slates have disappeared and the base of the Green Slate Series now rests upon a great mass of intrusive felstone-porphyry (here almost a true syenite) which forms High Crag and High Stile. Though the Skiddaw Slates are absent here, it is interesting to observe that the stratification of the Green Slate Series can be particularly well made out in this region. The rugged hills to the 8.H. of Scarf Gap are occupied by a prolongation of the great slaty band of Honister, but the beds have now to a great extent lost their former character, and have assumed very much the mineral aspect of trap, from which however they are easily dis- tincuished by the fact that the bedding, in spite of a rough but well marked cleavage, is unusually distinct. The strata are excellently 1 Continued from the March Number, p. 108 168 H, A. Nicholson—On the Lake District. displayed in a number of magnificently moutonné’d crags and bosses, in which they are seen to undulate repeatedly, forming a series of small but well-preserved anticlinals and synclinals, the dips of which are N.N.W. and §.8.E. at angles of from 25° to 35°. The inclination therefore of these beds is only about half as high as that of the Skiddaw Slates in the Gatescarth Valley. From Scarf Gap to a point a little to the south of the foot of Ennerdale Lake—a distance of more than five miles—the Green Slates and Porphyries continue to repose upon the syenitic porphyry before-mentioned, this intrusive mass occupying the lower half of the valley of the Liza, and forming the range of hills which bound Ennerdale on the south. At this point, which is near the source of the river Calder, the Green Slates again come into relation with the Skid- daw Slates and continue to be underlaid by them for about four miles until we come to Stockbridge near Egremont. Along this line how- ever the hills are low and rounded and the country is much obscured by drift so that little can be said as to the relations of the two for- mations. Wherever seen the inclination of the Skiddaw Slates is found to be at very high angles, varying from §.8.H. at 55°, as at Flat Fell and Dent Hill, to verticality as at Wilton. They are over- laid by traps and trappean breccias belonging to the Green Slate Series, but no dip could be made out in these beds and their junction with the Skiddaw Slates is nowhere observable. The Skiddaw Slates in their main area in the north-western por- tion of the Lake district, as is well known, ultimately fold over towards the N.W., and are partially succeeded by a belt of country in which rocks belonging to the series of the Green Slates and Porphyries come to the surface. Between Egremont and Cockermouth, and again between Cockermouth and Sunderland, the Skiddaw Slates are overlapped by the Carboniferous Limestone, and their upward termination is, therefore, not exhibited. A little to the north of Sunderland, however, strata belonging to the Green Slates begin to make their appearance, and continue to be superimposed upon the Skiddaw Slates throughout the remainder of this area, till close upon Troutbeck Station, where the Skiddaw Slates are again concealed for a distance of about a mile, partly by Old Red and partly by the Carboniferous Limestone. Throughout the whole of the distance between Troutbeck and Sunderland—a distance of about fifteen miles—the Green Slates and Porphyries constitute a well-defined, somewhat semi-circular, range of hills, which com- mences near Sunderland in the Beacon Hill and Binsey Crag, is continued by the mountains round Overwater, runs nearly due H. and W. from this point to a little to the south of Hesket-new- Market, (as the Caldbeck Fells), and then suddenly turns to the S.E. by Bannest Hill and Murrah to Eycott Hill near Troutbeck, In examining this comparatively little known range, we shall find a clearer exposition of the true relations between the Skiddaw Slates and the Green Slates, than is obtainable in any other part of the Lake-district. Commencing in the neighbourhood of Sunderland, the Skiddaw H. A. Nicholson—On the Lake District. 169 Slates are found occupying a broad tract of flat moorland ground, which forms the southern half of Torpenhow Common, and which is cut through by several small streams which constitute the head-waters of Isell Beck, a tributary of the Derwent. The strata which occupy the whole of this region are soft, black, earthy shales, and they con- stitute the upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates. Such sections, how- ever, as there are, are very small, and the exact relations of the strata can with difficulty be made out. That their general dip must be northwards is tolerably certain, since the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, as seen in the Embleton Valley and in the ridge of hills which separates this from the valley of the Derwent, invariably have a N.N.W. inclination. And this, on the whole, seems to be the dip of the upper beds, which, though greatly contorted, appear to dip at points between N.E. and N.N.W. at very high angles, as is seen in Scale Gill and Black Beck, and near Bewaldeth Tile-works. The Skiddaw Slates of this moory tract are overlaid on the N.E. by a series of bedded traps, which form the northern half of Torpenhow Common and the whole of Binsey Crag. At one point, near Black Beck, where some slaty beds are seen, the dip of these is N. at 35°. The general strike, however, of these trappean masses is W.N.W. and H.S.E., whereas that of the Skiddaw Slates is H.N.E. and W.S.W., so that a considerable discordance appears here in the strike of the two sets of beds. Between Bewaldeth and Overwater the country is thickly covered with drift, and no sections are obtainable, though there can be little doubt but that this region is still occupied by the upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates. To the west of Overwater, in a stream called Hllengill Beck, the Skiddaw Slates are very well exhibited. The beds in the ravines at the head of Ellengill, forming the flanks of Great Scaw Fell, are tolerably hard and flaggy, and dip 8.8.E. at 40°, In the lower part of Hllengill the strata are very pencilly, and the dip varies from 8.8.E. to S. or §.S.W. at angles of from 45° to 60°. These dips con- tinue without alteration, till the Slates are overlaid, about a quarter of a mile above Stockdale, by a fine green trap, which forms the base of the Green Slates. As this trap comes on to the north of the Skiddaw Slates, it is evident that in this locality the dip of the Skiddaw Slates is diametrically opposed to that of the Green Slates and Porphyries. From Great Scaw Fell, at the head of Ellengill, the line of junction between the two formations is continued by Great Lingy to the head of Grainsgill Beck (Brandy Gill), the country being very peaty and exhibiting no sections. The southern bank of Grainsgill Beck is composed of metamorphosed gneissic Skiddaw Slates, apparently striking N.H. and §.W., whilst the northern bank of the stream is composed of felspathic trap, which is sometimes highly crystalline, and which forms here the base of the Green Slates. In the lower half of Grainsgill Beck a mass of fine-grained granite comes on, but at the junction of this stream with the Caldew the previous relations are again resumed. Thus the ridge, which here bounds the Caldew on the north and which forms the southern end of Carrock Fell,.is composed in its lower part of highly meta- 170 H. A. Nicholson—On the Lake District. morphosed Skiddaw Slate, overlaid in its higher portion by the same felspathic rock before alluded to. The bedding in the Skiddaw Slates is to a great extent obliterated, but it can be sometimes made out, as near Swineside, where the strike is N.E. and S.W., that of the over- lying trappean rocks being nearly EH. and W. In this district, there- fore (from the head of Grainsgill Beck, along the left bank of the Caldew, as far as Mosedale), it will be seen that the base of the Green Slates rests upon the metamorphosed lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, which are so well known as occurring in the higher reaches of the Caldew valley. Not only is this so, but the strike of the two formations is entirely at variance. This last phenomenon, however, is more strikingly exhibited in the remaining portion of this region, namely between Mosedale and Troutbeck. The range of the Caldbeck Fells, as I have said, runs nearly due H. and W., but this ceases to be the case at Mosedale, where it is deflected in a N.W. and §.E. direction, forming a low ridge of craggy hills, which runs from Murrah to Greenah Crag, about three-quarters of a mile to the north of Troutbeck Station. This range, of which Eycott Hill (1181 feet) is the culminating point, is composed of a beautiful series of bedded traps and ashes,’ constituting the lower portion of the Green Slate series. In a little stream, which flows from the south-eastern extremity of Hycott Hill, this series is excellently exhibited, and their inclination can be most satisfactorily determined, by means of an ash-bed included between two sheets of trap, to be N.E. at 80°. They strike, therefore, N.W. and §.E. Though the country immediately to the S.W. of Eycott Hill is much obscured by drift,? and is without any rock-exposure, there can be no doubt but that it is occupied by the Skiddaw Slates. Thus, in the course of Gills Beck, to the east of Troutbeck Station, the upper shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates are seen, striking H.N.E. and W.S.W., and dipping N.N.W. at angles of from 50° to 60°. The 8.W., extremity of Hycott Hill must, therefore, rest upon the upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates. Again, at Mungrisedale, about two and a half miles to the north of this point, the Skiddaw Slates are seen in the form of hard, flazey beds, with a few intercalated bands of grit, and very little affected by cleavage. They are not in any way metamorphosed, and they dip §.8.H. at about 60°, striking H.N.E. and W.S.W. right against the trappean range of Hycott Hill, which is 1 I may mention that there occurs here a magnificent, porphyritic, and amygda- loidal trap, containing numerous crystals of felspar—some of which are more than half an inch in length—together with numerous cavities filled with calespar or with chalcedony. It is, without exception, the most beautiful porphyry with which I am acquainted as occurring in the Lake-district. It is a very persistent bed, being seen at various points in the Caldbeck Fells, and occurring at Binsey Crag. At some dis- tance above it, in the same section, there occurs an equally beautiful amygdaloidal ash. 2 It is worth while noticing, in connection with a recent paper by Mr. Maw (Gzon. Mae. Vol. VI. p. 72), that the “lower drift,” which he there describes as seen at Workington, occurs here, many miles from the coast, and at an elevation of several hundred feet above the sea-level. The section in question (at Greenah Moss) exactly resembles the one described by Mr. Maw, consisting of an inferior, very tough, blue clay, which contains boulders, and is overlaid by a red, loamy drift, containing, in greater abundance, fragments of the rocks of the Lake-district. | H. A. Nicholson—On the Lake District. At less than a mile to the east. The north-eastern extremity, therefore, of Hycott Hill rests upon the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates. From the above description it will be seen that there is the most complete discordance between the two formations; the strike of the two being at variance by as much as nearly 80°, whilst the dip of the lower formation is nearly double that of the superior. (IL.) Skiddaw Slates and Green Slates beneath the Penine Range.— Commencing at the north-western extremity of the Lower Silurian area beneath the Penine chain, the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates are seen at Mickle Aw Fell and in various parts of Rake Beck, near Melmerby, dipping 8.S.H. at from 50° to 65°. Similar hard and flagey beds are seen right under the base of Caterpellet Hill, dipping in the same direction at 65°, and directly surmounted by a green felspathic trap which forms the base of the Green Slates. This trap forms the mass of Caterpellet and rises on the N.E. into Cuns Fell, where it also reposes upon the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates. On the south-eastern side of Cuns Fell, in Ousby-dale Beck, the upper, shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates are seen dipping N.N.W. at 70°; and lower down the stream, immediately to the south-east of Caterpellet, similar beds are seen dipping N. at 65°. ‘These are directly overlaid by a light-brown felspathic trap, containing crystals of felspar, which form the ridges to the §.H. of Ousby-dale. The appearance of the Skiddaw Slates in Ousby-dale Beck is probably due to a sharp anticlinal, but may possibly be produced by a fault. Be this as it may, it is clear that to the N.W. of Caterpellet, the trap which forms the base of the Green Slates rests upon the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, whereas to the §.E. of Caterpellet the same trap reposes upon the upper, shaly beds of the same. Further to the S.H. a similar felspathic trap is seen in Ashlock Syke, and again in Ardale Beck, resting upon the upper, shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates, which appear to have a nearly vertical inclination. Still further to the §.E. the Skiddaw Slates are found occupying the Westmorland side of Crowdundale Beck, and extending from this stream to Knock-ore-gill Beck. In Crowdundale, and in its tributary Hllengill Beck, the upper, shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates dip N.N.W. at 70°, and are overlaid by the porphyries of Moray and Grumpley Hills on the north. To the south the strata fold over, and in Knock-ore-gill Beck, on the 8.H. side of Burney Hill, similar shaly beds are seen dipping nearly 8. at from 50° to 60°. These are succeeded by the yellowish-brown felspathic trap of Knock Pike, which is in turn succeeded by a series of flaggy shales, which occupy Swindale Beck, and dip 8.8.E. at about 45°. The remainder of the Lower Silurian area beneath the Penine chain offers nothing which bears specially upon the relations between the Green Slates and Porphyries and the Skiddaw Slates. (IIL.) Skiddaw Slates near the foot of Ulleswater.—In a small area close to the foot of Ulleswater, the upper shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates are seen in the lower part of Aik Beck, dipping 8.S.H. at angles of from 50° to 60°. In the higher part of the stream, these are overlaid by the inferior portion of the Green Slate series, some 172 H. A. Nicholson—On the Lake District. of the beds consisting of coarse felspathic ashes, the dip of which can be satisfactorily made out to be S.S.E. at 40°. The inclination, therefore, of the Green Slates is in this locality considerably lower than that of the Skiddaw Slates beneath them. (IV.) Skiddaw Slates between Bampton and Shap.—Proceeding up the river Lowther from Bampton to Shap three small areas of Skid- daw Slate are crossed, one at Rossgill, a second at Keld Beck, and the third in the course of Thornship Beck. In all these localities the upper shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates are brought to the sur- face, and dip 8.S.E. to S.H. at angles of from 45° to nearly 90°. In each case they are surmounted by the fine-grained, greenish-gray felspathic trap which forms the base of the Green Slate series, but the dip of this could not be determined. Conclusion Having now surveyed all the localities in Cumber- land and Westmoreland in which the Skiddaw Slates come into con- tact with the Green Slates and Porphyries—with the single excep- tion of the Black Comb area—the following conclusions appear to be deducible as to the relations of the two formations :— 1. Where the inclination of the Green Slate Series agrees in direction with that of the Skiddaw Slates, the dip of the former is almost invariably lower in amount; the difference varying from a few degrees to as much as half the dip of the inferior formation. 2. The dip of the Skiddaw Slates, at the point where they are overlaid by the base of the Green Slates, is occasionally directly opposed in direction to the inclination of the latter. This is seen at the head of Mosedale Beck under Wolf Crags, and also in the course of Ellengill, near Overwater. 3. The strike of the Green Slates is sometimes at variance with that of the Skiddaw Slates. This is seen to a slight extent in pro- ceeding from Troutbeck to Keswick, and again from Borrowdale in a 8.W. direction towards the head of Buttermere ; since the fels- pathic trap which forms the base of the Green Slate Series reposes at first upon the upper, shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates, but seems gradually to become transgressive upon them, so as finally to rest upon beds which, though high in the series, are not the highest. It is also seen in Torpenhow Common, to the north of the foot of Bas- senthwaite Lake. This phenomenon is, however, best exhibited on the N.E. margin of the great area of the Skiddaw Slates, where the two formations strike for a considerable distance nearly at right angles one to another. 4. Asa consequence of the above, the base of the Green Slates reposes at one time upon the higher, and at another upon the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates. This is seen near Melmerby, beneath the Penine chain, but it is much more strikingly exhibited on the N, and N.E. margin of the great area of the Skiddaw Slates. Thus at both extremities of this boundary, the base of the Green Slates reposes upon the soft black shales which form the summit of the Skiddaw Slates, resting between these points upon all the inter- mediate beds of the great anticlinal of the Skiddaw Slates, down to their base. Organic Remains in Fundamental Gneiss of Sweden. 178 5. From the above we are warranted in coming to the conclusion that the Green Slates and Porphyries of the Lake-district are super- imposed unconformably upon the series of the Skiddaw Slates. Addendum.—Since the first part of this paper was published, I have found a single small section between the Vale of St. John and Keswick, in which the upward termination of the Skiddaw Slates is exhibited. This occurs about two miles to the §.E. of Keswick, close to the high road to Ambleside, near a place called Dale- bottom, in the valley of Naddle Beck. Here a small stream flows down from a hill called the Pike, and exhibits in its lower portion asmall exposure of the upper shaly beds of the Skiddaw Slates, which dip §.S.E. at 50°, and are directly overlaid by the fine-grained felspathic trap, which forms the base of the Green Slates. DGS eis Gass: 4 (O22 iy Maser S T.—On tor Existence oF Rooks CONTAINING OrGANIC SuBSTANCES IN THE FUNDAMENTAL GNEISS OF SWEDEN. HREE papers relating to the occurrence of certain vegetable substances in the Fundamental Gneiss of Sweden, have recently been communicated to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm.! The first of these papers, by M. Igelstrém, which describes some beds of bituminous gneiss and mica schist that occur interstratified in common reddish granite-gneiss at the western part of the high and precipitous Nullaberg, was noticed in the Grontogican MaGa- zine, Vol. IV. (1867) p. 160. M. Igelstrém considers that the Gneiss and Mica Schist of the Nullaberg must be ranked among the Sedimentary and Fossiliferous Strata. ; In the second paper M. Nordenskidld points out the principal in- gredients in these bituminous rocks of Nullaberg,—they are a greyish-white orthoclase and silver-white mica, mingled with vari- able portions of a carbonaceous or coal-like substance. This car- bonaceous substance is very brittle, and the rock is therefore more friable than common gneiss. The grains of orthoclase break along the cleavages of the felspar, and the fracture of the rock is thus crystalline. He regards the rock as probably due to the solidification and crystallization of a clay-like sediment, consisting of organic sub- stances and inorganic matter, of the same constituents as the common felspar ; and he remarks, as a phenomenon not at all improbable, that a change in the relative position of the atoms, i.e. a crystal- lization in a solid mass tending to a disposition of its molecules, according to the best conditions of equilibrium, took place without 1L. J. Igelstrém, On the occurrence of thick beds of bituminous gneiss and mica schist in the Nullaberg, parish of Ostmark, province of Wermland, in Sweden.— A. E. Nordenskiéld, Note on the mineral character of the rock.—F. L. Ekman, Chemical analysis of the rock.—Translated from communications read to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences at Stockholm. 174 Notices of Memoirs—Edinburgh Geologieal Society. the aid of water or heat} during the immense time that has elapsed since the Gneiss period. M. Nordenskidld does not attempt any explanation of the way in which this change was effected. M. Ekman, in the third paper, gives the result of analyses of various specimens of Nullaberg rock, which show it to be essentially a potash-felspar, with a little apatite, traces of manganese and copper, phosphoric acid and chlorine, besides the organic matter and carbonate of lime. Whether this Fundamental Gneiss of Sweden is the equivalent of that in the Hebrides and of the Laurentian rocks in Canada and elsewhere, is a point not discussed in these papers. Lithologically the Swedish beds appear very similar to the Lau- rentian Gneiss, containing graphite, described by Sir W. HE. Logan, and which without doubt was originally a sedimentary rock. So long ago as 1846 M. Elie de Beaumont announced the sedimentary nature of the Swedish gneiss,” while the recorded discovery by Prof. Sismonda* of an Equisetum in gneiss (of Jurassic age), would leave no doubt about the original aqueous origin of the rock.—H. B. W. TI.— TRANSACTIONS OF THE HpinpurGH GEOLOGICAL Sociery. Vou. I. Parts I. and II. 1868. 8vo. HESE Parts contain the papers read before the Edinburgh Geo- logical Society between November, 1866, and May, 1868. Among the more important of these communications, the following may be mentioned :—On the Carboniferous Strata of Carluke, by J. R. 8S. Hunter; On the Geology of the Coasts of Antrim and London- derry, by T. Smyth; On the old Red Sandstone of Scotland, by J, Powrie, F.G.S8., ete.; On the Superficial Deposits at the South Ksk, by Dr. J. C. Howden; On the Evidences of Glacier Action in Gallo- way, by W. Jolly.—There are numerous illustrations accompanying these papers, some of which have previously been noticed in the GrorocicaL Macazine—the last report (of a meeting on April 2nd, 1868,) was published in the number for May last year. The following papers were read on April 16th, 1868 :— 1. Observations on the Miocene Beds of Greenland. By Robert Brown, F.R.G.S. Extending over a very limited area, these strata are composed of a great variety of beds of sandstone, alternating with lignite, and capped by shales of various descriptions. In all the sandstones and shales vegetable impressions are found, but it is only in the thin layers of a hard clay-slate, impregnated with iron, that they retain their impressions very distinctly. All these strata are cut across by trap-dykes, which in some places stand out bare and wall-like from the denuded softer rocks through which they protrude. The author protests against the way in which Professor Heer has been making species and genera out of the fossils discovered in these 1 It may be noted that Dr. T. Sterry Hunt has urged the presence of carbon in the state of graphite, wnoxidised, in metamorphic rocks, as a proof that a temperature of ignition was not required for metamorphism,.—Vide Grou. Mac. Vol. I. p. 202. 2 Gzou. Mace. Vol. I. p. 156. 3 Ibid. Vol. II. p. 239. Notices of Memoirs—LEdinburgh Geological Society 175 Miocene Beds, though perhaps in placing too much importance on slender characteristics he does not stand alone; and he is glad to observe that Mr. Carruthers is doing the synthetic to other botanists’ analytic subdivision of fossil species. 2. Brief Notes on the Precious Stones and Pearls of Scotland. By A. M. Cockburn. : Although poor in the more precious gems, Mr. Cockburn remarks that Scotland can boast of her jaspers, pebbles, agates, pearls, and of fine specimens of quartz; the moss agates are peculiarly suitable for certain styles of setting. Cairngorm stones are found in great abundance in the matrix of the granite on the top and sides of the Cairngorm Hills, in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. Amethysts and garnets may be ranked among the Scottish gems. The former is now becoming scarce; the latter is found in large quantities at Elie Point, and along the sands on the east coast of Fife. Fine and large specimens of pearls are found in the rivers Teith, Forth, Dee, Don, Harn, Tay, Tweed, and the rivers of Ross and Sutherlandshire. 3. Remarks on Two Flints from Jubbulpore, Central India, and on the Flint Implements discovered there by the late Lieut. D. Swiney, R.E. By James Haswell, M.A. The principal part of the collection (numbering 977 pieces) is now in the British Museum, and was described by Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., F.8.A., in a paper read before the Society of Antiquaries, 19th of January, 1865. RHVIEWS. I.—Unvercrounp Lirz; or, Mines anp Miners. By L. Smonrn. Translated, adapted to the present state of British Mining, and edited by H. W. Bristow, F.R.S. Illustrated with 160 engrav- ings on wood, 20 maps geologically coloured, and 10 plates of metals and minerals in chromolithography. S8vo. pp.522. Lon- don: Chapman and Hall. 1869. HIS is a work of a popular-scientific character, somewhat similar, both as regards the style in which the subjects are treated and in the kind of illustrations, to the volumes of Hartwig, Figuier, and other writers of that class. The woodcuts are excellent specimens of art, but in many instances the subjects chosen for illustration appear to us quite unnecessary to the text. Such are the pictures of a stable in a mine, a consultation in a mine, a Californian gold-finder prospecting the ground, miners at prayer, etc. ; while the pictures of explosions and accidents in mines might with advantage have been dispensed with, as they are emi- nently calculated to give one the horrors. We were somewhat sur- prised to find M. Simonin remark that “in no instance has any merely fanciful design been admitted.” Under “ fanciful,’ we should certainly include the woodcut of the Indian miner of Lake 176 Reviews—Simonin's Mines and Miners. Superior in full mining costume (page 471). We are reminded of the full court suit of the visitors to the King of the Sandwich Islands. M. Simonin has made himself extensively acquainted with mining both in Europe and America, but still (as the translator tells us) he looks at the subject from a French point of view, and does not give any special prominence to the mineral industries of this country. Mr. Bristow has furnished a great deal of new and valuable matter relating to British mining, and he has evidently done much to im- prove the work, principally in the shape of additions or interpolations. The revisal of some of the maps, and the addition of new ones, beauti- fully executed in chromolithography by Mr. J. B. Jordan, form im- portant features in this new edition of M. Simonin’s work. The book is divided into three parts,—the first is devoted to Coal. Its origin is discussed, and illustrated with an ideal landscape of the Coal-measure period. The history of the discovery of coal, the manner in which coal is worked, the dangers to which miners are exposed, and lastly, the probable duration of our coal supply, are all treated of in this part. In the second part the metalliferous mines are taken into consideration, and, in the third, the “‘ mines of precious stones.” The whole is agreeably written and interspersed with numerous anecdotes, and with accounts of the manners and customs of miners in various countries. It will doubtless prove an interesting work to the general reader; and although its bulk might deter some from attempting its perusal, it will really be found not so formidable a task as its weight would imply, so much of the text being inter- spersed with illustrations, and the type being bold and clear. IJ.—Trupner’s American aNd OrientaL Literary Recorp for February 15th, 1869, contains Notices of many new and impor- tant additions to the Literature of the day. Three books deserve special reference here: I. “The Myths of the New World; a treatise on Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America;” by Daniel G. Brinton, A.M., M.D., ete. (London : Triibner & Co.). Probably there is no savage stock possessed of finer legends and mythical history than the Red Indians; and the beauty of their similes, derived from Nature, has been well shown by Longfellow in his “ Hiawatha,” and by many other writers. The names of God are remarkably grand and impressive,—thus, “The Thunder Vase,” “The Foam of the Sea animating the World,” ‘Heart of the Sky,” “ The Soul of the World,” “ Lord of the Sky,” “ Mother and Father of Life,” “Maker and Moulder of all,” ete., ete. In no American myth is there any trace of a personality of evil, nor have they any word corresponding to devil in their language. Many of the native legends have a most wonderful similarity to the description given in Genesis of the Creation and the Flood. The book is full of interest for the Ethnologist. II. “The Lifted and Subsided Rocks of America, with their In- Reviews—Triibner’s Literary Record. 177 fluence on the Oceanic, Atmospheric, and Land Currents ”’ is the title of a book, about to issue from the press, by Mr. Catlin, the well- known American traveller and Ethnographist, whose descriptions of the habits and haunts of the North American Indians will ever be associated with his name. From the extracts given of the author’s discoveries we anticipate a more wonderful story than that of a voyage through the Grand Caiions of the Colorado River." Mr. Catlin has discovered the source of the Gulf Stream under the Rocky Mountains! but we will not anticipate. III. The third important work noticed at length in “ Triibner’s Record” is by James Fergusson, F.R.S., “On Tree and Serpent Worship, or Illustrations of Mythology and Art in India, in the first and fourth centuries after Christ; from the Sculptures of the Buddhist Topes at Sanchi and Amravati.” This grand work, pre- pared under the authority of the Secretary of State for India in Council, formed the subject of a most delightful lecture by the author, delivered before the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Norwich in August last, and subsequently before the members of the Royal Institution, Albermarle Street. This is another magnificent contribution to Indian literature in particular, and to Ethnology in general. T1J.—Procrepines or THE Bristot NatuRALISts’ Society. Vol. III. Nos. 7, 8 and 9. September to December, 1868. HE Geological articles contained in these numbers consist of short notices of excursions made to Dundry Hill and to Dundas, near Limpley-Stoke, where the members had the oppor- tunity of examining the Middle and Upper Lias, the Sands, and the Inferior Oolite. There is also a paper by Mr. W. W. Stoddart, F.G.S., entitled “Geological Notes from Norwich.” But the author is evidently “out of his element.” He states that the Red Crag is the oldest of the Pliocene beds, forgetting the Coralline Crag, which is seen to underlie it in several parts of Suffolk; and says, that at Bramerton he “picked up numbers of the little Potamides so well known in the Isle of Wight.” We have never found any such specimens in this locality, nor anywhere else in the Norwich Crag; neither have we before heard of their being so met with. Without denying the possibility of such specimens being derived, as Mr. Stoddart appears to think, we would refer his Potamides to the Cerithium punctatum or some other form common to the Norwich Crag. Mr. Stoddart places the Bridlington Crag, and the Chillesford Clay, between the Red Crag and the Norwich Crag. But in the section at Bramerton the Clay may clearly be seen overlying the Norwich Crag, and the Bridlington Crag is regarded by Mr. S. V. Wood, Jr. as much newer; he places it above the Lower Drift. 1 See Bates’s Illustrated Travels (Cassell & Co., Part I., p. 8). VOL. VI.—NO. LYVIII. 12 178 Reviews—Bristol Naturalists’ Society. Mr. Stoddart is certainly rather bold, when he states that this Crag is of the same age as the Chillesford Clay. There is no Red Crag in the section at Bramerton. The relations of the Norwich to the Red Crag have never been seen in section. By some authorities they are considered to be synchronous deposits. Mr. Stoddart is so well known for his successful geological work in the Bristol district, that we regret he did not devote a little more time to the Geology of Norfolk, and look up the literature, before at- tempting to write a paper on the subject. Mr. Adolph Leipner gives an account of some of the Carboniferous Corals in the Museum of the Bristol Philosophical Institution, which he hopes to complete and bring before a future meeting of the Geological Section of the Society. Number 9 contains:—(1.) Some Wotes on the late Movements of the Somersetshire Coast, by Mr. F. C. Ravis. These notes form a supplement to a paper he communicated to the Society about three years ago. He prefaces them with some remarks on the Trap and Mountain Limestone of Woodspring Hill, considering that the in- jection of the trap was prior to the movement that caused the inclination of the beds, because in general outline it appears to con- form itself to that inclination: he thinks it probably contemporaneous with the Limestone. Mr. Ravis then proceeds to describe the raised beach of Wood- spring. This evidence of upheaval furnishes strong proof of the en- croachment of the sea, for a twenty feet rise of the land with a shelving beach would be equivalent to a considerable horizontal dis- tance. At present the waves dash against the rocks immediately beneath the old beach.’ Ancient Sand hills or Dunes, some contemporary with, others from their greater elevation of earlier date than these beaches, are well seen on the northern slope of Worle Hill. Remains of Dunes occur above the raised beach of Birnbeck Cove,? which beach, from its height above the sea, may probably be of the same age as that at Woodspring. Brean Down exhibits on its northern side at least two tiers of sandy accumulations, at similar heights to the terraces in Sand Bay. The heights of these Dunes above the mean sea-level range to 150 feet. Brent Knoll, an isolated outlier of Inferior Oolite, about 500 feet above the sea-level, contains from fifteen to twenty parallel terraces arranged like the seats in an amphitheatre, varying in height from one to five feet, in breadth from one to two feet. They occur at elevations up to 400 feet. These are regarded by Mr. Ravis as due to the action of the sea, and he remarks that they may possibly be contemporaneous in formation with the highest and oldest portions 1 See also a short paper by Mr. D. Mackintosh “On the Mode and Extent of Encroachment of the Sea on some parts of the Shores of the Bristol Channel,’’ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Vol. xxiv. 1868, p. 279.—Eprr. 2 See paper by E. C. H. Day, Gzox, Mag. Vol. III. p. 115. Geological Society of London. 179 of the Cheddar Cliffs, which Mr. Mackintosh! maintains were chiefly formed by marine agency. (2.) Mr. A. Leipner concludes his paper on the Carboniferous Corals in the Museum of the Bristol Association. There is also a notice of the Proceedings of the Bristol Micro- scopical Society, of which Mr. W. W. Stoddart is the President. This gentleman contributes a paper entitled a Microscopical Exami- nation of the Water Supply of the Bristol Water Works Company. 'The water is derived from streams which rise in the Mendip Hills, and he shews it to be as pure as any in the kingdom, at the same time asserting that no water procured from a town spring could be pure, as many examples from the City of Bristol tended to prove.—H. B. W. REPORTS AND PROCHEDIN GS. ——_ ——_ Gxotoercan Socrery or Lonpon.—I. The Annual General Meet- ing of this Society was held February 19th, 1869, Professor T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the chair. The Secretary read the Reports of the Council, of the Library and Museum Committee, and of the Auditors. The general prosperity of the Society, as evinced by its financial position and by the continued increase in the number of its members, was stated to be very satisfactory. The President presented the Wollaston Gold Medal to Henry Clifton Sorby, Hsq., F.R.S., and stated that in awarding the medal to him, the Council desired to testify their appreciation of the value which they, in common with all other geologists, attach to Mr. Sorby’s laborious investigations, continued now for a period of more than eighteen years. The President referred especially to Mr. Sorby’s researches into the structure of rocks and minerals, and of meteorites; to his explanation of the phenomenon of slaty cleavage, now universally adopted and fully in accordance with the results obtained by physi- cal investigators who have approached the same question from a very different side ; and finally remarked upon the peculiar fitness of the award of the Wollaston Medal to a worker possessing so much of that love of minute research, and so much of that power of elucidating the great by the little which characterised its illustrious founder.—Mr. Sorby briefly returned thanks for the honour con- ferred upon him by the Council, and remarked that although his investigations had been the result of a pure love of science, without expectation of fee or reward, such a recognition of the value of his services could not but be most grateful to him, and would encourage him to proceed further on the same path.—The President then pre- sented the balance of the proceeds of the Wollaston Donation-fund to Wm. Carruthers, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., of the British Museum, in aid of his researches in Fossil Botany, remarking, especially with regard to those directed towards the structure of Fossil Fruits, that these are so valuable that Mr. Carruthers might justly look upon the award as an expression of gratitude for his labours. At the same 1 Intellectual Observer, August, 1867, p. 30. 180 Reports and Proceedings. time the President observed that scientific gratitude was of the kind which had been defined as a lively sense of favours to come.—Mr. Carruthers returned thanks for the honour conferred upon him, and said that whilst he could not consider himself entitled to any such recognition of his services to science, the award of the Council would be both an aid and an encouragement to him in the further prosecu- tion of his researches.—The President then proceeded to read his Anniversary Address, in which he discussed the present position of Geology in this country, and the various geological speculations which are now more or less in vogue, and combated the assertion which has been made, that geological speculation in this country is opposed to the principles of Natural Philosophy. The Address was prefaced by biographical notices of recently deceased Fellows, in- cluding the Rev. 8. W. King, M. Boucher de Perthes, of Abbeville ; M. Morlot, of Berne; Principal J. D. Forbes, F.R.S., of the Uni- versity of St. Andrews ; Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S., Principal of the University of Edinburgh ; the Rev. J. G. Cumming, etc. The Ballot for the Council and Officers was taken, and the follow- ing were duly elected for the ensuing year: President: Prof. 'T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents: Sir P. de M. G. Egerton, Bart, MAP. EUR-S. 5 sik.) I Murchison, Bart; “KeCAbS on. Se: Warington W. Smyth, Esq., M.A., F.R.S.; Rev. T. Wiltshire, M.A., F.L.S. Secretaries: P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.R.S.; John Evans, Esq., F.R.S. Foreign Secretary: Prof. D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.R.S. Treasurer: J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq., F.R.S. Council: Prof. D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.R.S.; W. Boyd Dawkins, Hsq., M.A., F.R.S.; P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.R.S.; Sir P. de M.G. Egerton Bart., M.P., F.R.S.; John Evans, Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A.; David Forbes, Esq., F.R.S.; J. Wickham Flower, Esq.; R. A. C. Godwin-Austen, Esq., F.R.S. ; Harvey B. Holl, M.D.; Prof. T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.B.S. ; J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Hsq., F.R.S.; Prof.T. Rupert Jones; Sir Charles Lyell, Bart., D.C.L., F.R.S.; John Carrick Moore, Esq., M.A., F.R.S.; Prof. John Morris; Sir R. I. Murchison, Bart., K.C.B., F.R.S.; Joseph Prestwich, Esq., F.R.S.; Earl of Selkirk, F.R.S. ; Warington W. Smyth, Hsq., M.A., F.R.S.; Alfred Tylor, Hsq., F.L.S; Rev. Thomas Wiltshire, M.A., F.R.A.8.; Searles V. Wood, Jun., Esq.; Henry Woodward, Esq., F.Z.8. T1.— Ordinary Evening Meeting, February 24th, 1869.—Paper read «« On the British Post-glacial Mammalia.” By W. Boyd Dawkins, Hsq., M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S8. The author stated that the Post-glacial or Quaternary Mammalia of England and Wales amounted to 47. Of these only 15 are found in Caves and not in River deposits, whilst out of 31 found in the latter, one, only, does not occur in caves; hence the author inferred that the Cave and River deposits are paleontologically synchronous. In Scotland remains of Mammalia have occurred only in five places, and in Ireland only in two places, in beds of Post-glacial age. The author ascribed this unequal distribution to the long continuance of subaérial glaciation in Ireland, Scotland, and North Wales. Geological Society of London. 181 The author then compared the Post-glacial with the Pre-glacial Mammalia. The British species of the latter are :— Ursus arvernensis. Bos primigenius. : speleeus ?. Hippopotamus mayor. Sorex. Equus fossilis. Mygale moschata. Rhinoceros megarhinus. Talpa europea. Hitruscus. Cervus megaceros ? Hlephas antiquus. capreolus. meridionalis. —— elaphus. Arvicola amphibia. — Sedgwickii. Castor fiber. —_ Ardeus. Trogontherium Cuviert. Of these 19 species inhabiting Britain before the deposition of the Boulder-clay, 12 survived into Post-glacial times. Passing from Post-glacial to Prehistoric time, the Sheep, Goat, Bos longifrons, and Dog make their appearance, while the great Pachy- dermata, the Cave Mammals, and nearly all the northern forms dis- appear. The characteristic Post-glacial Mammals were defined by the author to be— Paleolithic man. Ovibos moschata. Gulo luscus. Rhinoceros tichorhinus. Ursus speleus >. Hlephas primigenius. Serox. Lemmus. Felis leo. Spermophilus citillus. pardus. erythrogenotdes. Hyena spelea. The author finally discussed the question of the age of the Lower Brick-earths of the Thames Valley and Clacton, and indicated the difficulty of proving, from Paleontological evidence, whether they are Pre- or Post-glacial. He supposed that during the Glacial sub- mergence, the valley of the Lower Thames roughly marked the coast- line of the icy sea, with a climate too cold to allow the continued re- sidence of the Pre-glacial mammals, but which might still occasionally be visited by their surviving descendants, the remains of which would thus be mingled with those of Arctic immigrants. Discusston.—The President suggested that a fourth period might be added to the three adopted by the author, viz., the Glacial period, during which it would appear from the paper that some animals may have lived in Britain. Mr. Busk thought that some of the animals of the Post-glacial period, such, for instance, as the Hyzena and Lion, were of southern, and not, like many of the others, of northern and eastern origin. The Lynx also might not improbably be of African descent. It was abundant in the bone breccia of Gibraltar, as was also the Cervus elaphus. Hippopotamus, Elephas antiguus, and possibly Rhinoceros, might also be regarded as southern forms; and it was worth consideration whether the fauna might not be connected with the time when Southern Europe was joined on to Northern Africa. Mr. Tate stated that at Carrickfergus there was a Forest-bed underlying Glacial drift, from which possibly the Elephant remains found there had been derived. Mr. J. W. Flower objected to all the fossils attributed to the Post-glacial period being regarded as synchronous, and to the cave- and river-deposits being classed together. Ml Eyans hoped that at some time a chronological arrangement of British caves might be proposed. He mentioned the discovery of a paleolithic flint implement ina brickfield at Highbury, and argued against the lower level deposits of the Thames valley being regarded as more ancient than the higher. Mr. Topley called attention to the absence of river-gravels and caves in the Silurian 182 Reports and Proceedings. region of Wales and of the north, which was owing mainly to the absence of lime- stone adapted for the formation of caves and of material for gravels. Prof. Ramsay argued that caves such as those in which Mammalian remains occur must have existed in Pre-glacial time, and therefore that it would be strange if none of those explored contained Pre-glacial remains. He was not satisfied as to the cause of the Thames forming a line of demarcation marking the absence of Glacial deposits. It could only be accounted for in his mind by the valley of the Thames having been entirely excavated since the Glacial period, though he acknowledged this was a bold speculation. He had always regarded the Thames valley deposits as Post-glacial. Mr. Whitaker had been brought to the conclusion that the brick-earth of the Thames valley belonged to the latter part of the Post-glacial period. Beneath the Corbicula beds of Erith were the remains of Pisidiwm and many of the common recent species of the neighbourhood. He saw no such extreme difficulty in the excavation of the Thames valley since the deposition of the Boulder-clay. (See Letter, p. 188.) _ Mr. J. Gwyn Jefireys mentioned the Helix ruderata and H. fruticum as being istances of shells of northern character occurring in the Thames valley at Ilford. No shells of an Arctic or Boreal character occurred in the south of England, so that it would appear that it had not been submerged. Mr. Prestwich was glad to find that the opinion of the Thames valley deposits being Post-glacial was gaining ground. He called attention to the existence in France of river-gravels belonging to an earlier period, such as that near Chartres, so that such might exist elsewhere. He could not reconcile the occurrence of Hippo- potamus so far north as Leeds with its annual migration, as had been suggested. Mr. Godwin-Austenagreed with the view of the author of the “‘ Reliquize Diluvianiz,”’ that the animals whose remains occur in caves lived prior to the submergence which filled the caves, or, in other words, to the Glacial period. He thought that it was impossible for all the animals whose remains occurred in the river-gravels to have occupied the land surface at the same time. He considered that English geologists were too prone to argue from phenomena confined to this country. A long island must have existed where now is the south of England, at the Glacial period; and he thought that at that time all animal life must have ceased there. If so, our divisions of time could not apply to the continent, where no such extreme changes in conditions took place. Mr. W. Boyd Dawkins, in reply, admitted that possibly some animals classed as Post-glacial belonged also to the Glacial period; but for convenience sake he had adopted the three divisions in the paper. He saw no necessity for any of the animals being of purely southern origin. He did not identify the Lower Brick-earth of the Thames valley with the other river-deposits, though from the presence of the Musk- sheep, he was inclined to place them later than at one time he did. The only reason he could give for the absence of Pre-glacial caves both in England and on the con- tinent was, that the rocks containing them may have been removed by denudation. GrotoctcaL Society or Guascow.—I. This Society met on the evening of January 5th, Mr. Edward A. Wunsch, V.P., in the chair. The Rev. Henry W. Crosskey exhibited a small block of limestone, bored by Pholas, from Great Orme’s Head, which he had lately visited in company with Mr. R. D. Darbishire, of Manchester. He described the position and peculiarities of the supposed Pholas borings. The specimen exhibited was from a height of 570 feet. The preservation of the Pholas burrows in the position in which they are now found, proves that the elevation of the land must have taken place since the Glacial epoch. Mr Edward Hull exhibited some specimens of pebbles from the New Red Conglomerate (Trias) of Central England, in the neigh- bourhood of Burton-on-Trent. The majority of these pebbles were stated to be composed of purple, pink, or “ liver coloured” quartzite, while a few pebbles of local origin from the Carboniferous rocks also occur. The quartzite pebbles are invariably rounded and water- Geological Society of Glasgow. 185 worn, and never of large size; they cannot be referred to any for- mation known to exist in England. From the manner in which they are distributed in England, Mr. Hull was of opinion that they had their origin to the northward of the Central Counties; and recently he had observed that the Lower Old Red Conglomerate of several parts of Scotland was composed of precisely similar pebbles of quartz rock, as those of the New Red Conglomerate of England. The Con- glomerate of Lesmahagow, for instance, described by Sir R. I. Murchison in 1856, (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xii.), is almost entirely composed of these pebbles, sometimes attaining a diameter of 16 inches. At Balmaha and Aberfoyle it presents similar fea- tures, but westward, as at Gairloch, the pebbles are of a more local character, though also containing the coloured quartzites, as described by Dr. Bryce. Mr. Hull felt satisfied that the New Red Conglomerate of England was the daughter of the Old Red Conglomerate of Scotland. Mr. Robert Craig, of Langside, near Beith, read a paper on ‘The Geology of the Dalry District.” The area described is the trian- gular basin situated in the parishes of Dalry, Kilbirnie, and Beith, the south-west angle of which extends into the north of Kilwinning, and has narrow extensions, one north-east into the Castle-semple Valley, the other into the Lugton Valley to Shellord. After defin- ing the boundaries of the basin, and giving a sketch of the Trap hills which surround it, Mr. Craig minutely described the Limestone series, as developed in the neighbourhood of Beith, consisting of limestone, shale, sandstone, thin seams of coal, etc., which also crop out in the beds of the various streams which descend from the hills on the opposite side of the valley with similar lithological characters. The author next described the various sections exposed at Rye Water, Auchenskeigh, Auchenmeade, and other localities around the basin. The underlying beds of the district are rich in fossils, chiefly Brachio- poda, some beds three feet in thickness being entirely composed of Producti. A band of limestone two feet thick at Broadstone is made up of a coral (Lithodendron), while other beds have yielded numerous specimens of the teeth and fin-rays of fishes. The Boulder-clay is well seen in almost every quarry in the district. It is full of erratic boulders derived from a northern source. Sections examined by Mr. Craig between Kilwinning and Barrhead—a distance of 15 miles in the supposed line of the glacier—led him to conclude that about 80 per cent. of the boulders had not travelled more than five miles. Thus, at Auchenskeigh, the majority are of sandstone from rocks situated two and three miles to the north-east; at Roughwood, they are from the Broadstone limestone; and in the railway cutting east of Shelford the boulders are traps from hills to the east and sandstones from the Levern Valley, two miles distant. Mr. Craig concluded with a description of the numerous Greenstone dykes which intersect the strata from north-west to south-east in various parts of the district. Il. The next meeting was held on the evening of February 4th,— 184. Reports and Proceedings. Professor John Young, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.8., President, in the chair. Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., exhibited several specimens of chlorite schist from Port-Askaig, Islay, with imbedded angular and rounded fragments of granite, varying in size from one-eighth to twenty inches in diameter. Mr. Thomson was not aware that granite had been found in situ in the island, consequently the pieces must have been transported from a distance, probably by ice, and imbedded in the chlorite schist during its deposition. The granites are of two kinds, one resembling a fine-grained variety of a dull red colour found in Glencoe, the other resembles the granite of the Ross of Mull. If the presence of these granites might be attributed to the agency of ice, it would imply a Glacial period during the deposition of the schistose rocks of the Western Highlands. Mr. Thomson also exhibited a large suite of fish and reptilian re- mains from the blackband ironstone of Quarter, near Hamilton, which the President pointed out in detail, and expressed a desire that they might be figured and described in the publications of the Society. Mr. Hugh M‘Phail, of Nitshill, read a paper on “ the Carboniferous Sections of the Levern Valley,” illustrated by a cross section from Waukmill Glen to Crookston Hill, representing the succession of the beds from the Hurlet and Nitshill main coal series upwards. The valley of the Levern is divided into two portions, the southern being drained by the Aurs, joined by the Brock, and the northern by the Levern, the natural trough of the valley being in the southern divi- sion. Commencing at a brown sandstone, a few feet from the surface in the centre of the trough, Mr. M‘Phail described the lithological character of the different strata down to the base of the section, em- bracing upwards of three hundred fathoms. The strata on the southern side of the valley rest upon the Trap, and on the northern side at Crookston they are much altered by an igneous dyke. Four great faults traverse the valley in a direction nearly east and west, which are crossed by smaller faults at various angles. These have produced upthrows of the strata to the westward. As the valley narrows towards the west the strata attain a high angle, and are gradually thrown off, and in the bed of the Levern at West Arthurlie, Gateside, and near Broadley Mill, they are seen dipping at various angles. The geological phenomena along the south of the valley, and at the base of the Fereneze and Brownside hills, strongly in- dicate that the Trap has been elevated through the Carboniferous strata. It would appear from the angles at which the faults cut the trough that they could not have been formed by a depression of the valley ; but, viewed in connection with the smaller cross faults, it seems evident that an upheaval of the igneous rocks has taken place on both sides of the valley, The ranges of hills above referred to appear to have had a greater elevation than they now possess, and to have been again depressed, carrying down with them the strata on and adjacent to their base. From the formation of the trough, Mr. M‘Phail was of opinion that the beds had been deposited on eleva- tions on each side of the valley, and that these elevations were at a Geological Society of Glasgow. 185 lower level, or at a greater distance from the trough, than the traps now are. By whatever causes these great displacements have been occasioned, whereby the northern division has been elevated to its present position, it must have been since subjected to extraordinary denudation ; for immediately after the displacement of the strata, the northern division must have been at least 1500 feet above the pre- sent bed of the Levern near Hurlet. After the elevation, the bold escarpments formed would probably be directly in front of the denuding agent, as suggested by the Glacial striz at Oldbar and Crosstobs, to which they would soon give way on account of the thick beds of clay shale of which they were composed. At the western extremity of the valley the Glacial striz are due east and west, showing that by this outlet between the traps had flowed the denuded debris. The origin of the Sandstone boulders found to the westward of the Levern would thus be accounted for. III. The third ordinary meeting was held on the evening of 4th March—Professor John Young, President, in the chair. Mr. J. Wallace Young exhibited specimens of hematite from the mines recently opened in the Garlton Hills, a series of low-lying eminences in the north of Haddingtonshire, consisting principally of grey and reddish claystone. The farmer on that part of the property where the mines are situated, had frequently observed pieces turned up with the plough. It crops out almost at the surface, and from an examination of part of the workings to which Mr. Young had access, he was of opinion that it was a very valuable deposit. ‘Two speci- mens which he had analysed showed—No. 1. Peroxide of iron, 89:64, equal to 62:75 metallic iron ; No. 2. Peroxide of iron, 89°28, equal to 62°50 metallic iron. Hematite, when pure, consists solely of peroxide of iron. The Rey. Henry W. Crosskey, F.G.S., and Mr. David Robertson, communicated a paper on the “ Post-Tertiary Fossiliferous Beds of Scotland.” The new localities which they had recently investigated are :—1. Blackburn, Tarbert.—On the north side of Tarbert loch, at the north-east corner, is a bed of clay, containing Arctic shells, trace- able 12 to 15 feet above high water. Jt has an incline of 1 foot in 10, and is overlaid by six feet of stony mould. T'rochus helicinus is peculiarly abundant, and many specimens retain their colour. Mya truncata does not occur whole, but the fragments are covered with fresh-looking epidermis. Tellina calearea is neither plentiful nor large. Water-worn shells and those of different habitats are mingled together, showing that they have not all lived and died in the locality where they are found. This bed has, however, some characteristic species, especially of Entomostraca. The only British example of Cythere emarginata hitherto known was dredged by the authors in deep water off Shetland, but in this deposit the species is moderately common. Pseudocythere caudata of Sars, rare in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Norway in deep water, is here moderately common. 2. West Tarbert Deposit.—This clay extends along the south side of the loch, and at points abuts against the native rock, to 186 Reports and Proceedings. which, in some cases, Balani and Serpule are actually attached in considerable abundance. Many of the shells have attained a particu- larly large size, especially Tellina calcarea and Pecten Islandicus. About twenty-four species of Ostracoda and sixteen of Foraminifera occur, comprising some new forms. 38. Crinan.—This bed is on a small plateau on the north side of No. 11 Lock, Crinan Canal. The section is exposed in a cutting made to lead off the water from the high level. A few feet only of the clay are exposed, and the shell- bearing portion is only a thin stratum. The shells are few and broken —the Balani more abundant than the shells, and mostly fragmentary. A perfect specimen of Verruca stromia was found. Thirteen species of Ostracoda occur, and all the species, except one or two, are toler- ably abundant. There are ten species of Foraminifera, two being as yet undetermined. This deposit is thirty feet above the sea, and is of considerable interest. 4. Duntroon.—This clay is to the south of Duntroon Castle, coming to the surface at about high-water-mark. Pleurotoma pyramidalis is remarkably abundant. ‘This bed contains thirty-seven species of Ostracoda, and thirty-three of Foraminifera, of very interesting types. 5. Crofthead.—In the Crofthead fresh- water clays, which are now the subject of much discussion, the authors had succeeded in discovering several species of Entomostraca. A resumé was also given of the Post-Tertiary deposits at Kilchattan, Kyles of Bute, Paisley, and Old Mains, Renfrew. J. A. Norwich Guroxocican Soctuty.—This Society commemorated its fifth anniversary by a Soirée, held at the Norfolk and Norwich Museum, on February 4th, the rooms of which were lighted up expressly for the occasion. The Museum contains—besides the magnificent Ornithological collections, contributed in great measure by Mr. John Henry Gurney—the original collection of Cretaceous and Crag Fossils belonging to the late Mr. Samuel Woodward (author of “The Geology of Norfolk,” etc.), the fine collection of Crag Mollusca formed by the late Capt. Alexander; and, lastly, the magnificent suite of Mammalian remains from the Forest-bed of the Norfolk coast, presented by the Rev. John Gunn, F.G.S., the Pre- sident of the Norwich Geological Society. The Soirée (which was attended by upwards of 200 persons), was rendered extremely agree- able by the number of microscopes, drawings, and specimens ex- hibited; and the President (the Rev. John Gunn), the Honorary Secretary (Mr. J. E. Taylor), Mr. Charlesworth, F.G.8., and Mr. Kitton, addressed the meeting on various Geological topics. Much credit is due to the Committee and to Mr. Reeve (the Curator of the Museum) for the successful carrying out of all the arrangements. Natura History Socrery, Monrrran.—On January 2ist, Prin- cipal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., etc., delivered the first lecture of the “‘ Somerville”? course of Lectures. He took for his subject ‘‘ Palzeo- zoic Land Animals.” After a general sketch of the great groups of deposits containing organic remains, the lecturer gave a more minute account of the Fauna and Flora of the Carboniferous epoch, especially Natural History Society of Montreal. 187 describing the terrestrial reptiles, insects, and mollusks discovered in the Nova Scotian Coal-fields. Dr. Dawson’s name is so intimately associated with the discovery of these interesting remains that we cannot imagine a fitter subject for so able a lecturer, or one to which he could do greater justice. Tue Bata Natura History anp Antiquarian Frenp-civs held their third meeting on February 24th,—the Rev. L. Jenyns, President, in the chair, when papers were read by Mr. McMurtrie on “'The Faults and Contortions of the Somersetshire Coal Field,’ and by Mr. Chas. Ekin on “Chemistry in connection with Geology.” Mr. McMurtrie, whose practical knowledge of the Coal-measures to the south of the Kingswood anticlinal enabled him to speak with so much authority on the subject, gave a condensed account of the various coal beds divided into the upper and lower series by the intervening permanent sandstones. The main object of the paper was a minute description of the numerous disturbances and contor- tions to which the whole field has been subjected. ‘The Farnborough “Fault,” with a downthrow of 600 feet, and the great feature of the Somersetshire coal field, the Radstock “overlap fault” in the upper division, were the principal points dwelt upon. But the chief in- terest centred in the contorted, dislocated, and folded strata of the Lobster series in the lower division,—every conceivable variety of disturbance seems to have its focus here, and produces the extraor- dinary result of coal actually won beneath the Carboniferous lime- stone. The anomalous position of this patch of limestone was ac- counted for by the great upheaval to which the whole Mendip range has been subjected,—an upheaval which may have been either gra- dual or continued at long intervals, but of such vast magnitude and force as to cause the limestone and superincumbent sandstone to be folded back on themselves, so that the natural floor of the bed be- comes the roof of the workings. Mr. McMurtrie, in conclusion, stated that the approximate and probable origin of these “ faults” and contortions had been discovered by Mr. Moore in the existence of volcanic rocks in the Mendip anticlinal, and that the same agent which upheaved the Carboniferous limestone of the Mendips was, in his opinion, the source of the great disturbances in the adjoining Coal-basin. The date of this upheaval was, he considered, at the close of the Carboniferous period, and previous to the deposition of the New Red Sandstone, and other overlying secondary rocks. The horizontal position of these rocks, reposing on the upturned edges of the strata beneath, was given in evidence of this conclusion ; and the fact that the New Red Sandstone has been deposited on a compara- tively level surface would seem to indicate that great denudation had taken place after the disturbances to which the Coal-measures were subjected. —Mr. Ekin’s paper on “‘ Chemical Geology” was then read, and in it the author traced the changes that have taken place in our globe, from the time when it existed in space in a gaseous state to its condition at the present day ; he showed how existing nebula were proved to consist of gases in a state of incandescence, and the pro- 188 Correspondence—Ur. J. Lucas. bability of a nucleus now being formed among them, and discussed the possibility of the earth’s formation in a similar way. As con- densation proceeded, and the earth became first fluid and then gra- dually solid, he showed that we should have at the centre the dense metals and their compounds, and in the crust the lighter metals, and explained how it was that the sea was salt from the first beginning. With a view to elucidate this part of the subject, he entered at some length into the composition of the sun, whose condition now is strictly comparable with that of the earth in its earlier stages, and proceeded to show how exactly the metals and gases forming the sun’s atmo- Sphere are ranged according to their densities. Coming more to chemical geology proper, he showed how the first sedimentary rocks were formed from the débris of pre-existing rocks, and the later ones in turn from their débris. Alluding to the Bath hot-springs, he strongly advocated the theory of their heat being due to chemical rather than to volcanic action, and explained his reasons for believ- ing that this action was owing to the oxidation of iron. Treating amongst other heads of metamorphic action and mineral veins,—of the first he demonstrated the probability of many of our metamorphic rocks being due to the heat produced by great mechanical distur- bances, such as the crumpling up of strata, and not to contact with the interior heat of the earth; and of mineral veins he adduced arguments in proof of their not being due to volcanic action. In conclusion, he gave the results of a new experiment by Mr. Stoddart of Bristol, which demonstrated very clearly the formation of flints, and concerning which nothing was satisfactorily known.—H. H. W. CORRESPONDENCE, Ae TS SL THE BOULDER-CLAY AND THE THAMES VALLEY. Sir,—At the meeting of the Geological Society, on February 24th, some surprise was expressed at the fact of the Boulder-clay not crossing the Thames Valley. It comes down in places to the water level on the north bank (there the Thames Valley is older than the Drift), and occurs-nowhere along a distance of (I believe) ten miles on the south bank. If, as seems highly probable, at the time when the Boulder-clay was being deposited north of the Thames, parts of Kent and Sussex were above water, the Thamas Valley could not have been many fathoms deep, and existed as a channel running east and west between an island to the south and a shoal to the north. Along this channel an east and west current would flow parallel to the northern shore of the island, and sufficiently strong to cut off all drift slowly travelling down from the north and prevent its ever arriving at the coast. ‘Therefore we find no remains of it now. J. Lucas. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ENGLAND, UPPER TOOTING, S.W.- February 26, 1869. DISCOVERY OF DAKOSAURUS IN ENGLAND. Srr,—In the last number of the Quarterly Journal of the Geo- logical Society appeared an abstract of a paper by Mr. Wood-Mason, Correspondence—Mr. H. G. Seeley 189 claiming to make known the existence of Dakosaurus in England. I trust I shall not appear wanting in courtesy in noticing the paper now, instead of waiting till it is published in full. But as I should then have no more or less to say, I have thought it better to make known the fact that Dakosaurus has already been chronicled as an English fossil, so that when Mr. Wood-Mason publishes his paper, he may withdraw his claim to be its first discoverer. In the Woodwardian Museum occur vertebra, limb-bones, and teeth of a reptile, for which I had used and still use the name Dinoto- saurus ; and, in a controversial writing on the Potton sands, I had re- ferred teeth (in no way to be distinguished from those in the Kimme- ridge Clay) to the same genus. My friend, Mr. Walker, soon after found that these teeth, which he had originally referred to as of crocodilian character, were similar to those in the British Museum, for which Quenstedt had used the name Dakosaurus, and in his next paper in the Annals of Natural History, 1866, and in the Bri- tish Association Reports, he chronicles the Dakosausus as an English fossil, and acknowledges the assistance of Mr. Henry Woodward in its determination. It also was found in the beds at Wicken (Up- ware), and duly enumerated in a paper on that locality by Mr. Walker in 1867, in the Geotoetcat Magazine, p. 310. : It has been known to me for several years in several species, a characteristic of beds from the base of the Oxford Clay to the sands over the Kimmeridge Clay. Harry G. SEELEY. Woowarpian Museum, CamBripcE. “MIDDLE DRIFT” GRAVEL AT LOPHAM FORD. Str,—My friend Mr. Gunn originally pointed out to me the in- terest attaching to Lopham Ford, as a crucial test on the question of denudation. He now asks, “ how, supposing the valley of Lopham to be attributable to either pluvial or fluvial denudation, supposing the watershed to have been ever (? always) on that spot, could the magnificent bed of valley gravel have been deposited on the bank, near the ford and the watershed ?” What will he say, when I reply that there is no such bed of valley gravel there at all? The gravel seen is the “Middle Drift,” in which the valley is excavated. J examined it carefully, and came to that decided conclusion. As corroborative evidence I found in it a bed of whitish sand, containing abundance of the same minute organisms from the Chalk, which are so plentiful in the Glacial sand at Firgrove pit near Norwich, and in the railway cutting near Wells. These could hardly be abundant in a river-gravel in a valley not cut through the Chalk. I need not reiterate that I do not attribute the excavation of this valley to pluvial or fluvial, but to Glacial action. The contorted condition of the superficial beds, or “trail,” is extremely marked in the gravel pit on the Suffolk side at Redgrave.—O. Fisuer. Harton, CAMBRIDGE. 190 Correspondence—Mr. E. Ray Lankester. ELEPHAS MERIDIONALIS IN THE NORWICH CRAG. Sir,—I must beg you to allow me space for a few additional re- marks—Firstly, Mr. Gunn’s “ evidence” is, I may venture to say, without offence, undeniably no evidence at all, and the way in which Mr. Fisher uses it in building a theory is an example of a common method of the growth of error. Mr. Fisher is quite right in saying that Mr. Whincopp’s collection does not contain E. meridionalis, nor do other equally fine collections known to me. Mr. Fisher aban- doning E. meridionalis as a Red Crag fossil, observes—“ The species, however, is abundant in the Norwich Crag, which is sufficient for my argument.” I would ask here, what exactly is the mode of occur- rence of HE. meridionalis in the Norwich Crag? How many molars have been found, and in what parts of the Norwich Crag ? The head- quarters of E. meridionalis in this country are undoubtedly in the Forest-beds, and the few specimens which appear to have come from the Norwich Crag, may have been derived, or have come from a representative horizon of the Forest-bed. Why does Mr. Fisher speak of “‘ Miocenes of the south” as furnishing derivata to the Suffolk bone-bed? Surely Miocenes of the north will satisfy the required conditions better. Some of Mr. Fisher’s paragraphs lead me to suppose that I have been understood as wishing to dispute the identity of the Red and Norwich Crags. This was not my intention. I quite believe that they shade off into one another—the more northern beds of the Upper Crags being newer than the southern ; this rule holding good for the various localities of the Red Crag, as well as the Norfolk Crag. My object was merely to get the facts rightly stated. The truth is, that nothing is known of the terrestial mammalia of the Coralline, or Red Crag period, 7.e., of a fauna coeval with the marine fauna of those deposits, and I believe the same is true for the Nor- wich Crag. The contents of Mr. Gunn’s stone bed have no more to do with the Norwich Crag than have the contents of the Suffolk Bone-bed (two species of Mastodon, Rhinoceros, etc., Cetacean bones and nodules of Plio-miocene! age,) to do with the Red Crag. I should much like to see a list of Mammalian remains in addition to the Mastodon teeth, found in Mr. Gunn’s stone-bed. The Mastodon does not occur in this country with Hlephas meridionalis at all—nor in France—and we may doubt if it does so even in the Val d’Arno, since the strata may have belonged to different horizons which fur- nished the one to the other. The relations of—Ist, the Mastodon- fauna of the Suffolk bone-bed and Norfolk stone-bed; 2nd, the HE. Meridionalis-fauna of the Forest-bed; and 8rd, the Marine-fauna of the Crags, have still to be worked out, and this can only be done by keeping the three quite distinct and adhering to fact. 1 think I have clearly shown that the Mastodon, Cetacea, etc., of the Suffolk bone-bed are older even than a deposit (the sandstone nodules) con- taining Conus, Cassidarie, Pyrula, and Isocardia, in place of the more boreal forms of the Crags. The question arises as to whether 1 This compound is used to avoid offence. Correspondence— Colonel George Greenwood. 191 the same is true of the Mastodon of the Norfolk stone-bed. The re- mains of the Forest-bed are in the hands of Mr. Boyd Dawkins, who doubtless will not allow them to be mixed up with Crag or Bone- bed specimens. HK. Ray Lankester. HampstEabD, SUGGESTIONS ABOUT DENUDATION. Srr,— Your number of this month (p. 109) contains a clever paper by Mr. Kinahan. With one exception, 1 agree with everything that he has said. The exception relates to what Mr. Mackintosh has dubbed ‘‘ My hard-gorge and soft-valley theory.” I think that Dr. Hooker’s terraces are patches of alluvial plains (or river haughs) sliced into terraces, and not filled-up lakes. Alluvial plains, pro- perly so called, are deposited by the overflow of rivers upon flat dry ground, and not in hollows like filled-up lakes. Take the engraving of Dr. Hooker’s terraces. On the left of the river, as you look at it, Mi Wy A ‘Nihil Diagram of the Glacial Terraces at the Fork of the Yangma Valley (copied, slightly reduced in size, from Dr. Hooker’s Himalayan Journals, vol. i. p. 219). are four terraces. Number them 1, 2, 3, 4 from the river. No. 1 is now being formed in precisely the same way as all alluvial plains, and as all the preceding terraces have been formed. That is, by deposit from the overflow of the river on to the dry flat surface of the terrace, which also receives the waste of the sides of the valley and of the old terraces. No. 2 forms the banks of the river when in flood, and is vanishing now in precisely the same way as the preceding terraces have vanished. That is, the flooded river pulls the loose banks down, till No. 2 is driven against the side of the hill as No. 5 has been driven there. No. 1 then extends to the hill-side, and is added to by every flood till the bed of the gorge is lowered. Then No. 1 shares the fate of No. 2, 3, 4, and a new alluvium is formed at a lower level and at the expense of No. 1. Mr. Kinahan asks “ what causes the barrier?” Any comparatively hard strata which cross the stream below softer strata. ven the 192 Miscellaneous. soft Chalk of the Northand South Downs form narrow gorges below the broad alluvial flats of the softer Weald Clay. But these Weald Clay flats are at the same level as the beds of the Chalk gorges. There are no hollows or lakes above the gorges. The origin of all alluvial plains, properly so-called, is the stoppage of the lowering of the bed of the valley. The bed of the valley above the stoppage is then cut back perfectly horizontal at the level of the stoppage. The rain flood-water from the inclined sides of the valley is then checked, overflows and deposits on the horizontal part. The sea stops the lowering of the bed of every valley. Therefore, the parts next the sea are composed of horizontal alluvium. Take the alluvial plain of the Nile from Cairo to Syene. We know that it is raised by deposit every year. But this rising is not the result of a lake “ behinda barrier.” ‘This rising of the lowest or marine alluvial plain is constant, that is, it will go onas long as the relative level of the land and of the sea remain the same, and no terraces will be formed. Parallel terraces are formed by patches of alluvial plain. That is patches formed in valleys cut in soft strata above gorges of hard strata, which make temporary stoppages of the lower- ing of the bed of the valley. But we do not require (as Mr. Kina- han supposes) ‘‘ power to scoop out rocks behind a barrier” lower than the barrier. No hollow or lake is formed. The alluvial flat above the gorge is never lower than the bed of the gorge, it is at the same level, or, if anything, a shade higher. This principle accounts for the Kames at Carstairs above the gorges of the Clyde at Lanark, and of the Mouse Water at Cartland Crags, and I guess it would explain the enigma of the Eskers of Central Ireland. GroRGE GREENWOOD, Colonel. Brookwoop Park, ALRESFORD, 6ti March, 1869. WEES Candas AI @mais: —O GEOLOGY OF ALASKA TERRITORY. Mr. Henry Watter Bares, Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society, has kindly forwarded me the subjoined extract from a letter of Mr. W. H. Dall, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, U.S. to F. Whymper, Esq., Haslemere, Surrey :—“ Alaska.—You can tell your scientific friends that I have settled the geological question by fossils which I got this last year near Topanica (Norton Sound) : a fine species of Platanus, which is undoubtedly Miocene Tertiary ; there are no older rocks below Nuclukayette (Yukon River). The south flanks of the Alaskan range have Triassic? and Miocene Tertiary beds.”—Mr. Dall’s large collections are now being arranged at the Smithsonian Institute. Geol. Mag 1869. Nel Vi 2igue GR De Wilde del st hth. W. West Imp. Jaw of Strophodus from the Oolitte of Caen. THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LIX.—MAY, 1869 (GUS Cristy! 7S Anan Oa meas I. Description OF A GREAT PART OF A JAW WITH THE TEETH OF SrropHopus MEDIUS, Ow., FROM THE OoLITE oF COarEN IN NoRMANDY. By Professor Owen, F.R.S. (PLATE VII.) I HAVE not hitherto seen any specimen so satisfactorily and finely illustrative of the affinity of Strophodus to Cestracion as that figured in Plate VII. and which is now in the British Museum. It consists of the major part of the dental covering of a jaw, including the posterior part of the symphysis, and shows that the principal or largest crushing teeth are in two rows, in each ramus, the hinder one the largest, as in Cestracion. ‘These are followed by two rows (at least) of smaller crushing teeth, and are preceded by rows of teeth both smaller and more produced at the middle of their working surface, and in the same degree changing from the crushing molar to the conical prehensile type. This dental coating or armature is imbedded in a block of the fine Oolitic building-stone from Caen, which has taken the place of the dissolved cartilaginous support of the teeth, so as to maintain and exhibit the curve of the arch (Fig. la) by which the teeth obliquely overspanned the jaw to which they were originally attached. Of the principal row of teeth (a), six are preserved. entire on one side, and the basis of seven on the opposite side of the jaw : the hinder half of this series has been broken off; the fracture of the supporting matrix there demonstrating the curve of the convexity of the jaw to which they were originally attached. Seven (Fig. la, 1-7) is thus shown to be the normal number of these large crushing teeth, which succeed each other from within, outward, and forward: it is the shell of the innermost and last formed which is wanting on the left side of this jaw. The second tooth, counting from behind, on this side (a2), with a grinding surface 0-035 m.m. in length, 0-013 m.m. in breadth, has that surface moderately convex transversely, with the convexity highest toward the fore end, in the longitudinal direction: the outer and inner borders straight and parallel; the fore and hinder borders curved, but so as to indicate a low angle, fitting the interspace of the correspondingly shaped ends of the two teeth of the contiguous row. The main part of the crown is sculptured by an extremely fine network of thin ganoin, the meshes simulating pores; but to- ward the hinder slope the threads run together to form fine sub- VOL. VI.—NO. LIX. 13 194 Prof. Owen—On a Jaw of Strophodus. parallel ridges which descend to the margin of the crown. There is a like disposition along the fore part of the tooth, but the parallel ridges are formed much nearer the margin, and are much shorter than those behind. The third, fourth, and fifth teeth, a 3-5, closely resemble the second ; the sixth tooth shows the effects of mastication, the threads are worn down to the bottom of the meshes on the most prominent part of the grinding surface, and the meshes are shallower over a greater extent of that surface. In the anterior (seventh, 7 a) tooth abrasion has rendered a still greater proportion of the surface smooth, demonstrating how the ganoin closes the summits of the medullary or vascular canals.'_ The unworn meshes of the reticulate ganoin are so minute and deep as to look like pores. The marginal parallel ridges, out of the field of work, of course remain. The six teeth in place preserve the form and dimensions of the innermost: each in succession is moved forward, or toward the symphysis, about 0-004 m.m. in advance of the inner tooth. The teeth of the row, b, next in advance are seven in number, and are preserved on both sides of the jaw: they do not show so close a resemblance to each other in size and shape as those of the row behind; in comparison with which they are smaller, more convex in the direction of the length of the grinding sur- face, and the highest part of the convexity is at the middle of the surface: the anterior end of the tooth is narrower than the posterior end, and in a greater degree in the innermost tooth than in the rest ; this character, with the greater longitudinal convexity, gives the appearance of the tooth being bent obliquely lengthwise with the smaller anterior end inclining to the outer side of the jaw. The re- semblance of the tooth, especially of the posterior ones, both in shape and superficies, to a contracted medicinal leech, is close, and accounts for the name given by the quarrymen to the detached fossils. The length of the working surface of thethird tooth, b 3, ina straight line is 0-031 m.m.; the breadth of the hind border is 0-013 m.m.; that of the front border is 0.010 m.m. The posterior parallel linear dis- position of the ganoin is proportionally greater as compared with its minutely reticulate disposition than in the larger teeth of the row behind. In the sixth tooth the summit of the convexity is worn smooth. In the seventh tooth, part of the crown has been broken away, on both sides of the jaw. Hight teeth of the row, ¢c, next in advance are preserved on the left side of the jaw: they diminish in greater degree, in size, than do those of the row b compared with a; they rise higher and more abruptly at the middle of the crown ; the anterior end is more contracted; the inferiority of size of the innermost as compared with the rest is greater. A low ridge is continued from the summit of the crown to the ends of the tooth, that to the fore end being more marked than the one behind, and the anterior ridges are more prominent in the outer teeth of the row, ¢, 0, 6, 7, than in the inner teeth, 1-4. The length of the work- ing surface of the fourth tooth, ¢, 4, is 0-°028 m. m.; the breadth is 0:011 m. m. 1 As shown, in section, magnified, in plate xx. of my ‘ Odontography.’ Prof. Owen—On a Jaw of Strophodus. 195 Hight teeth of the foremost or symphysial row of teeth, d, are pre- served on the left side. The exposed parts of the working surface augments from 0:008 m.m.—the longitudinal diameter of the inner- most, d, to 0-020 m. m. that of the sixth tooth in advance. The degree of convexity of the grinding surface increases from the innermost to the fourth ; in advance of this, the ganoin coating has been more or less broken away; in the fifth and sixth teeth, the ridge continued from the convexity to the ends of the teeth becomes marked, and more strongly as the tooth advances in position. The right and left teeth of this foremost series are alternate, and loosely interlock at the mid-line of the symphysis. The parallel ridged disposition of the ganoin occupies the greatest proportion of the crown in the teeth of the anterior row; the reti- culate disposition, rather coarser than in the large posterior teeth, is confined to the obtuse summit of the crown. Returning to the hind part of the dental series, the largest row first described is succeeded by one, e, of very small teeth, with a uni- formly convex grinding surface of an oblong elliptical form, of which the long diameter, in the direction from within outwards, exceeds that from before backwards. The long diameter is 0°011 m.m.; the short diameter is 0-008 m.m. The reticulate pattern prevails over their surface ; it is coarser or with larger meshes than in the teeth in advance. Of only one tooth in this series is the ganoin of the crown preserved ; parts of five other teeth of this row, however, remain in situ. 'The indications of a succeeding hinder row, f, of similar, but rather smaller teeth, are obvious; and the base of one tooth of a third, and probably hindmost row, g, is preserved. In comparing the dentition of Strophodus with that of Cestracion, the chief difference is seen in the smaller number of rows anterior to the principal or largest: three rows, in each ramus, occupy the interval between such principal row and the mid-line of the symphy- sis; in Cestracion seven rows occupy that space in the upper jaw, and nine rows in the lower jaw; in this jaw, moreover, a medial azygous row occupies the mid-line of the symphysis, which is not the case in the upper jaw. (See Figure, inserted at page 236.) According to this analogy, the teeth in the present specimen agree in arrangement with those of the upper jaw of Cestracion; butin the more gradual diminution of size, as they approach the symphysis, the teeth agree more with those of the lower jaw in Cestracion; the de- crease being much more abrupt in the series next but one in advance of the principal series in the upper jaw of Cestracion. It is unlikely, from the minor number of rows and the larger relative size of the anterior teeth in Strophodus, that an azygous mesial row should be interposed at the symphysis of the lower jaw. But the elements for absolutely determining whether the present specimen be from the upper or lower jaw are wanting. I have assumed the latter for facility of description, partly from the gradual decrease forward in the size of the teeth, partly because a detached fossil jaw is so much more commonly a lower than an upper one. But what is of more interest and importance is, that, in this long 196 G. Poulett Scrope—On the Cause of Volcanic Action. deferred acquisition of a specimen so much desired by Agassiz in 1836,! the main prevision so sagaciously deduced from fragmentary groups of the fossil teeth by the founder and chief builder of the fair edifice of Palichthyology is confirmed, viz. :—that “the genus Strophodus had a less considerable number of teeth in the jaw than the genus Cestracion :”* and the only emendation which this fossil suggests is, that “it does not appear, with regard to the rows in Cestracion homologous with those present in Strophodus, that there are fewer teeth in such rows in the fossil genus.” * Of the teeth of Strophodus figured by Agassiz, those in Tab. 18, Vol. 38, op. cit., figs. 5 and 6, ascribed to Sér. subreticulatus, and those figs. 12, 13, ascribed to Str. magnus, resemble teeth in rows a and b of the present specimen so closely as to indicate specific identity ; perhaps the term Strophodus medius may conveniently indicate the species of the Caen Oolite, which includes more than one of the species originally pro- posed for detached teeth. DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VII. Fig. 1. Jaw of Strophodus from the Oolite of Caen (drawn of the natural size). The arrow indicates the line of symphysis and fore part of the jaw. Fig. 1a. View of the section across the principal row of teeth, a, showing the curve of their attached bases. The figures and letters indicate the corresponding rows in the two rami of the jaw. [A figure of the Jaw of recent Cestracion is given at page 236 of this Number.— Enrr. } 11.—On tor Suprosep INFLUX OF WATER TO THE INTERIOR OF THE GLOBE, AS THE CAusE oF VorcAanic Eruprtons. By G. Pounert Scrorz, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. T is now generally recognised that the power which forces up lava from a depth of miles through narrow and crooked fissures broken across the solid crust of the globe, is no other than steam, developed in the interior of the lava by vaporisation of water inti- mately disseminated throughout its substance. I am not aware that this view of the volcanic phenomena was put forward by any writer previously to the publication of my volume on Volcanos in 1825. But I had derived a conviction of its truth from observation of the great Vesuvian eruption of 1822, and a study of Etna and Stromboli in the years 1819-21. This was subsequently confirmed by the dis- coveries of Sorby, Scheerer, and others, of the existence of water in intimate molecular combination with the crystalline or granular minerals that compose the granitic rocks from the fusion of which lava is supposed to proceed. I had expressed my belief that the aqueous particles so confined, whether mm a liquid or a solid state, would, upon the occurrence of increased heat, or diminished pressure, exert an elastic separating force upon the solid 1 «¢ Alors ilm’importait essentiellement de connaitre leur disposition et leurs formes diverses.’’—Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles, iii. p. 118. 2 “Te genre Strophodus avait & ses machoires un nombre de rangées moins con- siderable que le genre Cestracion.’’—Tome. cit. p. 120. 3 “Tl me parait également probable que chaque rangée contenait aussi moins de deuts placées les unes derriére les autres, de dehors en dedans.”—Tome. cit. p. 122. G. Poulett Scrope—On the Cause of Volcanic Action. 197 erystals or granules, in the manner of a flux, and thus assist the liquefaction of the mass, and drive it up any fissure that might open for its passage, in a pasty or semi-liquid state, short of complete fusion ; so that on reaching the outer air, and parting with the contained steam, together with the heat which the expansion of , this element would carry off in a latent form, its surface would con- solidate instantly ; and the solidification extending rapidly inwards by the formation of crevices giving an outlet to further vapour, the resulting rock would exhibit acellular or porous structure, and a granular or crystalline texture, in lieu of the compact and glassy one which, if completely fused, it should possess. These ideas were received at the time with incredulity. But their correctness is now not far from being generally recognised. For example, Professor Phillips, in his recent volume on Vesuvius, ad- mits “the fact that water is present abundantly in the fluid lava,” (p. 305), and again (p. 811), “ steam pervades some parts—perhaps every part—of the fluid mass.” He adds, “ Lava cooled rapidly might be expected to be glassy in texture. This, however, is rarely, or never, the case in Vesuvius.” It is strange that neither the Pro- fessor, nor other observers, should have sought for the cause of a fact so different from what was to be expected on the supposition of the complete fusion of the lava—yet so common, that, with the ex- ception of the vitreous lavas of Lipari, Hawaii, Bourbon, and the trachytic obsidians and pearlstones, it may be declared to be uni- versally true of all lavas, whether trachytic or doleritic. But if we admit the existence of water, or steam, in close and inti- mate dissemination through every part of a mass of subterraneous lava, and of the rocks from whose liquefaction or semi-fusion by intense heat it proceeds, how are we to believe that this water could have found its way into this position from superficial seas or lakes, through fissures suddenly opened by the earthquakes which accompany an eruption ? Such sudden influx of a body of water to a heated mass of mineral matter beneath, might be conceived to give rise to some equally sudden explosion at the point of contact; but the explosion itself, and the rise of lava up the fissure must, it is to be presumed, check any further penetration of water. The effect would be superficial only, and could scarcely so completely saturate the entire mass of heated rock, whether in a liquid or solid state at the time, as to cause its general ebullition, continued too through such lengthened periods as volcanic eruptions are often known to last. Moreover, if we suppose an earthquake to cause the eruption of a voleano by suddenly admitting a body of water to its heated focus, what, it must be asked, causes the earthquake? Not certainly the influx of this same water through the rents which the earthquake itself only originates. The effect cannot produce the cause. Surely it is more reasonable to suppose that a local increase of heat trans- mitted from the sides or from beneath a volcanic focus, which had been for a time cooled down by the emission of steam and lava in earlier eruptions, gives occasion to the expansion of a body of subterranean mineral matter (whether in a solid, or fluid, or some intermediate con- 198 G. Poulett Scrope—On the Cause of Volcanic Action. dition, but already permeated with water), and by elevatory shocks produces the earthquake-rents, and, if any one of these communicate with the outer air, a volcanic eruption—the lava rising up the fissure to the surface, and the water in it flashing into steam wherever dimin- ished pressure permits, especially in the upper part of the vent, from which the explosions always proceed. Nor is this view of the phenomena of eruption opposed to the general principles of the most eminent geologists, but the contrary. For example, Sir C. Lyell, in several passages of his Principles (see Ed. 1869, p. 233) represents the original motive power of both earthquakes and volcanos to be the lateral shifting of internal heat from one part of the subterranean matter to another; increase of heat occasioning expansion and elevatory movements accompanied by jarring rents causing earthquakes. If, then, we believe the internal heated matter already to contain water, which we know from examination does exist in all granitic and metamorphic rocks, the production of rents in this manner, giving partial freedom to the expansibility of the water, will account at once for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, without supposing a flood of water from above suddenly to find its way down to and to penetrate every part of the interior of the heated rock in some un- intelligible manner. Sir C. Lyell, indeed (Principles, Ed. 1869, p. 233), supposes the rents that have admitted this water may be sud- denly closed above, and the water converted into steam below find its way somehow under a mass of fluid lava, which it may drive up some neighbouring volcanic vent. But he has himself shown in an earlier passage (p. 221) that it is only in the upper part of the column of lava in a volcanic vent that the “red-hot or white-hot water en- tangled in it, under tremendous pressure,” is enabled by the reduc- tion of that pressure to flash into steam, and produce the explosive phenomena of a volcanic eruption; and he fails to show—and does not even seem conscious of the necessity for explaining—how “‘atmo- spheric or sea-water suddenly descending from above” could become “so entangled” within and throughout every part of the lava. I am aware that the theory I am opposing is considered to derive support from the very general occurrence of volcanic vents within or near to seas or large bodies of superficial water. But this same geo- graphical position would result from the generally admitted fact that the continental tracts have been elevated above the sea-level by internal expansions of deeply-seated matter which could not force its way outwards; where, in the words of Mr. Mallet, “‘ uncompleted efforts to establish a volcano” have occurred. Where the effervescent matter beneath has been enabled to find vent, there no elevation of the sea- bottom (to any great extent) will have taken place, butrather subsidence. And hence the great lines of volcanic eruption on the globe’s surface are found within or in the immediate vicinity of areas of subsidence ; in other words, of seas or great inland lakes. And further, if we suppose, as may well be conceded, that the elevatory action by which chains of mountains have been (probably through a succession of shocks) raised, is accompanied by the formation of more or less distant downward opening rents parallel to the axis of the elevated T. Dawidson—On Continental Geology. 199 range, we shall find a cause for the general parallelism of the great lines of volcanic eruption to those of the nearest mountain chains or coast-lines of raised land,—a parallelism which has been often re- marked, but unaccounted for that I am aware of upon any other hypothesis (see Volcanos, ed. 1862, p. 809). One word more. If we are to suppose the water of lavas to have been derived through all past time from the superficial ocean, where are we to seek, it may be asked, the origin of the water of the ocean itself, if not from the interior of the globe, which even now sends out torrents of aqueous vapour from every rent opened through its crust? The believers in the nebular hypothesis will no doubt find it in the original gaseous atmosphere left after the condensation of the neuclus. But even conceding this for the bulk of the ocean, still it may well be supposed that large quantities of water remained “ entangled” in the condensed matter. Without, however, looking back to the beginning of things, as too many geologists are in the habit of doing, in order to explain pheno- mena of daily occurrence, I think I have shown reason for the belief that the water which evidently permeates the lava beneath a volcanic vent, and by its violent expansion occasions an eruption, existed there before the earthquakes that usually accompany the eruption began, and was not suddenly introduced by the opening of fissures com- municating with seas or lakes above. Whether it existed in the material whence the lava is formed from the beginning, or proceeded from any chemical changes in this elementary rock, or magma—or had penetrated there by slow and long-continued filtration from above (which is the opinion of M.M. Daubrée and Fouqué), J do not hazard a conjecture. Our knowledge, at present, of the effects of intense heat and pressure, whether chemical or mechanical, on mineral substances—of the influence of terrestrial magnetism—and of the nature and origin of the deeply-seated matter that composes the globe, are too imperfect, I think, in the present state of science, to enable us to solve such problems. But since it has become the fashion, of late, among the leaders of popular geological treatises, to assume as a matter of fact, beyond dispute, that the substance of the globe, immediately beneath its thin superficial crust (and probably to its centre), is in a state of fluid fusion, and that the access of water from the sea above to this molten interior, is the exciting cause of earthquakes and volcanos, I have thought it well to express my reasons for entertaining doubts, to say the least, as to the correctness of either hypothesis. FarrLawn, CopHam, April 10, 1869. III.—Nores on ConTINENTAL GEOLOGY AND PALHONTOLOGY. By Tuomas Davipson, F.R.S., F.G.S. (Continued from p. 166). (Part II.) | eae in my last communication presented the most recent views entertained by M. 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"SUUBM 'S DSO UTM OUILTT |-jeq ut sdeysred ‘ydooxe ‘Sunue\, eq} jo euoispurg 202 T. Davidson—On Continental Geology. has made the “ Cretaceous system” a subject of particular study. M. Hébert considers that M. Coquand has separated the period into too many definite divisions (étages), and in two papers published in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of France (vol. 16 and 20, 2nd series), his views upon that topic have been fully recorded. He had not, however, drawn up any complete scheme of classification, but this he has now kindly done at my request. (See Table of Classification.) The same gentleman justly insists that it is impossible to ascertain the absolute value of the divisions by the characters which they may exhibit in a single region; that the Chalk with Belemnites so spar- ingly represented throughout Western Europe, would appear on the contrary to cover in the Hast immense ‘surfaces, and the Upper Chalk, though reduced to a few spots throughout the whole of Europe, assumes in America and India a considerable extension. Monsieur Cornuel has likewise devoted considerable attention to the divisions of the Cretaceous system, and has kindly furnished me with the following statement, with reference to various classifications applied to the same group by himself, and Messrs. Leymerie, d’Archiac, Rene- vier, and Hébert. He still adheres, however, to the classification proposed by himself in 1860, and does not approve of the alterations introduced by M. Hébert in his paper published in the twenty- fourth volume, p. 879, Feb. 1867, of the Bulletin of the Geological Society of France. DIVISION OF THE LOWER CRETACEOUS FORMATION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HautE-Marne, By M. Cornuet, (Bulletin of the Geol. Society of France, 2nd Series, vol. xvii., p. 742. 1860). 16. Gault. 15. Green sand. 14, Sand and yellowish sandstone. { 2a jt Olneitn ereereutel) ae ae ay wi icatule \_. pad pune or J bed. (argiles a Plicatales), middle. pens | Ae: . Thee Md lower (Brachiopoda). ; L_ bed. 12, Red be B (C 11. Oolitic iron. aw || Sub-division ! 2nd 10. Sand and upper ferruginous sandstone, = 4 Upper J bed. 9. Rose-coloured variegated clay, A y 8 Neocomien } 8. Spotted sands and sandstone. BS (Urgonien), Ist 7. Clays with oysters ee ie) 5, | ed. § (argiles ostréenne) ? lower. ae 4 ond { 6. cee eae marl. © imestone wit atangus . E oD Sey division bed. 5. ; Blue calcareous tae i (Brachiopoda). H|s Lower 4, White Sand. ie Neocomien. 1st 3. Sand and lower ferruginous sandstone. im | bed. 2. Iron in rounded masses (Fer Géodique). (ee ete 1. Blackish argillaceous marl (Brachiopoda). Each of these a have been described by M. Cornuel in the Mémoirs of the Geol. Soc. of France (1 series, vol. iv., p. 280), but the references to the fossils are not correct, and have been replaced by others in the 8th vol., 2nd series of the Bulletin of the same Society (p. 480). M. Cornuel has added to his paper published in 1860, a notice on the connections existing between the country of Bray and the Isle of Wight (Bull. 2 series, vol. xix., p. 975) ; and, in another communication, he assigns the limits of the two stages T. Davidson—On Continental Geology. 203 and their connection with the Mediterranean Basin (Bull. 2 series, vol. xx., p. 575), and finally one on the insufficiency of the Ostrea aquila as a medium to define the limits of a zone (Bull. 2 series, vol. xxi., p. 851). In the fourth vol. 1 series, p. 291 of the Mémoirs of the Geological Society of France, M. Leymerie classes the Lower Cretaceous formation of the Department of the Aube in the following manner :— NUMBERS CORRESPONDING TO THE SAME BEDS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE Haut-MARNE AS GIVEN BY M. CoRNUEL, IN HIS SECTION. eect the clay Sima Diener era Upper portion. 13 middle, & upper 14, 15, 16. a co aa Segiliegs) a chs) Lower,.portion. 18 lower division. ¢ 8,9, 10,11, and 12, (those having been seen in the Dept. of Aube, in kidney- shaped masses only). Upper stage. Neocomien stage. Middle stage. : Lower stage. 1,2, 38, 4, and 5. Tn his history of the progress of Geology, vol. iv. p. 278, Vicomte d’Archiac suggests the following distribution :— beds No. 14, 15. | Upper stage. {rotor bed 13. Ni pocpenen wrcu. | IMiiddtalatare: Upper ae 9,10, 11, 12? the Lower Green Sand. Upper beds 5 and 6. Lower stage. Lieber beds 1, 2, 3, 4. M. Renevier thinks that the relations with the Perte-du-Rhone are as follows (Bull. Soc. Geol. France, 2nd. series, vol. xii., p. 89, and vol. xi., p. 114). Gault... .....esceseeceese eee NO. 15-16. Aptien ccccccsccccoceesereee 5, 13, 14. Rhodanien............00.. 5, 12 Urgonien .......seseeseeeee 99 19, 11, (8 and 9 are left without reference to what precedes or follows). Stage of Hauterive or 5. 6,7 Middle Neocomien a) ave? (3 and 4 are left without reference to what precedes shia -. or follows). alangien or Lowe Ne0comien ....s..e0e0, i Land 2. Lastly, in vol. xxiv., p. 379, 1867, of the Bulletin Soc. Geol. France, M. Hebert establishes the correlations between the series of the Haute-Marne and Southern France, Switzerland and Spain, and for which he proposes the following scheme, but from which he, M. Cornuel, dissents :— ; Upper sub-stage (Aptien of d’Orbigny), No. 13 of the Haute-Marne. Middle soe upper qheds, spate ee a - (Urgonien d’Orb.), ¢ lower beds, > 8,9, 10, 11 se Neocomien. upper bed, este ie a Lower sub-stage, middle bed, BS LO Osh iss “a lower bed, SIS PRCA Rae eRe These different schemes and the corresponding numbers furnished to me by M. Cornuel, at once show the views entertained by the above-named geologists at the period of their various communications. 204 LT. Davidson—On Continental Geology. Nevertheless, in a letter I recently received from M. Leymerie, of Toulouse, I am informed that the Cretaceous system in the Depart- ments of the Aube and Yonne can be divided into—1. Neocomien ; 2. Aptien; 3. Gault; 4. Lower Chalk; 5. Middle Chalk; and 6. Upper Chalk ; and that he does not consider so complicated a divi- sion of the system as that proposed by M. Coquand will be found necessary, when the great or general characters of the period have been generally considered. He likewise reiterates the opinion already expressed by M. Coquand and others, namely, that it is not possible to maintain the Aptien and Urgonien as distinct stages, since they have been found to alternate. He divides the Cretaceous formations in the Pyrenees into Urgo-aptien, Sénonien, and Garumnien, and will shortly publish, along with his detailed geological map of that por- tion of France, a complete description of the different divisions into which he has considered it desirable to map out the system.? In the Bulletin de la Sociéte Vaudois des Sciences Naturelles, vol. ix., p. 204, 1867, M. E. Renevier proposes the following scheme of classification, and on my recent visit to Lausanne, I requested him to add some further details, and a correlation with the same forma- tions in England, which I now reproduce. 1 Mr. Tombeck, Professor of Geology at the Lycée Bonaparte in Paris, has also devoted considerable attention to the Cretaceous formation, as displayed in the de- partment of the Haute-Marne, and he has favoured me with the following notes. ** My table differs from that published by M. Cornuel merely in some unimportant details.” : 1. Clays of the Gault. Aibien- ; 2. Gio Sands, nie Sal 1 les & Plicatul : . Clays wit icatule (argiles 4 Plicatules), upper. apuCU: aN a ok 5 ‘ ee 6. rr a lower. 7. Red bed. Urgonien. | 8. Oolitic iron. 9. Dotted sandstone and marbled rose-coloured clay. 10. Clay, with oysters, (argiles ostréenne), . 11. Yellow clayey marl. Neocomien. 12. Limestone with Spatangus (Calcaire 4 Spatangues). 13. Blue marl. 14. White Sands. : 15. Ferruginous Sands. Valangien. 16. Géodique ore. 17, Blackish clayey marl. ‘The beds in which I have met with Brachiopoda are 5, 6, 11, 12, 18, 16, and 17, but they are very unequally distributed. In the bed 6, I found Zereb. sella, Terebratella astieriana, Rhy. lata, Rhy. depressa, and a small Terebratula, that might be a young Ter. faba. The bed No. 11 has produced Terb. oblongus only; while the beds 12 and 13, which contain the same fauna have furnished, Terebratula sella, T. prelonga, T. tamarindus, T. pseudo-jurensis, T. faba (2 varieties), T. semistriata, T. Moutoniana, T. collinaria, Terebratella oblonga, T. reticulata, T. neocomiensis, Rhynchonella depressa, Rh. lata, Rh. Renauxiana (?), and 4 other species of Rhynchonella, Thecidea tetragona, and a species of Argiope. The beds 16 and 17 contain only T. sella. Now, although I have made use of the specific names adopted by d’Orbigny to the Rh. depressa and Rh. lata that occur in beds 6, 12, and 13, 1 am persuaded that those from No. 6 are completely distinct, not only as varieties, but also specifically from those that occur in beds 12 and 18, and the same may be stated with reference to the 7. prelonga, said to occur in beds 12 and 18. T. Davidson—On Continental Geology. 205 SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CRETACEOUS System. (By M. E. RENEVIER.) Danien = Upper Chalk of Maestricht: Limestone with Baculites: Super- (Pisolitic Limestone ; occurs neither in Switzerland nor England). Cretaceous | Sénonien=,White Chalk: Chalk with flints: Chalk of Meudon: _ Group Upper Chalk, Norwich, Gravesend, Woolwich, in England; or Seewerkalk, in Switzerland. Sénonien. | Santonien = Lower Sénonien, Chalk of Villedieu, (peculiar to France, and doesnot occur either in Switzerland or Great Britain). Turonien — Craie tuffeau; Chalk with Inoceramus mytiloides. (Upper portion of Lower Chalk of Beachy Head in England, does not occur in Switzerland). Carentonien = Upper portion of the Green Sands of the Sarthe; (zone with Ostrea biauwriculata does not occur either in England or Méso- Switzerland). Cretaceous } Rotomagien=COraie Marneuse; Chalk of Rouen: Lower part of or Lower Chalk Ventnor: Chlor. Marl England. Cheville and St. Cénomanien. Croix in Switzerland. Vraconnien—Upper Green Sand: zone with Pecten asper: Upper Gault in Switzerland, Cheville, St. Croix, Perte du Rhone: War- minster and Cambridge in England. Albien= Gault. Middle and Lower Gault in Switzerland (Cheville, L Perte du Rhone, St. Croix, etc.), Folkestone, Wellant, etc. (Aptien = Clay with Plicatule: Upper Aptien: Hard Sandstone of the Perte du Rhéne: upper portion of Lower Green Sand of England. Rhodanien = Lower Aptien, Yellow Marls of the Perte du Rhone, red bed of Vassy ; lower portion of Lower Green Sand of England, Infer- Perna bed of the Crackers of Dic. Lonsdalii. Cretaceous } Urgonien = Upper Neocomien: White Limestone with Reg. Ammonia, or 1: Zone of Rudistes: Yellow Limestone of Maurmont, Russille. Neocomien. | Neocomien = Middle Neocomien; Marles of Hauterive: Limestone with Spatangus: Yellow Limestone of Neuchatel: Mortean Marle of Hauterive: Yellow Marle of Am. Astierianus. Valangien — Lower Neocomien: zone with Pygurus rostratus: Lime- stone of Berrias ? In a paper, by the same author, published in the Bulletin of the Societe Vaudoise of Natural History, vol. v. p. 51, it is stated that the Lower Green Sand does not equal (as the larger number of geologists have supposed) the Neocomien, but would exactly corre- spond to the Aptien beds, which he (M. Renevier), recognised be- tween the Upper Neocomien (Urgonien) and the Gault. That the lower beds of the Lower Green Sand (Perna beds and Crackers of the Isle of Wight) contain a fauna which is analogous to that of the Lower Aptien (Rhodanien) of the Perte-du-Rhdéne, while the are- naceous bed of about 650 English feet, situated between The Crackers and the Gault, belongs without doubt, to the Aptien; and in concluding his memoir on the “ Faune de Cheville,” M. Renevier hesitates to admit as large a number of divisions in the Cretaceous system as have been proposed by M. Coquand, but at the same time he considers that each fauna, of which the larger number of species are peculiar to it, and not offering a mere local aspect, but occupying a rather general stratigraphical horizon, should constitute an independent division. He in consequence willingly admits all the divisions recently introduced partaking of those conditions, and all those of which the Paleontological monographs will in future demonstrate their utility. (To be continued). 206 T. Thompson—Discovery of Hippopotamus, gc. IV.—Own tHE Discovery oF A SKELETON OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS IN Post-pLiocenr Drirr near Morcoms, Dorset. By T. Tuompson, Esq. HE existence of Post-pliocene deposits in this neighbourhood has until lately been quite unknown, nothing of the kind having been detected either by the Geological Survey or subsequent observers. However, in the winter of 1866, a small section was ex- posed in a brick-field situated on a low rising-ground at the first mile- stone out of Shaftesbury towards Gillingham, and known as Hawkers’ Hill. The clay here dug for brickmaking is Kimmeridge, pre- senting fossilized bones of the Piiosaurus and Icthyosawrus, and very friable remains of an Ammonite, etc. The attention of the writer was first attracted to the Drift on observing, above part of the Kimmeridge clay, a thin section of soil of an ochreous tint due to oxide of iron, and somewhat resembling the loose stratum of chert and sand which caps the neighbouring Green-sand rock. He learnt on inquiring of the labourers that they had recently found some large bones in this deposit, but thinking them of no use they had wheeled them off with the rubbish, in which they then lay, effectually re-buried. Much interested at this announcement, he induced the men again to remove the rubbish, and found that the bones were some vertebre of a large mammalian animal, together with fragments of the ribs and leg-bones. They were, of course, not at all fossilized, and their original weak state had been sadly aggravated by a second burial and disinterment. Nothing more was turned out that winter, and it was not until the end of 1867, that digging was resumed. Further portions of the same skeleton were now found, including another instalment of vertebra, and por- tions of the skull and jaws. With the latter were several teeth in a sufficiently entire state to show that the creature was undoubtedly a Hippopotamus ; numerous fragments of the tusks affording further proof of this. The writer now frequently visited and watched “the diggings,” and after a short time two horn-cores, considerable por- tions of the skull, and some fragments of the leg-bones of Bison priscus of unusual size came to light. The more perfect horn-core is 18 inches long and 14 inches in diameter at the base. The past winter brought the usual resumption of clay-digging, and the necessary removal of more of the superincumbent Drift. The upper portion of the skull and two horn-cores of another Bison priscus ° were first reached, and as they lay in their natural position the dis- tance between the tips of the horns was upwards of four feet. Not- withstanding that the writer took great precautions in the hope to preserve this highly interesting relic in an entire state, he had the mortification to see it crumble into fragments in the process of removal, and could only succeed in patching up a portion of one of the horn-cores. As the digging went on, a molar of an elephant— probably Elephas primigenius—and parts of one or more tusks were turned out, but all in a sadly fragmentary state. The piece of tusk appears to have been nearly 6 feet long, but the whole was com- T. Thompson—Discovery of Hippopotamus, §c. 207 pletely disintegrated with the exception of the central portions. The excavations of this winter were closed with the discovery of bones representing most of the remaining portions of the Hippopotamus skeleton. We are thus led to the interesting inference that this huge animal must have lived and died near to the spot where its remains were found, since they must have been laid in their sandy grave before decomposition had set in. As regards the condition in which these interesting Drift-remains were found, it may be remarked that the soil seems to have been very unfavourable to their preservation, large portions of the bone being so completely decayed as to be distinguishable by colour alone from the surrounding sand, while often the articulated terminations only would bear removal. None of the bones presented marks of gnawing or were water-worn. SECTION OF DRIFT AT HAWKER’S HILL. East, West Section 1 unites with Section 2, at the point marked A. in each, and forms one continuous line East and West. 3. Cross-section (North and South) of Drift, as far as excavated, showing the termination of the Deposit against a bank of Kimmeridge Clay. The thick black line on the top of section is the surface-soil. (V.) Valley towards Shaftesbury. The Drift commences in Section 1, and;rests on the Kim- meridge Clay (e). a. Thin bed of sand stained with Oxide of Iron, with fragments of Chert not rounded. 6. Green Sand and Blue Clay, with a few angular stones; 3 feet in thickness. ec. Green Sand almost pure and free from stones; 3 feet thick. ad. Sub-rounded stones imbedded in Blue Clay and silt; 2-3 feet. e. Kimmeridge Clay. Respecting the nature of the Postpliocene deposit (see Woodcut), the greatest thickness of the portion hitherto excavated is only about 10 feet. Beneath the sod of the field is, first, a thin bed of sand (a), stained with oxide of iron, and containing fragments of chert, ete., not rounded. Next follow (6), 3 feet of Green sand and Blue clay, with a few angular stones, and succeeded by about the same thick- ness of Green sand (c¢), almost pure and free from stones. The base of this deposit (d), isa 2 to 3 feet bed of sub-rounded stones—the largest, perhaps, equal to a double fist—imbedded in blue clay and silt, which had evidently formed the bottom of a river for a lengthened period. Its compact nature is evidenced by the belief of the la- bourers that it was an old road. Nearly all the bones were found either resting on, or imbedded in this stratum, with the exception of 208 T. Thompson—Discovery of Hippopotamus, &c. the skull and horn-cores of Bison priscus in 1867. It will be ob- served that the upper layers of the Drift are totally distinct in character from this, being such as might be attributed to the rapid action of a series of floods sufficiently violent to silt up the Post- pliocene river-bed. The component materials are almost exclusively derived from the adjoining Green Sandstone formation; the only exception being that the Blue clay mentioned as occupying a middle position appears to be the surrounding Kimmeridge clay altered by water action. The deposit is on the side of Hawkers’ Hill, towards the far higher elevation of Green Sandstone and Gault on which Shaftesbury stands. The portion hitherto dug out is nearly 200 feet long, consisting, at its commencement on the hill side, of the old river bed, but slightly marked at first, with perhaps one foot of the loose sandy strata above it. Partly by the rise of the hill and partly by a slight dip of the river-bed in the contrary direction, the final thickness is increased to about 10 feet. The width excavated is only some 12 feet. We are here evidently at one margin of the Post-pliocene river, the Drift coming to an end against an abrupt bank of undisturbed Kimmeridge clay 10 feet high (see Section 3). The surface of the hill is perfectly uniform, looking as exclusively Kimmeridgian as the seven or eight miles of that formation which stretch from it westward across the low lands. It will be understood that Shaftesbury hillisa high eminence composed of Upper Green Sandstone resting on Gault, and is separated from Hawker’s Hill by a valley of gentle declivity. The Gault crops out some 500 yards from the Drift, and is succeeded on the steep hillside by Green Sandstone, like that from which the materials for the latter were derived. As regards the general configuration of the country, it seems hopeless to con- jecture how the river could ever have flowed where its indelible traces still remain. Under present circumstances, it would be a physical impossibility. Nor is there any existing river in any direction for some miles. It should be added that most anxious search was made for any shells that might aid in determining the climate probably prevailing when the Drift was deposited, but the only acquisition was one battered and flattened snail shell—either Helix arbustorwm or nemoralis. No flint implements or human relics of any kind have been found in this deposit. The writer is indebted to Dr. Blackmore, of Salisbury, for his kindness in making a careful examination of the remains dis- covered, and is permitted to quote his valuable authority for the cor- rectness of the names assigned them. It is Dr. B.’s opinion that there are indications of at least three individuals of Bison priscus. The writer will be happy to answer to the best of his ability any communications that may be addressed to him on this subject. GILLINGHAM, Dorset. V.—tTue Discovery or Diamonds at THE CAPE oF Goop Hope. By W. Guyzon Atuerstons, M.D., F.G.S., of Graham’s Town, Cape of Good Hope. N the Grotocican Macazine of December, 1868, appears an article on this subject by Mr. J. R. Gregory, declaring the whole story Dr. Atherstone—On Diamonds at the Cape. 209 of the Cape diamond discovery to be “false,” “‘an imposture,” “a bubble scheme,” got up to promote the expenditure of capital in in searching for this precious substance in the colony; and stating that, from the geological character of the district which he had lately very carefully and thoroughly examined, it was impossible that diamonds had been or could ever be found there. As it was mainly through me that this accidental discovery was brought to light, and as I am therefore by implication accused of being one of the impostors in this fraudulent “ bubble scheme,” I trust I shall be allowed to make a few remarks in refutation of so extra- ordinary and unfounded a charge. To enable your readers to judge of the truth and correctness of Mr. Gregory’s statements and conclusions, I will give a brief history of the diamond discovery so far as I am concerned ; and I forward to Professor Tennant, of King’s College, by this mail, the first three original letters received by me, which may be examined by Mr. Gregory, Mr. Emmanuel, or any other person interested in this matter. In March, 1867, I received through the Post-office from Colesberg, a letter from Mr. Lorenzo Boyes, Clerk of the Peace for that district, of which the following is a verbatim copy :— CotEsBeRG, March 12, 1867. My Dear S1r,—I enclose a stone which has been handed to me by Mr. John O’Reilly as having been picked up on a farm in the Hope Town district, and as he thinks it is of some value I send the same to you to examine, which you must please return to me.—Yours very sincerely, L. Boys. In the envelope with this note was diamond No. 1 quite loose, the letter not registered nor sealed, simply fastened by gum as usual. I had never seen a rough diamond before, but upon taking its sp. gr. and hardness, examining it by polarized light, etc., I at once decided that it was indeed a genuine diamond of considerable value; and perceiving the great importance of such a discovery to the colony, I at once wrote to the Hon. Richard Southey, Colonial Secretary, announcing the fact, and suggesting that it should be sent to the Paris Exhibition, and afterwards sold for the benefit of the finder. On receipt of my letter in Cape Town, the Colonial Secretary at once telegraphed to me to send it up to Cape Town and he would send it to the Crown agents for transmission to the Paris Exhibition. I gave it to Sir Perey Douglas, our Lieutenant-Governor, who kindly had it conveyed by the next steamer to Cape Town, where it was examined by the French Consul, M. Herriette, and other competent judges, who confirmed my opinion; it was afterwards sent to the Paris Exhibition, and purchased by the Governor of the Colony, Sir Philip Woodhouse, for £500. Now if there be any fraud or imposture with the Cape diamonds, it must be with the discovery of this, the first and most valuable diamond, and I will therefore go rather more minutely into par- ticulars as to the parties connected with it. It was by mere accident that a Dutch farmer named Schalk van Niekerk, seeing some children of a Mr. Jacob, another Boer, playing with some bright stones, noticed this one in particular, and asked the mother to ell it to him, VOL. VI.—NO. LIX. 14 210 Dr. Atherstone—On Diamonds at the Cape. She laughed at the idea, and gave it to him at once. Mr. John O’Reilly (son of the late Civil Commissioner of Somerset, and grand- son to Colonel O’Reilly, now in Graham’s Town,) happened to be returning from a hunting and trading expedition in the interior, and Mr. Niekerk asked him to find out what sort of a stone it was. Mr. O’Reilly took it to Colesberg and showed it to his friend Mr. L. Boyes, the Clerk of the Peace (son of Captain Boyes, an officer in H.M. service), who sent it to me. The parties concerned, therefore, were—a farmer’s child, a Dutch Boer, Mr. O’Reilly, Mr. L. Boyes, a Government official, myself, and Sir Philip Woodhouse, Governor of the colony, who purchased it. Which of these parties is the frau- dulent impostor, getting up a land-jobbing speculation? since this is one of the reasons assigned for the supposed planting of diamonds in the colony. Mr. Gregory’s theory regarding the expenditure of capital in search for diamonds, carries its own contradiction with it. None of them own land in that part of the country except Mr. Niekerk and Mr. O’Reilly, and the gem was not found on Mr. O’Reilly’s or Mr. Niekerk’s farm, nor were either of their farms for sale at the time. Is it reasonable to suppose that if either Mr. Niekerk, or Mr. O’Reilly, or Mr. Boyes, had imagined it to be a gem of the value of £500, it would have been trusted to the letter-bag through the Post-office ? The idea is simply absurd; and the fact that twenty other diamonds have been discovered since, at spots far apart, on Government ground, in the territories of native chiefs, along the Orange River, Vaal River, and Reit River, and far beyond the colony, where there is no land to sell,—and found by all kinds of persons, Englishmen, Boers, Griquas, Bechuannas, Hottentots, and other natives, who can have no possible connection with land speculation, proves the utter absurdity and impossibility of those statements. Of the diamonds already found, six were discovered along the Orange River, in the Hopetown division ; six along the Vaal River, three beyond the Vaal River, two beyond the Orange River, two along the Reit River, and one in Waterboer’s country, and one on Government land in the colony. Again, who have been the pur- chasers? Five have been sold to the Governor; two to Mr. Hond, the lapidary ; three to Mr. Lilienfeld; one to Mr. Chapman, of Cape Town; one to Mr. M. Joseph, of Cape Town; one to Mr. Cruikshank, to send to Scotland,—none of these in any way connected with land speculations. It is a fact that there have been no land speculations or sales in that neighbourhood since the diamond discovery was made known. I think this mass of evidence must quite overthrow Messrs. Gregory and Emmanuel’s theory that diamonds were placed there for a purpose, and satisfy every unprejudiced person that the discovery is a bond fide discovery, and one of immense importance to the colony. Now as to Mr. Gregory’s geological facts. He states, “ The whole of the district from Cradock, almost in a direct line to Hopetown, npwards of 250 miles, is composed of igneous or volcanic rocks; the huge piles of rounded boulders are Trap porphyries, and the Trap Dr. Atherstone—On Diamonds at the Cape. 211 dykes in many places have forced them up, and the sands both of a white and red colour, are simply the debris from the breaking up and wearing away of their burnt porphyries and burnt clays or Porcellanite, which were formed originally through the volcanic heat vitrifying these silicious clays. No other geological deposits are visible, nothing but igneous and volcanic rocks, and the sands mainly produced by their decomposition, and associated with these sands and in the beds of the Orange and Vaal rivers are the characteristic Trap minerals only—such as Zeolites, Natrolite, and sometimes Stilbite, with small agates and geodes of chalcedony; from the interior of which geodes, but of larger dimensions, are derived the brilliant rock crystals, of which thousands may be found, most of them rounded on the edges, though some are perfectly uninjured, as the usual hexagonal prism, sometimes with both terminal pyramids.” Now I am. fortunately able personally to contradict this statement in toto, for although I have not visited the Hopetown District, I have examined the Cradock district, and the country between it and Colesberg, and I have myself collected beautifully perfect reptilian and other fossils from the very parts which Mr. Gregory declares to be nothing but igneous and volcanic. ‘No other geological deposits are visible,” he states! Dr. Gray, of Cradock, has sent home numbers of Dicynodon and other fossils from this very district ; so have I and Mr. Bain, Mr. Stowe, and others. If this is a specimen of Mr. Gregory’s careful and lengthened examination of the Cradock division, we know what value to attach to his report and examina- ation of the Hopetown and diamond-yielding district ! Mr. A. Wyley, the colonial geologist, gave ten years ago, and before diamonds were thought of as existing there, a careful geological de- scription of the Hopetown district, which Mr. Gregory may consult with advantage. He will find a copy of this report in the Geological Society’s Library, which I sent through Professor Rupert Jones. It is entitled ‘‘ Notes of a Journey in two directions across the colony made in 1857-8,” by A. Wyley, Esq., Geological Surveyor to the colony, 1859. He describes the country as consisting of Sandstones, Shales, and Schists, intersected by basaltic trap-dykes, ete.; in fact very similar to the great basaltic plateaus and horizontal Sandstone formations in India, where the most celebrated diamond formations occur, and to which I think it will be found our diamond-bearing formations bear a strong resemblance. Mr. Gregory, in describing the conglomerate in which the Hopetown diamonds are found, insists on what he terms “ an important distinction,” as being not a silicious conglomerate, as those from Brazil, but as being sometimes formed into a solid conglomerate by the aid of lime. But why should our diamond conglomerates be necessarily like those of Brazil? Why not rather like those of India, to which, as I have stated, our rock formations, our vast horizontal sandstones, capped and permeated by basalt, and in many cases our fossils also, bear so striking a resem- blance. In Malcolmson’s paper on “ The Great Basaltic District of India, and the Diamond Sandstones and Argillaceous Limestones,” published in the Geological Transactions, 2nd series, vol. v., he says, 212 Dr. Atherstone—On Diamonds at the Cape. describing the celebrated diamond mines of Banquapilly, page 541, * the plains at the base of the table-land of Banquapilly consist of a rich black alluvium, containing fragments of basalt, jasper, and various minerals found in the hills, the rocks are a fine, compact, dark blue or marly black limestone, which contains much argillaceous and silicious matter.”—‘ On ascending the hill, the limestone be- comes more schistose, and is of a paler colour,” etc. <‘‘ Above Banquapilly it contains the diamond-breccia described by Voysey,” etc., etc. Now, if Mr. Gregory will carefully read Dr. John Shaw’s account of the site of the diamonds and the conglomerate bed in which they are found, published in the Graham’s Town Journal of Jan. 20, 1869, he will find it exactly resembles the diamond-breccia and conglomerate found in India. From the great distance of the finding places apart, and their propinquity to the several river beds, which all proceed from the Quath- lamba or “ Draken’s berg” sandstone ranges, I have little doubt that, on careful exploration, the real source of the diamond deposits will be found far to the eastward. Sufficient has been already discovered to justify a thorough and extensive geological research into this most interesting country; and I think, for the interest of science and the benefit of this colony, a scientific examination of the country will be undertaken. So far from the geological character of the country making it impossible, I maintain that it renders it probable that very extensive and rich diamond deposits will be discovered on proper investigation. This, I trust, the Home Government will authorize, as our colonial exchequer is too poor to admit of it. Mr. Gregory in his paper (see Grou. Mac., No. 54, p. 559) honestly states his pre-conceived ideas of the falsity of the diamond discovery : “I had an idea of this” (i.e. that the whole story was false) ‘‘ when I first reached George Town, then at Port Elizabeth, Graham’s Town, Cradock, Colesberg, and finally on arriving at Hopetown, where no further proof of diamonds could be obtained.” And I fear we may add to this list of places—where he held these views, London also! Mr. Gregory called upon me, hearing that I had the Pniel dia- mond (No. 7 of Mr. Chalmers’ list, which appeared in the Journal of the Society of Arts, Feb. 13th, 1869) ; but, unfortunately, he did not call until after the post had left, although he arrived in Graham’s Town before, and I had already sent it off to the Colonial Secretary. However, I showed him a photograph and plaster cast which I had taken of it, from which he at once pronounced an opinion as to its quality, declaring it. to be a “ boart” diamond of very little value!! In his paper referred to, he says ‘‘ This stone (No. 7) was stated to have been picked up by a Griqua on the banks of the Vaal River, near Pniel. I afterwards found this was not true, and it was said to be really found near Campbell, 100 miles from Pneil, and by a, Griqua who has since found two or three others. So the locality at Pniel is a myth.” Now here Mr. Gregory is evidently confusing two different diamonds: see Nos. 7 and 8 in Mr. Chalmers’ list. The missionary, Mr. Radeloff, was my authority for saying it was found near Pniel, and Mr. Chalmers I see corroborates this state- Dr. H. A. Nicholson— Geology of Ingleton. 213 ment. Mr. Gregory told me his object was not to search for dia- monds, but for nickel and other minerals usually found associated with them, and that he intended visiting the Namaqua land mines before he returned. His motives and objects, and those of his friend the diamond merchant, Mr. Emmanuel, are now but too apparent. Why all this attempt at mystification, unless he had a purpose to serve ? VI.—Nornzs on THE Green Siates AND PorRPHYRIES OF THE NEIGH- BOURHOOD OF INGLETON. By Henry Atteyne Nicuotson, D.Sc., M.B., F.G.S. HE occurrence of certain of the Lower Silurian Rocks of the Lake-district beneath the Scar Limestone of Yorkshire, on a line between Ingleton and Settle, has been long known, and has been noticed both by Professor Phillips (Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd series, vol. iii. p. 1), and by Professor Sedgwick (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. viii. p. 35). More recently the rocks in question have been shortly described in a paper by Mr. Hughes, of the Geological Survey (Guot. Mae. Vol. IV. p. 346). Having had the opportunity of visit- ing Ingleton in company with Professor Harkness, and subsequently alone, I have collected the following brief notes of the Silurian strata which are seen in that locality, and which belong to the Green Slates and Porphyries of the Lake-district. The section which I propose to describe is the one afforded by the Dale Beck, which runs to the north-west of Ingleborough from Chapel-le-Dale to Ingleton, and is in length between one and a half and two miles. In the course of this stream the Silurian Rocks have been exposed by denudation, and are seen, in a remarkably clear section, to be unconformably overlaid on both sides of the valley by nearly horizontal beds of Scar Limestone. The section appears to be an ascending one down the valley, and the following is the sequence of the beds exhibited. I. The highest beds exposed in the valley are a series of ordinary, cleaved, felspathic ashes, or Green Slates, with some intercalated trappean beds, the whole striking N.W. and §.H., and having a nearly vertical cleavage. II. These slates are succeeded to the 8.W. by a fine-grained, greenish-gray felspathic trap, in parts slightly hornblendic and micaceous. ‘This trap is continued nearly as far as Dale-barn, form- ing opposite this point a series of well-marked glaciated bosses. Here it has intercalated in it a band of slates about 30 feet in thick- ness, and it assumes a slaty texture m parts. Above this slate- band the trap in places becomes highly porphyritic, consisting of a green felspathic base, containing numerous crystals of red felspar, with masses of crystalline quartz, specks of hornblende, and flakes of mica. Its composition, however, is very variable, and it passes directly into fine-grained trap on both sides. Blocks apparently of this porphyritic trap are found nearly a mile and a half down the stream ; but these are much more highly quartzose in composition, 214 Dr. H. A. Nicholson— Geology of Ingleton. and have a decidedly conglomeratic appearance. As no rocks of this kind can be found in situ, it is impossible to speak exactly as to the nature of these isolated boulders. III. After passing over an interval of about one third of a mile in which there is no rock-exposure, a great series of greenish-gray slates and interbedded felspathic traps is reached. The slates retain their N.W. and 8.E. strike, and have a nearly vertical cleavage, but the bedding can scarcely be made out. Some of the traps are of considerable thickness, others are mingled with slaty bands, and all are much intersected by veins of quartz. Some are dark-gray in colour, but they are mostly of a light greenish gray. They are all very fine-grained, and are devoid of distinct crystals. - IV. These are succeeded by a very thick band of ordinary Green Slates, containing a few small bands of trap. V. A massive felspathic trap, of great thickness, and intersected by numerous quartz-veins. In mineral characters this is exactly similar to those already described, being fine-grained, greenish-gray in colour, slightly hornblendic, containing scattered flakes of mica, weathering brown, and effervescing faintly on the weathered surfaces and in the minute fissures of the stone. VI. This trap is overlaid by a second great band of slates, which has been largely worked on both sides of the river. They form a fine-grained, greenish-grey slate, sometimes micaceous, and having a nearly vertical cleavage, which appears to coincide with the bedding, as shown by the existence of ripple-marking upon many of the cleavage-planes. VII. Close below the slate quarries, by the side of the stream, the slates are seen to be surmounted by a light-brown granular felspathic trap or felstone, gritty-looking, and of small thickness. VIII. Above this there comes on a band of gray, cleaved, flaggy, and. calcareous shales, with a few obscure organic remains upon the cleavage-planes, amongst which are a species of Orthis and a large Orthoceras (probably O. Brongniarti).! These shales are in parts nodular, and they effervesce freely when treated with acids. The further continuance of the section upwards is here interrupted by a fault, running parallel to the Craven fault, whereby the Scar- Limestone is brought down against the Silurian Rocks. Correlation with the Green Slates and Porphyries of the Lake- District.— When we compare the Green Slates of the neighbour- hood of Ingleton with those of the typical area in the Lake- district, many points of resemblance are observable, and a few notable differences. In both regions the series of rocks in question consists essentially of alternations of bands of felspathic ashes, with cotemporaneous igneous rocks, or traps, the ashes being usually cleaved, and being sometimes replaced by flaggy shales containing fossils. In the Ingleton section, on the whole, the slates are more largely developed in relation to the thickness of the traps, than is 1 Tn the excellent paper by Professor Sedgwick already referred to, the following fossils are stated to occur in this band of shales :—Stenopora jibrosa, Goldf.; Haly- sites catenularius, Mart.; Orthis Actonice, Sow. Notices of Memoirs—The Salt Mines of Prussia. 215 the case in the Lake-district, and there does not appear to be a well- marked series of trappean rocks at the base of the group, as there is in many parts of the main area. As regards the character of the Slates themselves, they are in many respects undistinguishable from those of the Lake-country, but they are much finer grained than the latter are as a rule, and there appears to be a total absence of breccias and amygdaloidal ashes. The traps differ more conspicuously from those of the Lake-district, though the latter would yield examples in all respects undistinguish- able. I may instance especially the greenish-gray trap which usually forms the base of the Green Slate series in the Lake-district, as seen at Keld Beck near Shap, (in many places this bed departs from these characters, and becomes highly hornblendic). Speaking generally, the traps of the Ingleton section have a much greater sameness than those of the Lake-district ; they are finer-grained ; and they are much less often porphyritic. They are likewise much less hornblendic than the majority of the traps of the Lake-moun- tains, and there is nothing like a genuine diorite or amygdaloid. The presence of free quartzin one of the Ingleton traps is noticeable, since in the Lake-district this is only the case with the intrusive rocks, and does not occur in any of the interbedded felstones with which I am acquainted. The fossiliferous shales, which complete the section here, may be the equivalent of the “ Dufton Shales” of the Lake-district, or they may represent the Coniston Limestone, the latter view being, per- haps, the most probable, since they effervesce freely with acids. The apparent thickness of the Green Slates and Porphyries in the Ingleton section is stated by Mr. Hughes to be about 10,000 feet, but I should be disposed to believe with that observer, that there must be a repetition of some of the strata by a fault or by a con- cealed fold, either of which it would be very difficult to detect owing to the sameness of the beds, the prevalence of cleavage, and the absence or indistinctness of bedding. INTO MRIR OIE S) (Owes aca sha @OS PS Sie —»~—___ Tur Sart Deposits at STAssFuRT, IN PRussta. At a meeting of the Chemical Section of the Glasgow Philosophical Society, held on January 18th, Messrs Bald and MacTear communi- cated a paper on the Salt Deposits at Stassfurt. The southern part of the North German basin is divided by the Hartz into two portions, known as the Thuringian and the Magdeburg Halbertstader basins, in which salt has been raised for a lengthened period. In the Magdeburg basin the salt rests on New Red Sandstone; in the Thuringian basin on Muschelkalk and Magnesian Limestone. Stassfurt is situated in the Magdeburg basin. Here and at Erfurt the Salt is mined, at all the other places in the district it is obtained by means of brine wells. 216 =©Notices of Memoirs—The Salt Mines of Prussia. In the Prussian mine at Stassfurt, Salt was reached at a depth of 816 feet, after the following strata had been passed through, namely: Alluvial Soil Geert ol Ih. csc eaee ce seee sate 27 feet. INewsReds Sandstone =... -acencesec dear cmeecesuees 576 ,, ie Anhydrite, and Marl ..........0.-s-+- 213 ,, At a ae hole at Schonebeck, some distance from Stassfurt, the salt was 1,480 feet from the surface, the rocks passed through being A gs AS ek AeA UL iI A 9 teCugi | conte) en vgat ON 25 feet Keuper, with Lettenkohle (an impure form of Brown-coal) 211 ,, Muschel calle rip cas dasa wandst vauidies nutan acdssdganaanedanniebs ” Wewshed, Sandstone io.crus ctadscnen consi tascncdocte a veaccanseniene 1680 ,, The brine contained but 73 per cent. of common salt. Accounts are given of several other bore-holes in the same locality, showing considerable variations in the depths at which the Salt is reached, but the most important and interesting account relates to a shaft sunk at Stassfurt, which reached pure Salt at a depth of 1,066 feet from the surface. The beds penetrated were as follows :— BE NU AT RSATE DTS oy keel Pa i ala a ea a | ah le Pa ee ae 27 feet. Sandstone, with some schist and grey limestone ...........c.seseeeee 576 ,, GypsumandyAmbiyd rete! 9.uta es bie. hae sees ls. ee eedoe seeks seecldet LOZ Bituminous matter mixed with Anhydrite and Common Salt...... PAL eg Potashy Salts 7 Pacts Messe cae cM cc ERMA eee nearer co ig aetiaeaae 158 ,, Rock Salt (the upper part mixed to a considerable extent with iArihiy drive) Wecehensdeecssessete reece acne sonteece eens er remmers 92 At this depth (1066 feet) lateral workings were commenced, the Salt being wrought in a manner somewhat similar to our long-wall system of coal-mining. The total thickness of the Salts was found to be 1,197 feet; these the authors consider in detail. The lowest beds comprised 685 feet of pure Rock Salt, with thin layers of Anhydrite 4-inch thick, dividing the Salt at intervals of from one to eight inches. Then comes a bed, about 200 feet thick, composed of Chloride OfISOGIUM Pate ecesecoeeceucsoueesee ene nteeeteetees 91:20 Ambiy duivers sto. ever sede, MIs A ee me ARI 0°66 Roly halite: 5.0... ddeissnwagaeeeatyeack “a eaeawccuuclenazacecoeee 6:33 Hydrated Chloride of Magnesium ...............-++s0ee0e 161 Higher up, the gradual disappearance of the more insoluble salts is manifest; the deposit contains but 2 per cent. of anhydrite, to 60 per cent. of common salt, and from 17 to 20 per cent. of Kieserite (monohydrated sulphate of magnesium), used in the preparation of Epsom Salts. In the uppermost beds the insoluble salts are entirely absent, the average composition being :— Cammallites(nyce. smote Ste atnec eee ak ee ae Urea nie er 55 Common Sal tee eae ae wo eese Neral eet vee eeeneeee 25 Kiteserite sie eet ssacoitee sceaeec aes teeene eee eae 16 Hydrated Chloride of Magnesium .............-se00.++ 4 In conclusion, the authors recommend the Salt mines as well worth a visit. To the scientific and non-scientific any trouble will be amply repaid, for apart from the high geological interest of the deposits, there is great attraction in the beauty of the passages and chambers in the interior of the mine, decked with magnificent erystals of the chlorides of sodium and potassium, sparkling and glistening in the light of the lamps.—Abridged from the ‘‘ Chemical News,” February 5th and 12th, 1869. Reviews—Paleontographical Monographs. 217 Bevel WALI WA I.—Monocrapus PUBLISHED BY THE PALHONTOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. February, 1869. Vol. XXII. (Issued for 1868). | ee pleasant task again falls to our lot to announce the issue of the twenty-second volume of the publications of this Society. We do so with more than usual good-will on this occasion, because the issue of this volume wipes off all arrears due from the Society to its subscribers, and leaves them nearly twelve months in which to produce the volume due to its members for the current year’s sub- scription. The present fasciculus of Monographs is made up of :— 1. Supplement to the Fossil Corals, Part 11., No.1. Corals from the White Chalk, the Upper Greensand, and the Red Chalk of Hun- stanton, Plates 1.-1x., by P. Martin Duncan, M.B. Lond., F.R.S., F. and Sec. Geol. Soc. The nine plates which accompany this part are by De Wilde. The genera illustrated and described by Dr. Duncan are Caryophyllia (8 species) ; Onchotrochus (2 species) ; Colosmilia (6 species) ; Parasmilia (8 species) ; Diblasus (1 species) ; Smilotrochus (4 species) ; Cyathopora (1 species) ; Favia (1 species) ; Thamnastrea (1 species) ; Oyclolites (1 species) ; Podoseris (2 species). 2. Fossil Crustacea—Order Merostomata, Part 11. Pterygotus bilobus, by Henry Woodward, F.G.S., etc. This includes four varieties, viz., inornatus, crassus, perornatus, and acidens, illustrated with six plates by Hollick and Fielding. The specimens described in this part are all from Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire, and give us most complete details of structure, a rare occurrence in Silurian fossils. 3, Fossil Brachiopoda, Part vit., No. 3, of the Silurian Brachio- poda, by Thomas Davidson, F.R.S., Plates 23-37. Containing Rhyn- chonella (16 species) ; Orthis (52 species); Triplesia (8 species) ; Atrypa (2 species); Cyrtia, Hichwaldia, Porambonites, and Stro- phomena ; illustrated in all by 390 figures ! lt affords us great pleasure to know that Mr. Davidson is once more returned to Hngland, and we hope his health and strength may be spared to finish this grand monograph, which is all his own. 4. The Liassic and Oolitic Belemnitide, Part 1v., by Professor Phillips, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., ete., Plates 21-27, with descriptions and illustrations of sixteen species. Geologists in the Oolitic and Liassic districts will rejoice to secure this work, for of all difficult things to deal with, in the way of determining their species, the guards of Belemnites are the most so. The Plates for this mono- graph continue to be drawn and printed in Paris. Those of B. ellip- ticus, B. Aalensis, and B. giganteus, are particularly effective and bold. 5. Professor Owen contributes No. III. to his Fossil Reptilia from the Kimmeridge Clay, in which he describes and figures: Palatal surface of skull and upper surface of lower jaw of Pliosaurus grandis, and part of cranium and lower jaw of Pliosaurus trochanterius, both 218 Reviews—Johnston’s Physical Atlas. from the Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset, and obtained by J. C. Mansel, Esq., ¥.G.S., of Longthorns, Blandford. Also right-hand paddle of Pliosaurus Portlandicus, from the Oolite of the Isle of Portland. 6. The British Pleistocene Mammalia, by W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., etc., and W. A. Sanford, F.G.S., Part m1. This part contains plates and descriptions of limb-bones of Felis spelcea, and the jaw and occiput of skull of Felis lynx; this latter carnivore is new to England, and was obtained by Dr. Ransom from “‘ Yew Tree Cave,” a fissure in the Permian Limestone in Pleasley Vale, Derbyshire. Six plates illustrate this part, many of which are of double size. Who would have believed, fifty years ago, that such a yearly volume could be issued by any Society for such a small subscription as a guinea annually ? Mr. Wiltshire, the indefatigable Honorary Secretary, promises that the 1869 volume shall appear in the autumn. TIl.—Puysicat AtTnAs FoR ScHOOLS. NEW and Enlarged Edition of the School Atlas of Physical Geography, illustrating in a series of Original Designs the Elementary Facts of Geology, Hydrography, Meteorology, and Natural History, has been prepared by Mr. Alexander Keith Johnston, Geographer in Ordinary to Her Majesty for Scotland, and Author of the Large Physical Atlas, the Royal Atlas, ete. (Published by Blackwood and Sons.) Now that earnest efforts are being made to impart instruction in all the various branches of Natural Science in our public schools, we hail with pleasure the appearance of every work calculated to help the teacher in his task and to attract and interest the pupil : for without such aids it is but sorry dull work for both In this little Atlas we have 20 plates, printed in colours (each measuring 12 inches by 9 inches), and divided into—(1) Illustrations of Chartography and Climatography, 1 plate; (2) Physical Geology, 4 plates; (8) Topography, 5 plates; (4) Hydrography, 4 plates; (5) Meteorology, 8 plates; (6) Natural History, 3 plates. These are accompanied by 42 pages of letter-press, giving a detailed description of the plates, which should be read over carefully and mastered by the teacher privately, that he may be conversant both with the maps and their explanation before using them in the school. Four of the plates are new and now appear for the first time; these are :—Plate 2. Illustrations of the Action of Rain and Streams, and Ice and Snow; Plate 3. Illustrations of Sea-Action and of Volcanic Action and Movements of the Harth’s Crust; and Plates 13 and 14, which together form a Hydrographic Map of the British Isles, showing the River-basins, the Rainfall and the Elevation of the Land in Contours. The author acknowledges the valuable aid he has received from Mr. Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Scotland, in the design and execution of the geological illustrations which form Plates 2 and 3; these will be found of great assistance Reports of Rugby School Natural History Society. 219 in explaining the way in which rain and streams, ice and snow, sea- action and volcanos, have tended to modify the surface of our earth, and will enable the scholar more readily to understand the cause which has produced any local alteration of a coast-line, a valley, or mountain, and thus impart a new zest to his studies and a fresh in- terest to each place he may visit at home or abroad. The maps illustrating the distribution of plants, animals, and of the various races of mankind, will be sure to awaken an interest in the scholar, and the teacher will find the veriest dullard may be taught much that is useful by this method of visual education. We hope this Atlas may find its way into every school ; all Public Schools ought to possess a copy of Mr. Johnston’s large Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena in their library. Ii]l.—Reports or tur Rucpy Scuoot Naturau History Socrety FoR THE YEARS 1867 anv 1868 (pp. 58 and 60). Rugby: 1868 and 1869. ‘Tait and Sons. 6¢ 4 DEMAND for the introduction of science into the modern system of education has increased so steadily during the last few years, and has received the approval of so many men of the highest eminence in every rank and profession, and especially of those who have made the theory and practice of education their study, that it is impossible to doubt the existence of a general, and even a national desire to facilitate the acquisition of some scientific knowledge by boys at our public and other schools.” Such are the words of the opening paragraph of the Report of the Committee appointed by the Council of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, to consider the best means for promot- ing scientific education in schools (read at Dundee, 1867). Natural science is now taught at Harrow and Rugby, and we believe it has even invaded the classic shades of Eton. The general plan at Rugby appears to be that new boys learn Botany their first year, Mechanics their second, Geology their third, and Chemistry their fourth. Out of a school of 450 to 500 boys (says the report already quoted) about 1-10th generally were in the natural science classes. The committee go on to say, “It is very desirable that boys should obtain some knowledge of Geology. .... Perhaps a larger proportion of boys are interested in the subject than in any other; but the subject presupposes more knowledge and experience than most boys possess, and their work has a tendency to become either superficial or undigested knowledge derived from books alone. The lectures include the easier part of Lyell’s Prin- ciples, z.e. the causes of change now in operation on the earth; next, an account of the phenomena observable in the crust of the earth, stratification and its disturbances, and the construction of maps and sections ; and, lastly, the history of the stratified rocks and of life on the earth. These lectures are illustrated by a fair geological collec- tion, which has been much increased of late, and by a good collection of diagrams and views to illustrate geological phenomena’ (p. 12). 220 Reports of Rugby School Natural History Society. To the question, Do the boys really care about Geology? the pages of the Reports now before us are the best possible answer. They have started a Natural History Society for themselves, and with the patronage and assistance of two or three of the masters (especially of Mr. J. M. Wilson, M.A., F.G.S.), they really bid fair to set a good example to many local Field-clubs and Natural History Societies of grown-up men, who, certainly, as far as years and ex- perience go, have the advantage of them. The Society was founded March 28rd, 1867. It held twelve meetings in that year, the average attendance at which was twenty- five and the largest number thirty-three. In 1868, sixteen meetings were held, the average attendance at which was thirty-nine, and the largest number sixty-two! exhibiting a most encouraging state of progress. The papers, necessarily, are somewhat elementary in character. E. Cleminshaw, in the first Report, gives a paper “On the Natural History of the Rugby Lias ;” and A. C. Bruce “On the accurate division of the local Lias at Rugby into Zones by their Fossils, more especially by their Ammonites.” A list of local Lias Fossils is also given. (The term “Crustacean scales”! is bad ; “ Fish-scales” would be correct, but “portions of Crustacea”—stating whether limbs or articuli of body—would be best). <‘‘ Collecting Fossils,” says the writer of one of these papers, E. Cleminshaw, “is undoubtedly the chief incitement to the study of geology;” and there can be little doubt that Rugby will turn out some good geologists, from the oppor- tunity which is afforded to the boys to get good fossils from the Lias quarries. We are glad to see the President ever ready, as is his bounden duty, to correct bad deductions in geology, and we hope he will do the same in paleontology and natural history. The Siphuncle of the Ammonite and Nautilus does not “contain some liquid, which it has the power of secreting, and which liquid would make the shell heavier in proportion to its bulk, and so it would sink ;” nor, “upon the withdrawal of the liquid would the shell become specificially lighter and would ascend.” The Stphuncle (as the writer correctly states) has no connection with the interior of the chambers of the shell, and its contents, whether present or withdrawn, would be quite inadequate to disturb the equilibrium of the animal. We must seek another explanation for the siphuncle than that of a pneumatic apparatus. The 1868 report contains a paper “On the Volcanoes of the Lower Eifel Mountains ;” “On the River Gravels,”’ etc. etc. Mr. Wilson contributed papers during both years. The Natural History papers and notes exhibit a more than ordinary share of ability and promise, and they all denote work done lovingly and in right good earnest. ! Report for 1867, p. 55. 2 We would recommend to Mr, Cleminshaw’s study some notes ‘On the Form, Growth, and Construction of Shells,” by the late Dr. S. P. Woodward; “ Intellectual Observer,’”’ vol. x. p. 241, for Nov. 1866, and vol. xi. p. 18, for Feb. 1867 (especially pp. 28 and 29). A third article on the ‘“‘ Economic Uses of Shells and their Inhabi- tants” appeared in the April number of the same year (1867); and the “Student and Intellectual Observer’ for June or July next will probably contain some notes specially on the shells of the Cephalopoda.—Epir, Geological Society of London. 221 IRIS ON SACS) A DISS) @ (Oa he sD Pls iG ise ———»———_ GerotocicaLt Socrery or Lonpon.—I. March 10th, 1869.—Papers read: 1. “On the Origin of the Northampton Sand.” By John W. Judd, Esq., F.G.8., of the Geological Survey of England. This paper was an attempt to base on the study of a rock, both in in the field and the laboratory, a complete and consistent theory of the conditions of its original deposition, and of the sequence and causes of its various metamorphoses. The Northampton Sand was described as consisting of various strata, usually of an arenaceous character, which frequently pass, both vertically and horizontally, into a ferruginous rock, the well- known Northamptonshire ore. The different features presented by the formation in various localities were then indicated; and the lithological, microscopical and chemical characters of its constituent rocks described at length. These characters were shown to point to the conclusion that the beds were accumulated in a delta of one or more great rivers. Arguments were then adduced in opposition to the theory of the formation of ironstones by direct deposition, and in favour of the hypothesis that the Northamptonshire ore consisted of beds of sand altered by the percolation through them of water containing carbo- nate of iron. The cause of the re-distribution of the iron in the rock was then discussed, and, in opposition to the views of Mr. Maw, who has referred the phenomena in question to ‘“ segregation,” they were all shown to be easily capable of explanation on well-known chemical principles, and to be due to the action of atmospheric water finding access to the rock by its joints and fissures. The paper concluded with a sketch of what was inferred to be the history of the rock from its accumulation to the present time, and some remarks on the varied and important effects of water when acting under different conditions on rocks. Discusston.—Mr. Maw agreed on the whole with the author as to the chemical changes which had taken place in these beds. He had little doubt of the carbonate of iron having replaced carbonate of lime, as had been originally suggested by Mr. Sorby, and of there having at one time been a much larger proportion of protoxide in the beds. He did not, however, think that the banded arrangement of the prot- oxide of iron could be accounted for on any simple chemical theory. He had found by analysis that the proportion of iron in the dark and light areas of variegated rocks bore no direct proportion to each other. In some cases the whole of the iron in the lighter portions had been exhausted. The excess of phosphoric acid in some patches could, he conceived, be only accounted for by segregational action. The thickness also of the environing band was always proportional to the area enclosed, and not by any means uniform round blocks of different sizes. It therefore seemed to be due to segregation from the included mass from which a certain portion of the iron had been withdrawn. Mr D. Forbes objected to the name of Northampton Sands as applied to rocks so slightly arenaceous. He thought the phosphate of iron present might be principally due to the organic remains in the original limestone, which had been replaced by the carbonate of iron. He remarked that in many of the blue ironstones there was no 222 Reports and Proceedings. sulphur present. He did not agree with the author’s views as to the cessation of the chemical action by the formation of the bands of hydrated peroxide of iron, The bands, on the contrary, were formed one within the other, and arranged concentrically in the blocks in certain cases, and appeared due to some sort of segregation. Professor Ansted justified the application of the name of Sands to these Northamp- tonshire beds. Though many phenomena could not be accounted for by simple mechanical aud chemical action as distinct from what had been termed segregation, he was inclined to accept Mr. Judd’s views as regarded these beds, Professor Morris considered that the sand was characteristic of only the upper por- tion of this formation, other beds being more oolitic and vesicular in character. The subjacent strata were of an impermeable character; and this, he thought, had had much to do with the formation of the ironstone beds. Some of the blue ironstones contained as much as 5.5 per cent. of phosphate of iron. There were two varieties, like those of Rosedale, the one magnetic and the other not. In Lincolnshire the marlstone near the surface had been converted into ironstone; and this fact cor- roborated Mr. Judd’s views. Professor Maskelyne had observed these sands some years ago near Banbury, and had noticed that many of the hollow nodules of ironstone usually contained a kernel of ochre. Besides carbonic acid, he thought chlorine had played an important part in the formation of the ironstone. In some of the aétites he had mentioned, there was a thin shell of silica. The core in the centre was probably left by the dissolution of the limestone from the interior Some of the disturbance of the rock might be due to expansion from chemical causes. Mr. Roberts remarked that it was quite possible to obtain oxide of iron soluble in water. Perchloride of iron dissolves oxide of iron; and if this be dialyzed, the erystalloid chloride diffuses away, leaving the oxide of iron in solution. Mr. Judd, in reply, remarked that he regarded these beds as having been originally not limestones, but sands, which were converted into ironstones by the deposition of carbonate of iron within them. The name “Sands,” if a mineral character was to give the name, was the best term that could be applied to these beds. He had seen nothing in this ironstone for which recognized chemical causes would not account, and he therefore objected to the introduction of unknown agencies to explain them. In nearly all instances the rich dark bands were formed parallel to joint- and bedding-planes. The phosphate of iron might have been removed by solution from certain parts, and the richness in phosphorus of the green ore need not be due to segregation, He thought the beds referred to by Professor Maskelyne were probably the Marlstones rather than the Northampton Sands. He regarded the presence of carbonic acid as certain, while that of chlorine was at the best doubtful, and he therefore was unwilling to call in its agency. 2. **On the Occurrence of Remains of Pterygotus and Eurypterus in the Upper Silurian Rocks in Herefordshire.” By the Rev. P. B. Brodie, M.A., F.G.S. In this paper the author described the occurrence of numerous specimens of Crustacea, chiefly belonging to the genera Hwrypterus and Pterygotus in beds of Upper Silurian age, probably the “ passage beds,” in the Woolhope district and near Ludlow.—Mr. H. Wood- ward said that he had examined the specimens referred to, but he did not think that they presented any new forms. TI. March 24th, 1869.—Papers read: 1. ‘On the Cretaceous Strata of Englarid and the North of France, compared with those of the West, South-west, and South of France, and the North of Africa.” By Professor Henri Coquand, of Marseilles. Communicated by J. W. Flower, Esq., F.G.S. In this paper the author indicated that the agreement between the Cretaceous strata of England and the North of France, as far as the Basin of Paris, is such that the same classification may be applied to the whole, but that, in advancing to the west and south, new beds make their appearance. This is also the case in Algeria, the pale- Geological Society of London. 228 ontological differences between the Cretaceous rocks of that country and those of the Anglo-Parisian basin being so great as to lead at first sight to the impression that they belonged to two different formations. The author arrived at the following classification and nomenclature of the divisions of the Cretaceous rocks, the paleeonto- logical characters and geographical range of which were described in the paper :— I.—UpreEr CRETACEOUS. A. Red Lacustrine Sandstone of Vitrolles (— Garumnien of Leymerie), B. Dordonien, C, Campanien (= Upper Chalk, D. Santonien (= Superior Lower Chalk), EH. Coniacien (Sandstone). II].—MIpDLE CRETACEOUS, F. Provencien. G. Mornasien. H. Angoumien. I. Ligerian (= Inferior Lower Chalk). J. Carentonien. K. Gardonien. L. Rhothomagien (= Upper Greensand and Chalk-marl). M, Gault. IJI.—LoweR CRETACEOUS. N. Aptien. 1. Upper. He pee } = Lower Greensand. O. Neocomien. P. Valengien. Discussion.—Mr. J. W. Flower called attention to the great discrepancy between the thickness of the Cretaceous beds in France and those in England. This was principally made up by several strata entirely wanting in England, and for the most part of a totally different character, being either of freshwater origin, or else Hippurite limestone. Another great feature of distinction was the pre- sence of coal-bearing beds with numerous layers of lignites. That these beds were of Cretaceous origin was proved by their occurrence under undoubted Hocene beds. Among the fossils of the Algerian Chalk were those of several genera unknown in the Cretaceous beds of England. Dr. Duncan suggested that possibly the Upper Coal-beds might be the equivalent of those of Aix la Chapelle. He doubted whether any decided synchronism in strata, spread over so extensive an area as that of the Cretaceous deposits, could be estab- lished by the mere occurrence of certain fossils in them; nor could he attach much value to supposed specific differences in shells of such character as Ostrea. The variations in condition in the sea-bottom would lead to variations in the Testacea, and there were signs to be found of great variations going on before the form of Hippurites was developed. He regarded Hippurites as a modified form of Chama or Caprina, and thought it was parasitic on coral reefs in the same way as its modern representative. He accounted for its presence by the great development of corals at that period in the Cretaceous seas. Mr. Judd remarked upon the repeated changes which had occurred in the opinions of foreign geologists as to the limits of the various ‘“ stages” into which the Creta- ceous rocks might be divided, and indicated that this of itself was equivalent to the abandonment of the principles laid down by D’Orbigny. He further observed that in the recent changes, even as evidenced by M. Coquand’s paper, there was a tendency to approach the views as to the classification of the Cretaceous beds established by the late Professor Hdward Forbes, and generally accepted by English geologists. Professor Morris observed that the object of the French geologists had been to remove the opinion that mere mineralogical characters were sufficient to distinguish Cretaceous strata. He called attention to the existence of copper and antimony in some of the Lower Cretaceous beds, and to the great break that appeared to exist between the Lower and Middle Cretaceous series. Another curious point was that in the South of France there appeared to be passage-beds between the Upper Cretaceous and Eocene beds. 224 Reports and Proceedings. Professor T. Rupert Jones remarked on the analogy between the passage from the Chalk to the Eocene Tertiaries, as supposed to be exhibited in the South of France and in the Nebraska territory of America. He pointed out that the Cretaceous beds of France having been deposited, not in one sea, but in separate sea areas, they were, of course, difficult of correlation. 2. “On the Structure and Affinities of Sigillaria and allied genera.” By W. Carruthers, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S. . The author indicated the characters of the medullary rays of dico- tyledonous stems, and stated that these stems have a vascular hori- zontal system connected with the axial organs, in which respect the dicotyledonous and acrogenous stems agree. ‘The woody columns of Stigmaria and Sigillaria are destitute of medullary rays, the struc- tures previously described as such being the vascular bundles run- ning to the rootlets and leaves. Hence the author concluded that Sigillaria is a true cryptogam, a position supported by the characters of the organs of reproduction as described by Goldenberg. The paper concluded with an enumeration of the forms of fruits belong- ing to Sigillaria and its allied genera, with indications of the exist- ing forms to which they most nearly approach. Discussion.—Professor Morris insisted on the necessity of the student of fossil botany being thoroughly acquainted with modern botany also. It was from speci- mens discovered many years ago by Mr. Prestwich that the true nature of the Stigmarie had been discovered, and he quite agreed with the author in regarding them as cryptogams, and in no way connected with gymnosperms. The abundance of cryptogamic spores in coal was hardly at present appreciated. There were some varieties of coal almost exclusively composed of such spores. 3. “On the British Species of the Genera Climacograpsus, Diplo- grapsus, Dicranograpsus, and Didymograpsus. By H. Alleyne Nichol- son, D.Sc., M.B., F.G.S. The author stated that all the genera referred to in this paper appear to be exclusively of Lower Silurian age,—Climacograpsus and Diplograpsus occurring almost throughout the Lower Silurian series, whilst the other two genera belong chiefly to the Llandeilo series of rocks, or to strata of corresponding position out of Britain. The British species of the above genera admitted by the author are :— Climacograpsus teretiusculus, His, Diplograpsus tamariscus, Nich. bicornis, Hall. pusillus, Hall. — tuberculatus, Nich, sp. n, nodosus, Harkn. Diplograpsus pristis, His. —— pinnatus, Harkn. mucronalus, Hall. , Sp. — Whitfieldir, Hall. Dicranograpsus ramosus, Hall. — Harknessit, Nich. Didymograpsus Murchisoni, Beck. confertus. Nich. affinis, Nich., sp. n. comcta, Gein. — . divaricatus, Hall, — palmeus, Barr. acuminatus, Nich. vesiculo-us, Nich. — pristiniformis, Hall. The paper included descriptions of the supposed embryonic states of several of the species. anceps, Nich. flaccidus, Hall. sextans, Hall. Discussion.—Mr. Carruthers observed that he saw no reason, from what Dr. Nicholson said. for changing his opinion that Diplograpsus vesiculosus was a bad species. The enlargement of the axis was known in other species of the genus. The notion that this enlarged axis might be a ‘‘ Grapto-gonophore” was more un- likely than any of Dr. Nicholson’s former ideas on this subject. As to the anatomy Geological Society of London. 220 of these organisms, it must be borne in mind that we were able to deal only with the hard parts. He entered at some length into the character and structure of Graptolites. Dr. Duncan regarded Graptolites as being one of the most uncertain things in nature, to judge from the descriptions published of them. They were sometimes described partly by botanical terms and partly by hydro-zoological. The author had confused in his mind the meaning of the terms embryo and young, and had more- over brought needless difficulties into the case by assuming what appeared to be im- possible affinities. Mr. Hughes pointed out that the double-celled form of Graptolites did not occur in the Coniston Flags proper. III. April 14th, 1869. Papers read :—1. “‘ On the Coal-mines at Kaianoma, in the Island of Yezo.” By F. O. Adams, Esq., Hon. Secretary of Legation in Japan. Communicated by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The writer states that the works at Kaianoma have made con- siderable progress since they were reported upon by Mr. Mitford last year.! There are four seams of coal, each about 7 feet thick, from 50 to 100 feet apart. A tunnel has been driven through one of the seams for a distance of between 150 and 250 feet, and at an elevation of 430 feet above the sea. From this the coal obtained is carried down to the shore on the backs of men, mules, and ponies. The writer adds that there is abundance of coal “of the cannel de- scription.” 2. “On a peculiarity of the Brendon-Hills Spathose Ore-veins.” By M. Morgans, Hsq. Communicated by Warington W. Smyth, Hsq., E.R.S., F.G.S. The author described the Brendon-Hills as consisting of a Devo- nian slate, dipping 8. by E. and N. by W. on the two sides of the axis of elevation. ‘The cleavage lamin dip 8. by W. at an angle of 80°, and the cleavage-strike forms only a slight angle with that of the beds, which, however, is sometimes irregular. Veins of spathose iron-ore, very rich in manganese, occur in the slate; and the general dip of these appear to coincide with that of the cleavage-planes. The veins consist of thin “tracks” of softened clay-slate and quartz, with larger or smaller pockets of productive ore. These metalli- ferous portions do not descend parallel to the line of their dip, but slope more or less, usually to the west. The author stated that the veins have been segregated from the adjoining clay-slate, the unpro- ductive portions of them occurring where the conterminous strata were not impregnated with sufficient ferruginous matter to produce a lode of iron ore; the slope of each productive part, called ‘“ end- slant”? by the author, is determined by the line of intersection of the plane of the vein with the boundaries of the ferruginous portions of the beds. Discussion.—Mr. Htheridge thought that the great iron lodes of this district lay in the great faults which traverse the country, and in which there had been considerable downthrow to the North. In most cases in the Bristol district the lodes seem to have been formed at the bottom of the sea during the New Red Sandstone period by infil- tration of salts of iron into the faults. 3. “On the Salt Mines of St. Domingo.” By F. Ruschhaupt. Communicated by Sir R. I. Murchison, Bart., V.P.G.S. 1 See Quart. Journ, Geol. Soe, vol. xxiv. p, 511. VOL. VI.—NO. LIX. 16 226 _ Reports and Proceedings. The author described the Cerro de Sal, or Salt Mountain of St. Domingo, which extends about three leagues in length, and consists, according to the author, of rocks “of the Red Sandstone class,” and where the chief visible deposits of salt occur are principally gypsum- schists, sometimes very argillaceous. The salt is generally surrounded by an ash-like mass, consisting of gypsum and clay. The author compared the gypsum beds with those of the Keuper. The beds are thrown into a perpendicular position, and the same change is ob- servable for miles in the Savanas. An immense body of salt, 250- 300 feet broad, is exposed upon the north side of the mountain. The salt is very white and pure, and might easily be conveyed to the port of Barahona, about eighteen miles distant. Discussion.—Sir R. I. Murchison had been at a loss to understand how such beds of salt could coexist with shells of recent species in St. Domingo. The question seemed, however, to have been solved by the geological survey of many of the West Indian islands, which had determined that all these deposits were of Miocene age. In the majority of the islands there were no rocks so old as the Cretaceous, and he therefore suspected that there was an error on the part of the author in regarding the beds of St. Domingo as belonging to the Trias. Prof. Ramsay thought it was more remarkable that any salt-deposits of the New Red Sandstone should exist than that there should be so many of Miocene age. There was not much probability of great salt-deposits of more recent date, as there had hardly been sufficient time for their formation, though in the Great Salt Lake and elsewhere such deposits were now forming. The reason why such old deposits of salts had been preserved appeared to be that the salt had been hermetically sealed up in impermeable marl as soon as the part of the salt which lay near the outcrop of the beds had been dissolved away. Mr. Etheridge was satisfied that the shells from St. Domingo which came with the salt are of Miocene age. Im other West India islands gypsum of Miocene age occurred, and pseudomorphs of salt. He recommended Mr. Sawkins’s work on the Geology of the West Indies to the attention of geologists. 4. “ A description of the ‘ Broads’ of East Norfolk, showing their origin, position, and formation in the Valleys of the Rivers Bure, Yare, and Waveney.” By R. B. Grantham, Esq. C.E., F.G.S. The author described the general characters of the ‘“‘ Broads,” or shallow lakes of East Norfolk, and indicated their connection with the river valleys. He regarded them as the last traces of great estuaries, now cut off from the influence of the sea by upheaval. Discusston.—Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys suggested a zoological as well as a geological examination of these lakes. If of marine origin, possibly some marine forms might be found still existing in them, as had been discovered to be the case in some of the lakes of Sweden. Mr. Searles Wood, Jun., agreed that these broads were of later date than the ex- cavation of the valleys. He cited Mr Prestwich’s account of the boring at Yarmouth, which showed a large amount of silting up of the valley. Mr. Prestwich inquired whether the amount of silt at the bottom of these broads had been ascertained, and whether any estuarine shells had been found in the beds at the bottom. Professor Ramsay suggested tha tthe broads might be relics of the old valleys of the time when the Thames and other rivers of the east of England united with the Rhine and other continental rivers to flow into the Northern Ocean. 5. “ Ona peculiar instance of Intraglacial Erosion near Norwich.” By Searles Wood, Jun., Esq., F.G.S., and F. W. Harmer, Esq. The authors described the general structure of the valley of the Yare, near Norwich, in which the fundamental Chalk-rock is covered by the following drift-beds :—1, the Chillesford sand and clay ; 2, pebbly sands and pebble-beds; 8, the equivalent of the contorted Edinburgh Geological Society. 227 Drift of Cromer; 4, the Middle Glacial sand; and 5, the Boulder-clay, The valley is hollowed out in these beds. Sewer-shafts sunk in the bottom of the valley near Norwich have shown the existence of an abrupt hole or narrow trough in the Chalk, having one of its sides apparently almost perpendicular. This is filled up in part by a de- posit of dark blue clay, full of Chalk-débris, exactly resembling the Boulder-clay at a distance from Norwich, but quite different in cha- racter from that occurring in the vicinity (No. 5); and this is over- lain in part by a bed of the Middle Glacial sand (No. 4), and in part by a Post-glacial gravel. The authors believed that this peculiar hole or trough was excavated by glacial action after the deposition of the bed No. 3, and that it belongs to the earliest part of the Middle Glacial period. At Somerleyton Brick-kiln, near Lowestoft, a pertectly similar bed occurs between the drift and sand (Nos. 3 and 4). Discuss1on.—The President inquired whether the perpendicular wall of chalk shown in the section could be due to the action of a glacier, as supposed by the author, i ths Mr. Prestwich suggested that the depression formed in the chalk in other districts by chemical action might possibly throw some light on the case. Sea std ak Mr. Hvans thought it possible there might have been a valley originating in a large fissure, and partly filled up with reconstructed glacial deposits. i Prof. Ramsay was inclined to accept the solution offered by Mr. Prestwich, and could not see any traces of the action of a glacier. Mr. Etheridge thought the phenomena might be accounted for by a fault. Mr. Hughes pointed out that the clay-bed was totally different from any of the beds supposed to have been let down. Mr. Searles Wood. Jun., in reply, relied on the difference in character of this bed to prove that the case was not the result either of a fault or of beds being let down into a pothole. He had made a mistake in using the word ‘‘glacier”’ instead of “* iceberg.” 6. “On the Lignite Mines of Podnernuovo, near Volterra.” By H. J. Beor, Esq., F.G.S. The author states that the deposit of Lignite at Podnernuovo, near Voltarre, is of lacustrine origin, and consists of two parallel strata of compact coal about 24 metres (=8 feet 4 in.) in thickness, separated by a thin stratum of marl, with marsh-shells. The lower coal-bed lies on a bed of marl with marsh-shells, and the upper bed is covered by a marine formation belonging to the Upper Miocene. The lignite comes to the surface near the Alberese, where it extends for a considerable distance. Some shifts occur bringing the upper bed down nearly to the level of the lower one ; the inclination of the bed diminishes gradually, and the intervening stratum of marl de- creases in thickness, and probably at last thins out altogether. The coal in the upper bed is better than that in the lower one. The author remarks that this lignite deposit differs from those of the neighbouring valleys in being purely of marsh origin, while they are Hstuarine. Epinpurcr Gronocican Socrrry.—I. Seventh meeting, March 4th. Archibald Geikie, Esq., F.R.S., President in the chair. Death of Lady Murchison.—The President referred to the recent death of Lady Murchison, an event which could not pass unnoticed by students of geology in Scotland. Sketching briefly some of the 228 Reports and Proceedings. early journeys made by her husband and herself in this country, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, he dwelt upon the great influence which she had exercised upon Sir Roderick Murchison in leading him into the paths of science, and encouraging him by her assistance. It was she who induced him to forsake the ordinary amusements of a retired cavalry officer, and devote himself to that branch of science in which he has so distinguished himself. For many years, and while her strength enabled her, she was his fre- quent companion by seashore, mountain, and glen, aiding him in his observations, and making for him those remarkable geological sketches of landscape for which the “ Silurian System” and “ Siluria” are so well known to Scottish geologists. It was of interest to remember that many of the fossils from which the true age of the Secondary rocks of Sutherland and the Western Isles was made out were col- lected by her. Throughout her long life she maintained a warm interest in all that related to the progress of science, and in all that might promote the happiness of those by whom science is cultivated. To Sir Roderick Murchison himself this Society, like all other geo- logists in this country, owed a debt of gratitude for the unequalled contributions which he had made to Scottish geology ; but they were likewise indebted to him for acts of kindness which he had shown to the Society. It seemed but fitting, therefore, that the recent melancholy event should not pass away without some expression of sympathy with him, and of regret at the loss of one who, both by her own exertions and through the labours of her husband, has been so intimately associated with the history of geology in Scotland. The following papers were then read :—1. “On the Silurian Beds of the Pentland Hills.” Part 2. By John Henderson and D. J. Brown. The first part of this elaborate paper was read before the Society in Session 1866-67, and appears in the Transactions for that year. The authors gave a brief resumé of the first portion of their joint paper. They stated that both the Wenlock and Ludlow formations were represented in the district of the Pentland Hills near the North Esk Reservoir. ‘They described the beds as they occur in succession in the North Esk, noticing, in passing, their characteristic fossils. They showed that the uppermost vertical beds in this section, sup- posed to be of “Lower Old Red Sandstone” age by the Geological Survey, and to be of a very local nature, extended from the North Hsk to the Lynn Water, a distance of two miles in the direct line of strike ; and that the beds in the Lynn Water, termed Greywacke by Maclaren, and coloured Silurian on the Geological Survey’s Map, do in reality overlie these supposed Lower Old Red Sandstone beds of the Geological Survey. They then proceeded to describe the upper- most beds in the Lynn Water, the lower of which, from their fossil contents, they identified as a continuation of the uppermost fossili- ferous beds in the North Esk section. Above these fossiliferous beds in the Lynn Water, they were able to trace the Old Red Sandstone throughout its whole extent, overlain by vertical shales of appar- ently the same nature as those of the North Hsk described by Mac- Edinburgh Geological Socety. 229 laren as Greywacke. Reference was made to Maclaren’s ‘“ Geology of Fife and the Lothians,” in which the author shows that these rocks differ little in lithological character throughout the Esk and Lynn Water sections. Messrs. Henderson and Brown held that the whole of the vertical beds in the North Esk and Lynn Water sec- tions formed one unbroken series. From the fact that they had found Ludlow fossils in the strata at the base of the supposed ‘Old Red” beds, and none of them exclusively passage-bed forms, they were of opinion that all the vertical beds seen in the Pentland Hills belong to the Silurian formation. 2. “The Fifeshire Gold Diggings of 1852 and their Lessons.” By W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., F.R.S.E.—Dr. Lindsay first gave an account of the various gold-manias in Scotland, etc., particularly that of West Lomond Hill, which lasted a month (in May, 1852), and was visited by probably 6000 gold-seekers. Here the substance obtained was iron pyrites from the Carboniferous limestone. The author considers such mistakes cannot again occur, so many persons having visited true gold-producing quartz-reefs and auriferous drifts in Australia and elsewhere. He had satisfied himself that Suther- landshire was a true auriferous region. 3. “ Preliminary Report on the Sutherlandshire Gold.” By the same author. Dr. Lindsay having carefully compared the character of a sample of gold found at Kildonan, Sutherlandshire, obtained through Mr. P.G. Wilson, of Inverness, with samples from New Zealand, Nova Scotia, Leadhills, Scotland, concludes that the Kil- donan gold is of high average quality. The amount in which it occurs has not yet been satisfactorily proved. Specimens of the Kaldonan gold were exhibited. G. A. II. The eighth meeting took place on the 18th March—George Lyon, Hsq., in the chair. The following papers were read ;—1. “‘ Notes on the Geology of Derwentwater, in Cumberland.” By Henry Alleyne Nicholson, D.Sc., M.B., F.G.S. The author commenced by pointing out that the hills on the western side of the lake were very different in external features from those of the eastern side ; the former being pointed and comparatively smooth, whilst the latter were extremely irregular, rough, and broken. The cause of this difference had remained unnoticed until the author (in November 1868), found that the western side of the lake was formed almost entirely of the Skiddaw Slates, which extended up to the mouth of Borrowdale ; whereas the eastern side was composed of the igneous series of the Green Slates and Porphyries. The proper line of junction between the Skiddaw Slates and Green Slates was at Kes- wick, this line was continued for a short distance on the western side of the lake, the Skiddaw Slates being then repeated by a great E.N.E. and W.S.W. fault. (See Guon. Mae., Vol. VI., p. 105), On the eastern side of the lake, however, this did not occur, and the trap of the Castle Head, near Keswick, was conformably succeeded by a mass of breccia corresponding to the great slate band at the mouth of Borrowdale. There was thus a difference of more than two miles 230 Reports and Proceedings. from north to south between the position of this well-marked hori- zon near Keswick and its situation in Borrowdale; the difference being caused by the above-mentioned fault. The author likewise adduced reasons for the belief that the absence of this fault on the eastern side of the lake was due to the presence of a second fault having a north and south direction, and running along the eastern shore of the lake. As regards the origin of the depression in which Derwentwater is situated, the author held that it is to be ascribed to the ordinary denuding agents, but especially to glacial action. At the same time he could not doubt but that the faults which he had shown to exist had powerfully co-operated in the production of the valley. He did not suppose that faults caused open fissures, which were sub- sequently widened into valleys; and he was not aware that any one held this view. On the contrary, it was simply held that faults might constitute lines of weakness along which denuding agencies would meet with less resistance than elsewhere; this being partly due to the inevitable breakage and disturbance of the rocks near the line of fracture, and partly to the fact that rocks of unequal hardness were often opposed to one another for a great distance in consequence of the displacement. This latter cause was specially manifest in the case of Derwentwater—one side of which was composed of the com- paratively yielding Skiddaw Slates, and the other of the igneous series of the Green Slates and Porphyries. And there were unmis- takable proofs that this was due to faulting, and was not caused by the want of conformability, which the author had recently shown to exist between the two formations in question. 2. “ On the Carboniferous Limestone Strata at Southerness, Kirk- cudbrightshire,’” by William Jolly, H.M., Inspector of Schools. Illustrated by specimens of the fossils there found. After referring to the great beauty of the road between Dumfries and Southerness, the author described the Granite, Carboniferous, and Silurian rocks, along the Arbigland shore near that cape. At Southerness occurs an isolated triangular patch of the Carboniferous strata, part of a belt of the same, stretching from the head waters of the Liddel to the mouth of the Nith. The rocks here belong to the Carboniferous limestone series between the true Coal-measures and the Calciferous Sandstones, and exhibit some remarkable phenomena. Granite, Silurian, Carboniferous sandstone, shale, limestone, ironstone, coal, and trap, are seen in the course of a short walkalong the shore ; the great variety of strike running in the shortest distance to every point of the compass, and showing strange examples of curved stratification. Great change in the dip of the rocks from horizontal to beyond perpen- dicular ; numberless and striking “ troubles,” slips, dykes, and fold- ings; all exhibited as in a seaside museum ready for the student. Fossil corals may be collected, and whole beds of corals seen, with their dome-shaped masses in natural position as they lived in the Carboniferous sea. Ripple-marks, worm-castings, annelide-borings, and footprints are also well shown on the exposed surfaces. A list of the fossils found was given. Other geological phenomena were also referred to, as sea-action in the formation of caves, stacks, and Norwich Geological Society. 231 pots Glacial debris, and recent deposits. The shore is remarkable, also, botanically, plants being found there rare or unknown in other parts of Scotland, of which a list was given by the author. Alto- gether, the Arbigland shore seems worthy the attention of the geo- logist, botanist, antiquarian, and tourist. G. A. P. Norwich GrotocicaL Socrety.—The monthly meeting of this Society was held on March 4th. The Rev. J. Gunn, F.G.S., President, in the chair. A tooth of Mosasaurus in a flint, found by Mr. J. E. Taylor, was exhibited by the Honorary Secretary. The President stated that some of the bones found on the site of the King’s Lynn Dock were those of a large wader, most probably a Crane. Professor Newton considered that the largest tibial bone probably belonged to the large extinct Crane, figured and described by M. Milne Edwards. Mr. F. W. Harmer communicated a paper “On the so-called Crag of Belaugh and Weybourne.” The author said it was generally held by geologists that the Norwich Crag was the Fluvio-marine, or estuarine equivalent of the upper part of the Red Crag which oc- cupied the country in Essex and the South of Suffolk, the head of the estuary which thus opened out to the Red Crag Sea being some- where near Norwich, and was separated from the Norwich Crag by a ridge of Coralline Crag, an instance having been found of the beds in contact. Between the head of the estuary at Norwich and the Red Crag district, several exposures of the Fluvio-marine crag occurred, as for instance in the neighbourhood of Halesworth and at Alborough, near which place it was stopped by the Coralline Crag. The land subsiding to a greater extent, the estuary became an arm of the sea, and the water then extended as far as, or perhaps beyond, Horstead, because the Crag that occurred there contained Fluvio-marine shells. The Chillesford Crag and Clay seem to have overlapped the Norwich Crag. Above them come a series of beds which Mr. Searles Wood, Jun., and the author, termed the pebble beds, which are in some places fossiliferous. These pebble beds seem to have eroded, and occasionally destroyed the Chillesford Clay. In some places near Norwich they are from 40 to 50 feet thick. A careful examination of the Crag in the Bure Valley, exposed at Horstead, Coltishall, and Burgh, has led Mr. Searles V. Wood, Sen., to the conclusion that we have in that deposit a more Fluvio-marine form of the Chillesford Shell-bed, which is now generally held to include, besides the deposits of that place, the Crags of Aldeby, of Easton Cliff, and the Upper Bed at Thorpe and Bramerton; the depression which introduced the Chillesford beds, and covered the Norwich or Fluvio-marine Crag at Thorpe and Bramerton with a deposit containing exclusively marine shells, having thus carried the head of this ancient estuary further north—from Norwich to near Aylsham. More than twelve months ago, Mr. Gunn called the author’s atten- Pr Reports and Proceedings. tion to the section at Belaugh (mentioned by Mr. Samuel Woodward in his ‘“ Geology of Norfolk”), a mile distant from Horstead and Coltishall ; and since then, having found that it presented such a different aspect, paleontologically, to the Norwich and Chillesford Crags, and such a resemblance to that of Weybourne, which extends along the base of the cliffs near Cromer, Mr. Wood, sen., has sifted a large quantity of material obtained from Belaugh, and the result proves it to belong to the newer deposit; and, with this conclusion, the stratigraphical evidence seems completely to concur. Mr. 8. V. Wood, Jun., has for some years maintained that the Crag at Weybourne (full of Tellina solidula) had no identity with the Norwich Crag. As this bed is often referred to by geologists as identical with the Norwich Crag, the author felt it important that the maiter should be thoroughly investigated, and, the cause of con- fusion to all, and of error to one side or the other, removed. The shells obtained from Belaugh and Weybourne, and identified by Mr. 8. V. Wood, Sen., are as follows :— Mytilus edulis. Mya arenaria. Tellina solidula (or Balthica). Saxicava rugosa. Lellina lata (or calcarea). Pholas crispata. Lellina obliqua. Corbula nucleus. Donax anatinus. Scalaria Grenlandica. Cyprina Islandica. Purpura crispata, Scrobicularia piperata. Littorina littorea. Leda limatula. Littorina rudis. Cardium edule. Natica catena. Cardium Grenlandicum. Natica helicoides. Macta ovata. Pinna (probably pectinata), and a Mya truncata. Balanus. To these have since been added :— Nucula Cobboldice. Astarte borealis. Anatina phaseolina. Astarte compressa. Fusus striatus and Tellina preetenuis (very rare). Trophon antiquum, both dextral and Lucina borealis. sinistral varieties. The important peculiarity of this fauna is the profusion, both at Belaugh and Weybourne, of the Tellina solidula, which does not exist either in the Norwich or Chillesford Crag. This shell, which is now extremely common on our coasts, and in the higher latitudes throughout the whole Northern Hemisphere, literally swarms in these beds, as it always does wherever it is found; a handful of shells gathered at random either on Yarmouth beach, or in the Weybourne or Belaugh bed, consisting principally of it. It is also found throughout the whole Glacial Series, being common to the Till, the contorted drift, the middle Glacial sands, and the upper Glacial deposits at Bridlington. It also occurs in the Post-glacial deposits of the Nar Valley and of Kelsea Hill, in Yorkshire. Its first occurrence seems to mark a well-defined geological horizon, and it is that which Mr. Wood has adopted, as dividing the Glacial series from the Crag ; the lower Glacial beginning with the Belaugh and Weybourne beds. All the rest of the shells found (with the exception of a univalve, not yet identified,) are forms occurring in the Crag, but they consist principally of the more boreal forms of the Crag Mollusca, some Anomia striata. Norwich Geological Society. 233 truly arctic shells occurring in great profusion, no instance existing elsewhere in the Crag series of such a profusion of Astarte borealis as occurs at the base of the Belaugh deposit, which is literally paved with these shells. Stratigraphically also these beds differ from those at Horstead, Coltishall, and Burgh. The strata resting on the Chalk at those places are as follows, in descending order :— (D.) Red sand with pebbles. (C.) Laminated micaceous sands and clays (the Chillesford Clay). (B.) Fine whitish quartzose sands. (A.) Chalk. The shells at Horstead, Coltishall, and Burgh are found in the bed (B) within a few feet of the Chalk, overlaid by the Chillesford Clay (C). At Belaugh, on the contrary, the bed which contains the Tellina solidula is not in these white sands, but in the red pebble beds (D), which at Horstead, Coltishall, and Burgh overlie the Chillesford Clay ; and the shell-bed is from 10 to 15 feet distant from the surface of the Chalk, as determined by Mr. Gunn and the author, by sinking a hole down to the latter. These pebbly sands, which are a wide- spread deposit, appear, at this place, to have eroded the Chillesford Clay, and completely destroyed it. Mr. Wood and the author con- sider the thin irregular band of clay, at the base of the shell-bed at Belaugh, has been derived from the destruction of the Chillesford Clay hard by, during the formation of the slight trough in which the Belaugh sands repose; but although they think that this clay band does not represent any portion of the Chillesford Clay in situ, they feel no doubt that the shells at this place are in the bed (D), and not in the bed (B). At Weybourne the pebbly sands which contain the shells, and the base of which is called Crag, rest directly on the Chalk. When sinking to the Chalk at Belaugh, a shell-bed (considerably lower than those exposed in the section in which the Tellina solidula occurs) was met with. This bed rested upon the thin clay-band before mentioned, and in it but very few specimens of Tellina solidula and Littorina littorea (so profuse in the upper part) could be detected, but it was almost exclusively composed of Astarte borealis in a continuous layer, with occasional valves of Astarte compressa and Cyprina Islandica, the shells forming a complete pavement to the fossiliferous pebbly gravels, and with the thin clay-band separating them from the bed (B). The position of the Belaugh deposit relatively to the Chillesford Clay seen in section at Horstead and Coltishall, a mile on the west, and again at Hoveton, near Wroxham Bridge, a mile on the east side of it, appears to be that it occupies a shallow trough excavated between the two places. . The excavation of this trough appears to have entirely removed the Chillesford Clay at Belaugh, so as to leave the shelly deposit of that place resting upon the white sands which contain the Chilles- ford shell-bed (a bed which is extremely inconstant so far as the presence of fossils is concerned, although the sand itself is always constant), and the thin band of clay down to which Mr. Fisher dug, 234 Reports and Proceedings. and which Messrs. Gunn and Harmer found in sinking to the Chalk. This band of clay, which forms the base of the Belaugh bed proper (i.e. of the trough thus excavated), was seen on a subsequent exca- vation, made by the Messrs. Wood and the author, to rest with an irregular line upon the white sands forming the bed (B). The only doubt felt by Mr. Wood and himself in connexion with the beds of the Crag series in Norfolk is, whether or not the pebbly sands of Belaugh and Weybourne are identical with the pebbly sands and pebble beds which overlie the Chillesford Clay in the neighbourhood of Norwich, of Loddon, of Halesworth, and of Beccles, or whether they do not form a still later deposit. The identity of the pebbly sands containing Tellina solidulu at Belaugh, with the similar sands which form the so-called Crag of Weybourne, 1s sufficiently clear, not only on palzontological, but also on physical evidence, as they may be traced from Belaugh up the valley of the Bure, some distance above Aylsham, and though they disappear under the contorted drift (the upper part of that valley not cutting down sufficiently to reach them), they re-appear beneath the Till all along the base of the Cromer coast-section. This series of pebble beds, however, contains a number of quartz and quartzite pebbles, which do not seem to be present, at least in any quantity, in the beds which rest on the Chillesford Clay further south; moreover, the fossiliferous pebble-bed at Ditchingham, near Bungay, which, by its position, seems to belong to the latter beds, has not yet yielded the characteristic shell, Tellina solidula: so that for the present they do not express any opinion on the identity of the pebble-beds in these two areas. He mentioned, however, that like the Belaugh bed between Wroxham Bridge and Horstead, the pebble-beds around Halesworth have in many parts destroyed the Chillesford Clay lying up against it, and resting on the Crag sands beneath. Where this is the case the pebble-beds are usually of great thickness (thirty feet and more), and beached up in the continuous slope of oblique bedding, that results from material being thrown subaerially into the angle of repose. Since writing the above, several more sections have been met with, in which the Tellina solidula shell-bed occurs. One pointed out by Mr. Gunn, between Belaugh and Coltishall, one at Wroxham, and another at Rackheath. There is, probably, an exposure of it at Crostwick, though the author had not been able to find it, as there is in the Museum a specimen of this shell said to have been found at that place. After some remarks from Mr. John EH. Taylor, the Honorary Secretary, on the geographical range of Astarte and Tellina; and from Mr. Bayfield on the Iron-pan of Norfolk; the President said, the most important feature of Mr. Harmer’s paper was that it con- troverted a statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in his “ Antiquity of Man,” in which work, at p. 213, he represented the Norwich Crag extending and rising above the Chalk in the direction of Wey- bourne, whereas Mr. Searles Wood and Mr. Harmer had proved that this is quite erroneous, that if ever the Norwich Crag existed Supplementary Note to Prof. Owen's Paper. 235 there, it had been denuded and replaced by a more recent bed con- taining Tellina solidula (or Balthica), which had never yet been found below the Chillesford Clay. They had a most perfect section along the coast. The same beds do not appear in all places, but their order is never inverted. He (Mr. Gunn) concurred with Mr. Harmer that the Chillesford Clay had been very much eroded in places, and much disturbed, particularly at Belaugh. It had been confounded with the banded laminated clay, which was very per- sistent, and formed a good horizon in relation to the Forest Bed and other deposits. The best section was to be seen at Aldeby, where they had, immediately above the Upper Norwich Crag, these banded laminated clays; then a bed of sand, some few inches thick, support- ing the brown Chillesford Clays. He believed this matter was very important, for in the laminated clays they had occasionally the same shells as in the Upper Norwich Crag; whereas, in the pure brown Chillesford Clay, none had been found, and only the bones of a whale. This was important as indicating the increasing depth of the waters, and proved the arctic character of the beds. Mr. Harmer, in replying, remarked that he had found the presence of mica to be an almost invariable criterion of the Chillesford clay. The President then read a brief paper in reference to the state- ment made by sailors, etc., that the ruined church of Shipden was to be seen about half a mile out at sea off Cromer, or its foundations, still standing in situ. The absurdity of the idea does not strike one, unless it is borne in mind that the cliffs rose to a higher eminence than the present (nearly 200 feet), and that, therefore, it is quite im- possible that the foundations of the Church can be standing at four fathoms depth beneath the level of the water. That fragments and large detached masses of walls are to be seen, in clear water, can scarcely be questioned, and Mr. Gunn had frequently seen masses of masonry, at low water, near the Cromer Jetty rolled down from the height at which the buildings stood upon the surface of the land. The President then referred to the Old Cromer Lighthouse, or Beacon, which disappeared in a landslip in 1865. The building was 50 feet in height, and of considerable circumference, but after searching amongst the débris of the landslip, and along the shore, there was not a vestige of it to be seen. It was the opinion of residents on the spot that it fell perpendicularly down, and was engulphed in the slip below. At the present time the débris is nearly washed away to the site of the Beacon, and, consequently, its remains, at least. ought to be detected at the foot of the cliff. The hardness of the beach for- bids the idea that it could have buried itself beneath its level. SUPPLEMENTARY Notre to Pror. Owrn’s ParEr on SrroPHODUS MEDIUS (pp. 193-6). By the courtesy of Messrs. A. and C. Black, of Edinburgh, we are enabled to add a figure of the lower jaw and teeth of Cestracion Philippi, ‘the Port Jackson Shark,’! (half natural size); the recent type referred to in Prof. Owen’s paper as elucidating the characters of the dentition of Strophodus. 1 Copy of Cut 41, p. 127 of “ Owen’s Paleontology,” 1861, 2nd edition. 236 Supplementary Note to Prof. Owen's Paper. The block unfortunately arrived too late for insertion in its proper place in the article-—Epir. Lower jaw and teeth of Cestracion Philippi, half natural size. The letters indicate the corre- sponding rows of teeth seen in Strophodus medius, Owen; figured in Plate VII. herewith. (see Prof. Owen’s article, p. 193.) : CORRESPONDENCE, ——_@__—_ GEOLOGICAL NOTES ON NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, &c. Srr,—I am glad to see that Professor Morris, in his recent Paper on the Oolites of the Midland Counties in the March number of the GronogtcaL Macazine, has confirmed an opinion I long ago main- tained, that some of the beds which he describes in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire belong rather to the Inferior than the Great Oolite, to which they have been hitherto referred by the Geological Surveyors, and with whom, if I remember right, Mr. Morris then agreed. He seems to have forgotten, or probably was not aware, that I had written a short paper on the geology of the neighbourhood of Grantham, for the Cotswold Club, in 1850, since printed in their Proceedings; and a short notice on the Inferior Oolite in parts of North Hants, in the Annals of Natural History in 1857. In these I stated, in effect, that, after a careful examination of the sections, and comparison of the fossils with those of the Cotswold area, with which I was familiar,’ I had arrived at the conclusion that certain strata, immediately overlying the Lias to which he refers should be more properly assigned to the Inferior Oolite, and I added that they required a further and closer examination. I have visited most of the localities in Lincolnshire, 1 Proceedings of the Geol. Soc., 1850, vol. vi. pt. 1, and 1851. Correspondence—Kev. John Gunn. 237 Gloucestershire, and Northamptonshire mentioned in his interesting paper, and I obtained many of the fossils given in his list. Several of these from the neighbourhood of Grantham I sent, at the time, to my friend Dr. Lycett, and he stated that although the greater number were new to him yet the rest were species decidedly belonging to the Inferior Oolite; and Mr. Sharp, with whom, on a future occasion, I examined the neighbourhood of Northampton, and who is thoroughly conversant with the geology of the district, agreed with me in classing the ferruginous Oolite overlying the Lias with the Inferior Oolite. Amongst other fossils obtained there of a decidedly Inferior Oolite facies I found a specimen of Pygaster semisulcatus which has not yet been recorded higher than that formation, and is common enough in the peagrit and pisolite near Cheltenham. Mr. Morris gives it in his list of fossils near Northampton, as well as Hyboclypus agariciformis. If these were not considered sufficient to prove the position of the rock in which they occur, the other shells I obtained associated with them, and a still larger number named by Mr. Morris, are decisive upon the point, as far as paleontological evidence goes. As there is also a clear ascending section from the Lias to the Great Oolite, the inter- vening strata may, therefore, be more reasonably placed with the In- ferior Oolite, although there are certain lithological differences and a large increase of ferruginous matter in the Midland district, when com- pared with the same formation in Gloucestershire. It is not a matter of much consequence, but I think it due to myself to state that, after a careful comparison of the sections and fossils of the outer escarpments of the Cotswolds with those of Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire, I had held from the first, since the year 1850, that a certain portion of the Oolites of the Midland Counties belonged to the Inferior Oolite, with which they will now probably be again and finally classed. P. B. Broprsz. Vicarace, Rowineton, Warwick. March 17, 1869 ELEPHAS MERIDIONALIS IN THE NORWICH CRAG. Sir,—I was surprised on again seeing Mr. Roper’s collection at Lowestoff, to find that it did not contain one single specimen of an elephant’s tooth, and that all the Mammalian remains were from, as he described it, the Coprolite bed beneath the Coralline Crag, and none at all from the Red Crag. The collection had been removed from West Tofts, near Brandon, where I had seen it five years ago ; but there was no ground to suppose any specimen had been lost, for Mr. Roper showed mea MS., in which he had carefully figured all the mammals, with a coloured section of the strata at Sutton. The lowest of these was the bed from which he had taken an old shed tooth of a Mastodon, and three fragmentary portions of others, to- gether with the basal part of a deer’s horn, and a beautiful and per- fect molar of a pig. Above this was the Coralline Crag, and then the Red Crag, from which, he said, he had obtained no Mammalian remains whatever. I am very sorry to have misled Mr. Fisher by my having con- founded, as it appears, I must have done, this tooth of a Mastodon, 238 Correspondence—Rev. John Gunn. in which the mammille are worn down, with one of the Elephas meridionalis; at the same time I am glad to have been the means of calling attention to this singular coincidence with the discovery made by Mr. Prestwich, of similar mammalian remains in the stone-bed beneath the Coralline Crag at Sutton. As Mr. Lankester wishes “ to see a list of mammalian remains, in addition to the Mastodon teeth found in Mr. Gunn’s stone-bed,” in part performance—and because I cannot, after what has passed, expect him to receive my account—I will send to the Geological Society’s rooms for his inspection an old shed tooth of the EH. meridional, which I obtained last Monday, when in company with Sir C. Lyell and Mr. Leonard Lyell at the Horstead marl-pit, from the stony bed. Besides this, I had obtained previously three fine specimens of . molars of the EH. meridionalis from the Horstead and Coltishall pits, from the same bed, and another not referable to any recognised species of elephant, and three basal portions of the horns of deer (not de- scribed), and no other mammalian remains, except the Mastodon. With reference to this stone-bed, I beg to be allowed to add some observations which I have made. It appears to lie upon an old land surface of the Chalk, which dips on an average 29 feet in the mile. This land surface seems to have been subaérial, in part at least during the successive deposits of the Tertiary beds, until it was en- tirely submerged in the Glacial period ; and the animals, which lived upon it were entombed in or beneath the stony-bed. It is a well ascertained fact that the remains of the Mastodon are found immedi- ately upon the Chalk or in the disturbed chalk-rubble, while those of the elephant and deer are found among the stones derived from the disintegrated Chalk. It appears to me, therefore, that this stony-bed admits of sub-division, and that a long period of time may have in- tervened between the deposition of the Mastodon and Elephant remains, and that no evidence is afforded of the co-existence of these two proboscideans in this locality. Upon this stone-bed, on the land going down, or the water rising, whichever it might be, the fluvio-marine Crag was deposited, which is, according to my experience, nearly non-mammaliferous ; and on this ground I ventured to suggest that the stone-bed and the fluvio-marine Crag, which have hitherto been considered one, and named by Mr. Charlesworth Mammaliferous Crag, should be separ- ated. It is difficult to make the above clear without the aid of a diagram, and I propose to submit one, together with fuller details relative to the order of succession of these and the associated beds, to the Geological Society. I have to thank Mr. Fisher for the answer he has given relative to the gravel on the south bank at Lopham ford. It is a matter of opinion as to whether it is middle-drift gravel or valley gravel. I visited the spot with Mr. Prestwich and Mr. Flower, and they both remarked that the gravel bore a striking resemblance to that of St. Acheul. JoHN GUNN. IrstEaD Rectory, spy Norwic#. Correspondence—Prof. Phillips. 239 AGE OF THE ROCKS OF ALASKA TERRITORY. Sr1r,—Mr. Dall appears to me, in the extract of a letter of his, pub- lished in your last number, to base his determination of the Alaska beds upon a species of Platanus found near Topanica, which he con- considers to be undoubtedly Miocene. I fear this cannot be accepted as settling the question, seeing that Professor Heer has described a species of this genus (P. Newberryana), from Nebraska, found in strata which he originally considered to be Miocene, but which Prof. New- berry has lately shown from the molluscan remains to be Cretaceous. Some additional evidence must be found before the age of these beds can be definitively fixed. The remarkable persistence of some of the generic forms of America from the Secondary down to the existing flora, as lately expounded by Professor Newberry, is a fact of great importance, especially when contrasted with the changes which have taken place in the Secondary and subsequent floras of Europe. W. CarRUrHERS. THE OLDEST BRITISH BELEMNITE. Srr,—The interesting notice by Mr. Tate, of his “little old” Belemnite from the Lower Lias beds, which yield Ammonites angu- latus, may be a fit occasion for entreating the renewed attention of Paleontologists to the importance of this kind of research, unpro- mising though it be, for the origin of the “ geno.” My friend, Mr. C. Moore, besides placing at my disposal his whole collection of Belemnites, has sent me, among other rarities, a very small conical specimen from beds immediately above those which yield Ostrea lias- sica. This may be the young of the short conical form to which I have given the name of Belemnites calear (Monograph of Belemni- tide, pl. 11, fig. 4). The fossil described by Mr. Tate must certainly be distinguished from every variety of Belemnites clavatus; regarded as a young individual, it may with some confidence be thought likely to prove to be closely allied to B. pencillatus, which is by no means always deprived of lateral furrows, and is, in fact, a variable species (Monograph of Belemnitide, pl. 1., fig. 2, p. 35). I possess specimens of &. acutus and B. pencillatus, from the Lower Lias of Antrim. Selemnites dorsalis, of the Yorkshire Upper Lias, is cer- tainly quite distinct. JouN PHILLIes. OxrorD, April 4, 1869. THE OLDEST BRITISH BELEMNITE. Sir,—Mr. Tate’s “oldest British Belemnite,” described in the April number of the Gronocican Macazryx, will have to yield the palm to an older one, which I found some years ago in the Insect beds (Ammonites planorbis zone of some geologists) at Binton, in Warwickshire. My friend Professor Phillips supposed that no Belemnites were known so low down, and I at once forwarded the specimen to him, and it is still in his possession. Unfortunately it is a mere fragment, consisting only of the phragmocone or chambered part of the shell, without the attached guard or sheath. The cham- bers, though crushed, from their size, indicate a tolerably large 240 Obituary—Charles Aimilius Oldham, B.A. Belemnite, but the species, I presume, cannot be determined. This is the only specimen I have ever discovered or heard of in this division of the Lower Lias, and the genus appears to be very rare. P. B. Bropiz, M.A., F.G.S8. Vicarnace, Rowrneton, WARWICK. April 15, 1869. (QuS BEI UP ACIS Nae —_—__—~>——_- CHARLES AMILIUS OLDHAM, B.A. Indian geology has sustained a great loss by the death of one of its most ardent labourers, Mr. Charles Aimilius Oldham, youngest son of the late Thomas Oldham, Hsq., of Dublin, and brother of Dr. T. Oldham, Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India, which lately took place at Wellington Road, Dublin. The deceased entered Dublin University in 1846, where, having passed a very distinguished undergraduate course, and obtaining a classical sizarship and scholarship, he took the degree of B.A. as senior moderator and gold medallist in Ethics and Logic in 1852. He afterwards entered the School of Mines, Jermyn Street, London ; and on the completion of his studies there, was appointed in 1856 on the staff of the Geological Survey of India. For several years past he acted as Deputy Superintendent of the Survey of the Madras Pre- sidency ; and during the last two years held the lectureship of Geo- logy to the Engineering College of Madras. He married in 1863, Evelyn, second daughter of Professor W. King, of the Queen’s Uni- versities in Ireland. In the middle of last December, he returned home on leave of absence, in the enjoyment, to all appearance, of perfect health. Two months subsequent to his arrival, symptoms of approaching illness manifested themselves; and shortly after he be- came affected with blood-poison, consequent on the breaking off and decomposition of a Guinea-worm that had penetrated one of his legs while on duty. Passing through various phases, his illness, of a most painful character, terminated fatally on the 30th of March, in severe congestion and inflammation of the lungs. He died in the 38th year of his age. His name will ever be associated with the early progress of the Geological Survey of Southern India, as it is honourably connected, like those of his colleagues, with the discovery in the Madras Presidency of the quartzite implements that have at- tracted so much attention of late. Gifted with a most amiable dis- position and talents of a high order, being in the prime of life, and having just entered on the necessary leisure by which, for the first time, he became enabled to communicate his knowledge of Indian veology to the scientific public, and leaving a widow, with one son, to mourn her irreparable loss, under such circumstances, the sudden and unexpected death of Mr. Oldham has spread intense grief among a wide circle of friends. 1. VU. 5) 1 i Vol. VI. ag 1869. i 4 eol } 1 ar e amy. W. West ben ad nat. hth 2 Be J Johnsoni, H.Woodw. U. Silurian , Dudley. Hucladia THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LX.—JUNE, 1869. ORmEGEN-ATS) Adi E@ia nS. ee Ne I.—GEMS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, No. 1. On Eucrapra,| A New Genus or Opnivrewas, FRoM THE UPPER SILuRIAN, DUDLEY. By Henry Woopwarp, F.G.S., F.Z.S., ete., of the Geological Department, British Museum. (PLATE VIII.) HE beautiful fossil Star-fish, which forms the subject of this paper, and is represented of the natural size upon the accom- panying Plate VIIL, is from the cabinet of Mr. Henry Johnson, of Dudley, the Honorary Secretary of the South Staffordshire and Hast Worcestershire Institute of Mining Engineers. It was obtained some years since in the shale between the Wenlock and Aymestry Limestones (probably Lower Ludlow shale), at Sedgley, near Dudley. The specimen exhibits the ventral surface of the body of the animal, surrounded by five bifurcating arms, each furnished with five pairs of stout pinne, the first pair springing from near the commencement of the arm and being inserted close to the border of the petal-shaped pentagonal (oral) plate (Plate VIII., Fig. 1 a., ¢.); each pair of pinnz increasing in size in proportion as it recedes from the central disk, the pair nearest the mouth being the smallest. The arms and pinne are nearly round in section, and taper gently towards their extremities ; the surface of both is everywhere covered with minute imbricated plates, the projecting points of which give it an extremely scabrous appearance (See Fig. 1a and 1d). On care- fully removing a portion of one of the arms at the part marked az, the same rugose surface was exposed; the arm at this point had been compressed, apparently before it had become mineraiized; other arms, as those for instance at the point w, displaying, where broken off, a nearly round section. The pinne, which diverge obliquely outwards on either side from the point of their attachment to the arms, curve downwards at their extremities and are lost in the matrix upon which the specimen rests, nor can the arms themselves be traced quite to their extremities, the points being either buried in the matrix or broken off. One arm, originally springing from the point marked a, is only indicated by a 1 From ev beautiful, cAddos branch. VOL. VI.—NO. LX. 16 249 HI. Woodward—On a new Silurian Star-fish. fragment of its base and one of its first pair of pinne. On care- fully examining the sides of the arms, where exposed, a few bases of broken off spines can be detected, indicating probably that the arms were originally spinous along their borders. At the point m, Fig. 1 a., the madreporiform tubercle can be dis- tinctly seen in situ, occupying the same relative position in the fossil which it does in all the living species of Ophiuride. The centre of the body of the animal is marked by a rosette com- posed of five pairs of plates, forming a pentagonal figure, each pair being anchylosed together, and forming at the outer margin a rounded lobe—like the petal of a flower. Between each of these is inserted the base of one of the five arms articulated and united to the pen- tagonal plates by a pair of styliform processes given off from the external margin of each lobe (see s, Fig. 1 a). The body appears to have been discoidal, and was probably of considerable thickness, but the hard stony matrix precludes the possibility of ascertaining its extent. We are able, nevertheless, to perceive between the arms several of the pentagonal and hexagonal plates, which formed the covering of the disk, still in situ (see d, d, d, Fig. 1 a, and Fig. 1 ¢), the surface of which is covered with minute tubercles, several of which near the madreporiform body are elevated into prominent papillee (see p, Fig. 1 6b). From the position of the madreporiform tubercle (m) with regard to the central pentagonal plates (c, Fig. la), there is no reason to doubt that these are the true oral plates, and as additional evidence, it will be observed that the arms take their origin from the margin of the pentagonal rosette, and overlie the body-disk, as in all the living Ophiuride ; the pinnz also take their origin from the same surface of the arms; the pinne in the Echinodermata being invariably placed on the innermost border of the arms near the mouth. After a careful examination of the bibliography of the class Echinodermata, and a comparison of the fossil under consideration with all those forms of recent and fossil star-fishes likely to aid me in my investigation, I have been led to refer it to the order Ophiuride. 'The members of this group are very distinct from the true star-fishes (Asteriade) on the one hand, and the Crinoidee on the other. “In fact,” writes Prof. Edward Forbes,’ “they hold the same relation to the Crinoidee that the true star-fishes hold to the sea-urchins” (Hchinide). ‘They are Spinigrade animals, and have no true suckers by which to walk, their progression being effected (and with great facility) by means of five long flexible-jointed processes, placed at regular distances round their body, and furnished with spines on the sides and membranous tentacula. ‘These processes are very different from the arms of the true star-fishes, which are lobes of the animal’s body; whereas the arms of the Ophiuride are superadded to the body, and there is no excavation in them for any prolongation of the digestive organs.” Of the families Ophiure and Huryales, included in this order, 1 “History of British Star-fishes,”’ p. 19. H. Woodward—On a new Silurian Star-fish. 243 the former have simple arms, whilst those of the latter ramify into many processes. Although the fossil under consideration most nearly approaches Euryalus, it cannot be, with propriety, referred to that or any known genus of Ophiuride, recent or fossil. In Huryalus the five arms branch dichotomously from their roots with cirrhous extremities, but they are not furnished with pinnz. The interbrachial spaces in the body-disk of Huryalus are mem- branous, whilst in the fossil, as we have seen, they are protected with a covering of calcareous plates more nearly resembling, in this respect, the body-disk of Ophiura. The addition of pinne to the arms, together with their bifurcated character offers an analogy to the Crinoidee, thus aiding us in fillmg up another gap: in the chain by which the forms that existed in Paleozoic times are linked to those of our own. We have in this fossil presented to us a type of Paleozoic star- fishes extending its affinities towards the Comatule on the one hand and to Ophiura and Euryalus on the other; exemplifying what Pro- fessor Owen has so happily termed ‘“‘a more generalized type of structure” than any at present existing in the class Hchinodermata. The same writer observes :—“ As we advance in our survey of the organisation and metamorphoses of animals, we shall meet with many examples in which the embryonic forms and conditions of structure of existing species have, at former periods, been persistent and common, and represented by mature and procreative species.” * Having been informed that at a meeting of the Dudley and Mid- land Geological and Scientific Society (held some years since) Mr. J. W. Salter suggested that this specimen should be named Eucladia Johnsoni, I have great pleasure in carrying his suggestion into effect. The star-fish rests upon a slab covered with numerous small Brachiopods (Rhynchonella borealis?), fragments of Trilobites, Crinoids, etc., presenting the appearance of having been quietly washed on shore, mouth: uppermost, and being unable to: right itself, it had been left to die, and finally to become imbedded in the superimposed sediments, a fossil of rare beauty, and a happy “find” for the Dudley collector. Dimensions of Eucladia Johnsoni :—Diameter of pentagonal plates, eight lines; diameter of disk, two inches; diameter of madrepori- form body, two lines; greatest length of arm preserved, 24 inches. From centre of disk to bifurcation of arms, 14 inches. [It was with no small satisfaction that, in turning over some MSS. of my late brother, Dr. 8. P. Woodward, I met with an admirable photograph of this fossil (taken in 1863, by the late L. P. Capewell, Hsq., of Dudley), bearing the following memorandum in his own hand-writing :—“ Huryalus? Wenlock limestone, Dudley (Mr. Henry Johnson, Mining Engineer, Dudley). Arms five, about five inches long, covered with strong tubercles, central plates, five-pairs, madreporiform tubercle. Photographed by Mr. Capewell.” | * Lecture X. Echinoderma, p. 129. ‘Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Invertebrata.” By Prof. Owen. 1848. 244 H. Woodward—On a new Silurian Star-fish. The following is a list of the known genera and species of fossil star-fishes (Asteriade and Ophiuride), from the Silurian rocks, with a reference to their authorities, formation, and locality :— Wo Edrioaster Bigsbyi, Billings, Trenton L, Ottawa City, Canada West. II. Eugaster Logant, Hall, 1866. Twentieth Report on the State Cabinet, New York, p. 10, pl. 9, fig. 7. Hamilton Group, Madison County, New York. III. 1. Glyptaster brachiatus, Hall, Silurian (several stages), New York. 2. 0 qnornatus, Hall, Niagara Group, Indiana. 3. is occidentalis, Hall, by Fs 4, is pentangularis, Hall, ,, ae Ve Lepidaster Gragg, Norbes, Memoirs Geol. Surv., Dec. 3. 1850. U. Silurian, udley. V. 1. Pale@aster asperrima, Salter, 1857. Ann.and Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd series, Vol. xx. p. 325, pl. ix. fig. 1. Caradoc, or Bala Sandstones, near Welchpool, N. Wales. 2. 9 (Uraster) obtusa, Forbes, Mem. Geol. Surv., 1849. Decade 1, pl. i, fig. 8. Caradoc, Drumcannon Waterford Bala Rocks, Moel-y—Garnedd. » coronella, Salter, 1857. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. op. cit. p. 326. May Hill Sandstone. Malvern, an (Uraster) Ruthveni, Forbes, 1849, op. cit. Decade 1, pl. i. fig. 1. Ludlow Rocks, Kendal, Westmoreland. hirudo, Forbes, 1849, loe. cit. pl. i. fig. 4. Ludlow Rocks, Kendal, Westmoreland. = Wiagarensis, Hall, Paleontology of New York. Trenton Lime- stone. New York. 7. + (Asterias) matutina, Hall, Palwontology, New York. Vol. i. p. 91, pl. xxix. fig. 5. Twentieth Report of State Cabinet, 1866. p. 3, pl. ix. fig. 2 (syn. Petraster rigidus), Trenton Limestone. Trenton Falls. 8. +5 Paleaster Shefferi, Hall; 20th Report, 1866, p. 4, pl. ix. fig. 1. Shales of Hudson River Group, Cincinnati, Ohio. 9. i granulosa, Hall; 20th Report, 1866, p. 5. Same formation as last species. 10. ” (Petraster) Wilberanus, Meek and Worthen, Proceeds. Acad. Nat. Soc., Philadelphia, 1861, p. 142; Hall, 20th Report, 1866, p. 5. Lr. Silurian, Oswego, ‘Kendall Co. Illinois. 11. a (Asterias) antiguata, Locke, Proceeds. Acad. Nat. Soc., Philadel- phia, 1246, vol. iii. p. 32. Hudson’s River Group, Cincinnati. 12. a Jamesti, Dana, sp. U. P. James, Acad. Nat. Soc., 184i, American Journ. Soc., vol. i. p.441. Dana, American Journ. Soc. (n. s.), vol. 35. p. 295. Hudson’s River Group, Cincinnati. 13. ul antigua, Troost, sp. 1835. _ Hall, 20th Report on State Cabinet, 1866, p. 7. Hudson’s River Group, Harpeth River, Davidson County, Tennesse. 14. a3 eucharis, Hall, 20th Report, 1866, p.7, pl. ix. fig. 3, Hamilton Group, Hamilton, Madison Co., ete., etc. 15, PD constellata, Thorent, Lower Green Schists, Lower Silurian, Mondrepuis, Aisné, France. 16. " pees Salter.n.sp. Caradoc. Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, ales. 17. » parviuscula, Billings, Clinton Group, Arisaig, Nova Scotia. 18, » pygmea, Kichwald, Lower Silurian, Pulkowa, Russia. VI. 1. Palasterina antigua, Hisinger, Lethea Suecia, p. 89, t. 26, fig. 6. Ludlow Rocks, Mount Hoburg, Sweden; and Hudson River Group, Cincinnati, Ohio. 2: » (Uraster) primeva, Forbes, 1849, op. cit. pl. 1, fig. 2. Salter, 1857, op. cit. p. 327, pl. ix. fig.2. Ludlow Rocks, Underbarrow, Westmoreland; and Leintwardine, Shropshire. 3. n stellata, Billings, Geol. Surv., Canada, Org. Rem. Decade iii. pl. ix. fig 1, p..76. Trenton Limestone, Ottawa City. 4, » ugosa, Billings, ibid. pl. ix. fig. 2,p. 77. Hudson River Group, 5 Pin P Anticosti. b op rigida, Billings, Trenton Limestone, Ottawa City, Canada West. VII. 1. Paleocoma Marstoni, Salter, 1857, op. cit. p. 328, pl. ix. fig. 3. Lower Ludlow, Church Hill, Leintwardine, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt—On Volcanic Action. 245 2. Palecoma Colvini, Salter, op. cit. p. 328 (loc, same as foregoing sp.). 3. 4 cygnipes, Salter, op. cit, p. 829 5p am" t 4. : (Bdellacoma) vermiformis, Salter, op. cit. p. 329 (loc. ibid.). e " (Rhopatocoma) pyrotechnica, Salter, op. cit. ditto, os spinosa, Billings, Trenton Limestone. Montmorency Falls, Canada t ast. VIII. Palodiscus ferox, Salter, 1857, op. cit. p. 833, pl. ix. fig. 6. Lower Ludlow Rock, Leintwardine, IX. Petraster bellulus, Troost, Niagara Group, Grimsby, Canada West. | 4, X.1. Protaster Miltoni, Salter, 1857. op. cit, pl. ix. fig. 4, Lower Ludlow, Leint- wardine, etc. 2. 5 leptosoma, Salter, 1857, op. cit. pl. ix. fig, 5 (locality ibid.), , 3. i Sedgwickti, Forbes, 1849, Mem. Geol. Surv. Decade i, pl. iv. Ludlow Rocks, Underbarrow, Kendal, Westmoreland. 4. 66 Saltert, Sowerby, 1845, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. 1. p. 20. Lower Silurian Cerrig-y-Druidion. 5 x. Forbest, Hall, Upper Silurian, Herkimer Co., New York. XI, Ptilonaster princeps, Hall, 1866, 20th Report, p. 12, pl. ix. fig 9. Chemung Group, Cortlandville. XII. 1. Stenaster Salteri, Billings, Geol. Surv., Canada, Org. Rems. Decade i. p. 78, pl. x. fig. 1. Trenton Limestone, Belville, Canada West. 2. » Huzleyi, Billings, Quebec Group, Lower Silurian, Newfoundland. XIII. 1. Teniaster spinosus, Billings, Canadian Organic Remains, Decade iii., pl. x., fig. 8, p. 81. Trenton Limestone; Falls of Montmorency. 2. on cylindricus, Billings, op. cit. pl. x., fig. 4, p. 81. Trenton Lime- stone, Ottawa City. XIV. Urasterella (Stenaster) pulchella, Billings, sp. Geol. Surv. Canada, Report 1856, p. 292. Hall, 20th Report on State Cabinet, 1866, p. 9. Trenton Limestone, Ottawa City, Canada West. Giving a total of 14 genera and 49 species of Silurian Star-fishes, 18 of which are British and the others (with three exceptions only) are North American. EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. Fic. la. Eucladia Johnsoni, sp. nov. Upper Silurian, Sedgley, near Dudley. Drawn from the original specimen in the Cabinet of Henry Johnson, Esq., Dudley (natural size). » 16. The Madreporiform plate enlarged’ three times natural size. » lec. Three of the body-plates re » ” ” ” » 1d. Part of-one of the arms ue 2 aS as ” Il.—On tHe Propasie Sear or Votcanic AorTrIon. By T. Srerry Hunt, LL.D., F.R.S. HE igneous theory of the earth’s crust, which supposes it to have been at one time a fused mass, and to still retain in its interior a great degree of heat, is now generally admitted. In order to ex- plain the origin of eruptive rocks, the phenomena of volcanos, and the movements of the earth’s crust, all of which are conceived by geolo- gists to depend upon the internal heat of the earth, three principal hypotheses have been put forward. Of these the first supposes that in the cooling of the globe a solid crust of no great thickness was formed, which rests upon the still uncongealed nucleus. The second hypothesis, maintained by Hopkins and by Poulett Scrope, supposes solidification to have commenced at the centre of the liquid globe, and to have advanced towards the circumference. Before the last portions became solidified, there was produced, it is conceived, a condition of imperfect liquidity, preventing the sinking of the cooled and heavier particles, and giving rise to a superficial crust, from 246 Dr. T. Sterry Hunt—On Volcanic Action. which solidification would proceed downwards. There would thus be enclosed, between the inner and outer solid parts, a portion of uncongealed matter, which, according to Hopkins, may be supposed still to retain its liquid condition, and to be the seat of volcanic action, whether existing in isolated reservoirs or subterranean lakes ; or whether, as suggested by Scrope, forming a continuous sheet sur- rounding the solid nucleus, whose existence is thus conciliated with the evident facts of a flexible crust, and of liquid ignited matters beneath. Hopkins, in the discussion of this question, insisted upon the fact, established by his experiments, that pressure favors the solidification of matter, which, like rocks, pass in melting to a less dense condition, and hence concludes that the pressure existing at great depths must have induced solidification of the molten mass, at a temperature at which, under a less pressure, it would have remained liquid. Mr. Scrope has followed this up by the ingenious suggestion that the great pressure upon parts of the solid igneous mass may become relaxed from the effect of local movements of the earth’s crust, causing portions of the solidified matter to pass immediately into the liquid state, thus giving rise to eruptive rocks in regions where all before was solid.! Similar views have been put forward in a note by Rev. O. Fisher, and in an essay on the formation of mountain chains, by Mr. N. 8. Shaler, in the proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, both of which appear in the Grotocican Magazine for November last. As summed up by Mr. Shaler, the second hypothesis supposes that the earth “consists of an immense solid nucleus, a hardened outer crust, and an intermediate region of comparatively slight depth, in an imperfect state of igneous fusion.” In this connection it is curious to remark that, as pointed out by Mr. J. Clifton Ward, in the same Magazine for December (page 581), Halley was led, from the study of terrestrial magnetism, to a similar hypothesis. He supposed the existence of two magnetic poles situated in the earth’s outer crust, and two others in an interior mass, separated from the solid envelope by a fluid medium, and revolving, by a very small degree, slower than the outer crust.2 The same conclusion was subsequently adopted by Hanstein. The formation of a solid layer at the surface of the viscid and nearly congealed mass of the cooling globe, as supposed by the advocates of the second hypothesis, is readily admissible. That this process should commence when the remaining envelope of liquid was yet so deep that the refrigeration from that time to the present 1 See Scrope on Volcanos, and also his communication to the GroroercaL MaGazine for Dec., 1868. * The elevated temperature of the ‘interior of the globe would probably offer no obstacle to the development of magnetism. In a recent experiment of M. Tréve, communicated by M. Faye, to the French Academy of Sciences, it was found that molten cast iron when poured into a mould, surrounded by a helix which was traversed by an electric current, became astrong magnet when liquid at a temperature of 1300° C., and retained its magnetism while cooling (Comptes Rendus de I’ Acad. des Sciences, Feb. 1869). Dr. T. Sterry Huni— On Volcanic Action. 247 has not been sufficient for its entire solidification, is, however, not so probable. Such a crust on the cooling superficial layer would, from the contraction consequent on the further refrigeration of the liquid stratum. beneath, become more or less depressed and corrugated, so that there would probably result, as I have elsewhere said, “an irregular diversified surface from the contraction of the congealing mass which at last formed a liquid bath of no great depth, surround- ing the solid nucleus.” Geological phenomena do not, however, in my opinion afford any evidence of the existence of yet unsolidified portions of the originally liquid material, but are more simply explained by the third hypothesis. This, like the last, supposes the existence of a solid nucleus, and of an outer crust, with an interposed layer of partially fluid matter, which is not, however, a still unsoli- dified portion of the once liquid globe, but consists of the outer part of the congealed primitive mass, disintegrated and modified by chemical and mechanical agencies, impregnated with water, and in a state of igneo-aqueous fusion. The history of this view forms an interesting chapter in geology. As remarked by Humboldt, a notion that volcanic phenomena have their seat in the sedimentary formations, and are dependent on the combustion of organic substances, belongs to the infancy of geology. To this period belong the notions of Lémary and Breislak (Cosmos, v. 443; Otte’s translation). Keferstein in his Naturgeschichte des Erdkérpers, published in 1834, maintained that all crystalline non- stratified rocks from granite to lava, are products of the transforma- tion of sedimentary strata, in part very recent, and that there is no well-defined line to be drawn between Neptunian and volcanic rocks, since they pass into each other. Volcanic phenomena, according to him, have their origin not in an igneous fluid centre, nor in an oxy- dizing metallic nucleus (Davy, Daubeny), but in known sedimentary formations, where they are the result of a peculiar kind of fermenta- tion, which crystallizes and arranges in uew forms the elements of the sedimentary strata, with an evolution of heat as a result of the chemical process (Naturgeschichte, vol. i. p. 109; also Bull. Soc. Geol. de France [1], vol. vii. p. 197). In commenting upon these views (Am. Jour. Science, July, 1860), I have remarked that, by ignoring the incandescent nucleus as a source of heat, Keferstein has excluded the true exciting cause of the chemical changes which take place in the buried sediments. The notion of a subterranean combustion or fermentation as a source of heat is to be rejected as irrational. A view identical with that of Keferstein, as to the seat of volcanic phenomena, was soon after put forth by Sir John Herschel in a letter to Sir Charles Lyell in 1836 (Proc. Geol. Soc. London, ii. 548). Starting from the suggestion of Scrope and Babbage, that the isothermal horizons in the earth’s crust must rise as a consequence of the accumulation of sediments, he insisted that deeply buried strata will thus become crystallized by heat, and may eventually, with their included water, be raised to the melting point, by which process gases would be generated, and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions follow. At the same time the mechanical disturbance of 248 Dr. T. Sterry Hunt—On Volcanic Action. the equilibrium of pressure, consequent upon a transfer of sediments, while the yielding surface reposes on matters partly liquefied, will explain the movements of elevation and subsidence of the earth’s crust. Herschel was probably ignorant of the extent to which his views had been anticipated by Keferstein; and the suggestions of the one and the other seemed to have passed unnoticed by geologists until, in March, 1858, I reproduced them in a paper read before the Canadian Institute (Toronto), being at that time acquainted with Herschel’s letter, but not having met with the writings of Keferstein. I there considered the reaction which would take place under the in- fluence of a high temperature in sediments permeated with water, and containing, besides silicious and aluminous matter, carbonates, sulphates, chloride, and carbonaceous substances. From these, it was shown, might be produced all the gaseous emanations of volcanic districts, while from aqueo-igneous fusion of the various admixtures might result the great variety of eruptive rocks. To quote the words of my paper just referred to: “We conceive that the earth’s solid crust of anhydrous and primitive igneous rock is everywhere deeply concealed beneath its own ruins, which form a great mass of sedi- mentary strata, permeated by water. As heat from beneath invades these sediments, it produces in them that change which constitutes normal metamorphism. ‘These rocks, at a sufficient depth, are neces- sarily in a state of igneo-aqueous fusion ; and in the event of frac- ture in the overlying strata, may rise among them, taking the form of eruptive rocks. When the nature of the sediments is such as to generate great amounts of elastic fluids by their fusion, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions may result, and these—other things being equal—will be most likely to occur under the more recent formation.” (Canadian Journal, May 1858, vol. iii. p. 207.) The same views are insisted upon in a paper “On Some Points in Chemical Geology” (Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., London, Nov. 1859, vol. xv. page 594), and have since been repeatedly put forward by me with farther explanations as to what I have designated above the ruins of the crust of anhydrous and primitive igneous rock. This, it is conceived, must, by contraction in cooling, have become porous and permeable, for a considerable depth, to the waters afterwards precipitated upon its surface. In this way it was prepared alike for mechanical disintegration, and for the chemical action of the acids, which, as shown in the two papers just referred to, must have been present in the air and the waters of the time. It is, moreover, not improbable that a yet unsolidified sheet of molten matter may then have existed beneath the earth’s crust, and may have intervened in the volcanic phenomena of that early period, contributing by its extravasation to swell the vast amount of mineral matter then brought within aqueous and atmospheric influences. The earth, air, and water thus made to react upon each other, constitute the first matter from which by mechanical and chemical transformations the whole mineral world known to us has been produced. It is the lower portions of this great disintegrated and water- impregnated mass which form, according to the present hypothesis, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt—On Volcanic Action. 249 the semi-liquid layer supposed to intervene between the outer solid crust and the inner solid and anhydrous nucleus. In order to obtain a correct notion of the condition of this mass, both in earlier and later times, two points must be especially considered, the relation of temperature to depth, and that of solubility to pressure. It being conceded that the increase of temperature in descending in the earth’s crust is due to the transmission and escape of heat from the interior, Mr. Hopkins showed mathematically that there exists a constant proportion between the effect of internal heat at the surface and the rate at which the temperature increases in descending. Thus, at the present time, while the mean temperature at the earth’s surface is augmented only about one-twentieth of a degree Fahren- heit, by the escape of heat from below, the increase is to be found to be equal to about one degree for each sixty feet in depth. If, however, we go back to a period in the history of our globe when the heat passing upwards through its crust was sufficient to raise the superficial temperature twenty times as much as at present, that is to say, one degree of Fahrenheit, the augmentation of heat in descending would be twenty times as great as now, or one degree for each three feet in depth (Geol. Journal, vii. 59). The con- clusion is inevitable that a condition of things must have existed during long periods in the history of the cooling globe when the accumulation of comparatively thin layers of sediment would have been sufficient to give rise to all the phenomena of metamorphism, vulcanicity, and movements of the crust, whose origin Herschel has so well explained. Coming, in the next place, to consider the influence of pressure upon the buried materials derived from the mechanical and chemical disintegration of the primitive crust, we find that by the pressure of heated water throughout them, they are placed under conditions very unlike those of the original cooling mass. While pressure raises the fusing point of such bodies as expand in passing into the liquid state, it depresses that point for those which like ice contract in be- coming liquid. The same principle extends to that liquefaction which constitutes solution; where, as is with few exceptions the case, the process is attended with condensation or diminution of volume, pressure will, as shown by the experiments of Sorby, aug- ment the solvent power of the liquid,’ under the influence of the elevated temperature, and the great pressure which prevail at con- siderable depths. Sediments should, therefore, by the effect of the water which they contain, acquire a certain degree of liquidity, ren- dering not improbable the suggestion of Scheerer, that the presence of five or ten per cent. of water may suffice, at temperatures ap- proaching redness, to give to a granitic mass a liquidity partaking at once of the character of an igneous and an aqueous fusion. The studies by Mr. Sorby of the cavities in crystals have led him to con- clude that the constituents of granitic and trachytic rocks have erystallized in the presence of liquid water, under great pressure, at temperatures not above redness, and consequently very far below 1 Sorby, Bakerian Lecture, Royal Society, 1863. 250 Dr. T. Sterry Hunt—On Volcanic Action. that required for simple igneous fusion. The intervention of water in giving liquidity to lavas, has, in fact, long been taught by Scrope, and, notwithstanding the opposition of Plutonists like Durocher, Fournet, and Riviere, is now very generally admitted. In this con- nection, the reader is referred to the GrotogicaL MaGazine for Feb- ruary, 1868, page 57, where the history of this question is discussed. It may here be remarked that if we regard the liquefaction of heated rocks under great pressure, and in presence of water, as a process of solution rather than of fusion, it would follow that dimi- nution of pressure, as supposed by Mr. Scrope, would cause not liquefaction but the reverse. The mechanical pressure of great accumulations of sediment is to be regarded as co-operating with heat to augment the solvent action of the water, and as being thus one of the efficient causes of the liquefaction of deeply buried sedi- mentary rocks. That water intervenes not only in the phenomena of volcanic eruptions, but in the crystallization of the minerals of eruptive rocks, which have been formed at temperatures far below that of igneous fusion, is a fact not easily reconciled with either the first or the second hypothesis of volcanic action, but is in perfect accordance with the one here maintained, which is also strongly supported by the study of the chemical composition of igneous rocks. ‘These are generally referred to two great divisions, corresponding to what have been designated the trachytic and pyroxenic types, and to account for their origin, a separation of a liquid igneous mass beneath the earth’s crust into two layers of acid and basic silicates, was imagined by Phillips, Durocher, and Bunsen. The latter, as is well known, has calculated the normal composition of these supposed trachytic and pyroxenic magmas, and conceives that from them, either separately, or by admixture, the various eruptive rocks are derived; so that the amounts of alumina, lime, magnesia, and alkalies, sustain a constant relation to the silica in the rock. If, however, we examine the analyses of the eruptive rocks of Hungary and Armenia made by Streng, and put forward in support of this view, there will be found such discrepancies between the actual and the calculated results as to throw grave doubts on Bunsen’s hypo- thesis. Two things become apparent from a study of the chemical nature of eruptive rocks ; first, that their composition presents such variations as are irreconcilable with the simple origin generally assigned to them, and second, that it is similar to that of sedimentary rocks whose history and origin it is, in most cases, not difficult to trace. I have elsewhere pointed out how the natural operation of mechanical and chemical agencies tends to produce among sedi- ments, a separation into two classes, corresponding to the two great divisions above noticed. From the mode of their accumulation, however, great variations must exist in the composition of the sedi- ments corresponding to many of the varieties presented by eruptive rocks. The careful study of stratified rocks of aqueous origin discloses, in addition to these, the existence of deposits of basic 7. Dawidson—Continental Geology. 251 silicates of peculiar types. Some of these are in great part magnesian, others consist of compounds like anorthite and labradorite, highly aluminous basic silicates, in which lime and soda enter to the almost complete exclusion of magnesia and other bases; while in the masses of pinite or agalmatolite rock, we have a similar aluminous silicate, in which lime and magnesia are wanting, and potash is the predominent alkali. In such sediments as these just enumerated, we find the representatives of eruptive rocks like peridotite, phono- lite, leucitophyre, and similar rocks which are so many exceptions in the basic group of Bunsen. As, however, they are represented in the sediments of the earth’s crust, their appearance as exotic rocks, consequent upon a softening and extravasation of the more easily liquefiable strata of deeply buried formations, is readily and simply explained.’ The object of the present communication has been to call the attention of geologists to the neglected views of Keferstein and Herschel, which I have endeavoured to extend and to adapt to the present state of our knowledge. It is proposed in another paper to consider the question of the agencies which have regulated the geo- graphical distribution of volcanic phenomena both in ancient and in modern times. Montreal, Canada, March, 1869. III.—Norrs on ContinentaL Gronocy AND PAL#ONTOLOGY. By Tuomas Davivson, F.R.S., F.G.S. (Continued from p. 205). (Part III.) URING my recent stay at Geneva the eminent geologists MM. F. J. Pictet and P. de Loriol showed me a very considerable number of fossils, which they had collected from the middle and lower portions of the Cretaceous system of Switzerland and Savoy, and carefully explained the position of the beds from which they had been obtained. M. Pictet subsequently, at my request, recorded in manuscript his most recent views in connection with this im- portant topic, of which I will shortly reproduce a translation for the benefit of the readers of the GronocicaAL Macazinr. He has, however, restricted his table and explanations to the middle and lower portions of the Cretaceous system, because the regions which surround Geneva do not exhibit any representatives or evidence in connection with the upper stages. M. Pictet has also explained his views with reference to the rock which, at the Porte-de-France, contains the Terebratula janitor, and of the Carpathian or Stramberg limestone, which has been placed by M. Hébert at the base of the Cretaceous system, but which others have referred to the Jurassic epoch. The correct determination of the true age of these rocks is a subject of very great importance, since they contain a rich assem- 1 See in this connection the Canadian Journal, for 1858, p. 203; Quart. Jour. Geol. Society for 1859, p. 494; Amer. Jour. Science [2] xxxvii., 255, xxxvilil. 182; also Geology of Canada, 1863, pp. 643, 669, and Rep. Geol. Canada, 1866, p. 230. 252 T. Davidson—Continental Geology. blage of species bearing a particular and well-marked stamp, as may be seen by a glance at Professor Suess’s admirable monograph, “ Die Brachiopoden der Stramberger Schichten,” as well as at those by Zettel, etc., on other classes. In connection with this subject of the difficult classification of the rocks above mentioned, M. Lory, a distinguished French geologist, favourably known on account of his able researches in the geology of the French Alps, etc., has kindly transmitted to me a summary of his recent labours which he communicated on the 3rd of May to the Geological Society of France, and of which I now offer a translation prior to introducing M. Pictet’s valuable observations upon the same subject. I have, moreover, considered it absolutely necessary to introduce the discussion in connection with the T. viator limestone of the Port-de-France and that of Stramberg, as they are so in- cae connected with the fossils to be assigned to the Cretaceous period. CoMPARATIVE SEQUENCE FROM THE GAULT TO THE OxrorD CLAY. By M. C. Lory. 29th April. Region of the Central Jura. Subalpine Region. (Type situated between Besancon and (Type neighbourhood of Grenoble.) Neufchatel.) Gina GavLt. Marls, with Plicatula placunea, Aptien Marls, with Belemn. semicanali- culatus, ete. (Marls, with Orbitolines and Echinus of Rimet (Isére). Limestone, with Chama Lonsdalet. Marls, with Orbitolines (1st zone) and with Heteraster oblongus, etc. Marls, with Orbitolines, Salenia pres- tensis, etc. Limestone, with Pterocera pelagi. | Limestone, with y Le | : : y Vellov eee me ee \ Limestone, with Chama ammonia. Marls, with Toxaster complanatus. Limestone, with Crioceras Duvalii. Limestone, with chloritic grains (glaucon- ieux), with Belem. pistilliformis and di- Neocomien Marls, or Marls of Hauterive. latatus, Russet Brown Limestone, with Ostrea { Russet brown Limestone, wlth Ostrea rectangularis. rectangularis. Valanginian Limestone. Limestone of Fontanil (Isére). Marls, with Belemn. latus, Am. Neocomi- ensis, etc. Argilo-bituminous Limestone, with hy- draulic cement: Fauna of Berrias (No. (Break.) 5 of M. Pictet). Limestone and Breccia of Aizy (No. 3 and 4, id.) aes ee with Zerebratula janitor (No. 2, 10:)< Fresh-water beds. Suprajurassic (Pur- beck ?) Portland Limestone. (Break.) Marls and Limestone, with Ostrea vir- gula. Marls and Limestone, with BABII Corresponding toa complete change of fauna pélagi. Marls and Limestone, with Astanteh Limestone, with Diceras. Coral Rag. L. Davidson— Continental Geology. 253 r Region of the Central Jura. Subalpine Region. ype situated between Besancon and : Neufchatel.) (Type neighbourhood of Grenoble.) Gavuut. Gavit. Upper Oxfordien ; Terrain & Chailles;{ ™*** CSR eb SiO) EE See Limestone of the Porte-de-France, large | uosus, A. tortisulcatus, A. plicatilis, Argovien. tatricus, iphicerus, ete. ; Belem. hastatus. Argillaceous Limestone and Marls, with geodes, Belem. hastatus, B. latisulcatus, Oxford Clay. Amm. plicatilis, canaliculatus, tortisul- catus, oculatus, etc. M. Lory writes to me, on the 29th of April, “In all the papers where J have had occasion to refer to the beds with Tereb. diphya (or janitor, Pictet), of the Porte-de-France, of the lithographic limestone and of the hydraulic cement beds which lie above, either at the Porte-de-France, at Aizy, and other places in the neigh- bourhood of Grenoble, or at Lemenc, and other spots in the vicinity of Chambéry, I had always, until within the last few years, con- sidered these beds as Jurassic. In 1851 I made known the fauna of the breccia of Aizy, as a last remnant of the extension of the coral limestone which terminated at the border of the Alpine mass (Bull. Soc. Geol. France, 2nd ser., vol. ix., p. 54), also the difficulty of tracing a limit between the limestone of the Porte-de-France and the base of the true Neocomien of the Alps (ibid. p. 52). I concluded that the Alpine mass had emerged above the sea after the deposition of the upper Oxford clay, before (or during) the deposition of the Coral rag, and subsequently replaced by a subsidence under the sea at the commencement only of the Neocomien period (ibid. p- 236, 238) an opinion adopted and maintained by M. Hebert, and upon which we were always agreed. I have since shown that the Neocomien deposits must have commenced in the Alpine region before they spread in the Jurassic one: Since in the latter the first deposits were the Valanginian limestone represented at Grenoble, by the limestone of Fontanil, above which we find again the large deposit of the marls with small Ammonites, and wiih Belemnites latus of the Mediterranean region (Bull. Soc. Geol., vol. xv., p. 30), so that the Neocomien sea came from the South, after having formed this deposit, and extended itself over the Jura at the period of the deposition of the Valanginian limestone and later again in the Haute Savona where we find only the marls with Spatangus (Desc. Geol. of the Dauphiné, p. 159 and 189). “‘In my opinion, and I believe in that of M. Hébert, this deposition of Lower Neocomien strata took place during the long epoch of intermission of the marine deposits in the Anglo-Parisian basin, represented by the fresh water deposits of the Wealden. “In the last paper which I published on these beds, I still maintained the upper beds of the Porte-de-France to be of Jurassic age on account of the Ammonites which D’Orbigny had identified as A. anceps, viator, Hommairei, Adele, etc., occurring in beds, some immediately below, and others above the principal horizon of the Ter, diphya (Bull. 2nd ser., vol. xxiii, p. 516), and above all, it 254 T. Davidson— Continental Geology. on account of the small fauna of the breccia of Aizy and Lemenc, which is believed to be incontestably Jurassic. Since then I have attentively re-examined the localities in order to furnish M. Pictet and M. Hébert with the stratigraphical data of which they were in need (neither the one nor the other having visited those localities in the neighbourhood of Grenoble), and I have arrived at the following conclusions: First, that the principal and lower mass of the limestone of the Porte-de-France contains a fauna which is entirely Oxfordian; it is terminated by a bed with large Aptychus (A. levis and A. lamellosus) which form the bottom of the quarry of the Porte-de-France. “Secondly: In a bed of compact limestone situated above the last described, the J. janitor (or diphya) begins to appear along with the Ammonites under discussion, which M. Hébert considers re- ferable to Neocomien types, and which do not in any case occur along with the Jurassic fauna underneath: moreover, no species bearing an evident Jurassic type has been met with in this zone. Above this, beds occur containing scarcely any other fossils save T. janitor with T. gratianopolitana (Pictet). These are followed (always in the ascending order) by others containing Ammonites, the lithographic limestones are more developed and richer in fossils at Aizy, and with them is intercalated, as a local accident, the breccia of Aizy, of Lemenc, and other localities possessing a coralline facies. “Thirdly: Finally above all these comes the Argilo-bituminous limestone with hydraulic cement, the fauna of which has been so carefully studied by M. Pictet. We cannot doubt then that this is the Lower Neocomien corresponding to the beds of Berrias. “The impending discussion can therefore only bear upon the beds No. 2. Now it appears to me from the paleontological studies in connection with the fauna of this layer, that it has strong affinities with the Neocomien and contains no Ammonite of a decidedly Jurassic type. As to the Echinoderms and the Brachiopoda found in the breccia of Aizy, upon which my former opinion was chiefly grounded, they are open to discussion. Hven supposing some mcon- testably Jurassic species should be found therein, as for example Acropeltis equituberculata, Megerlea pectunculoides, Terebratulina sub- striata, etc., it is necessary to remark that they occur in a pudding- stone, and in such a conglomerate, it is not impossible that these fossils, detached perhaps from the Jurassic beds, should have inter- mingled with the Neocomien ones, derived from the limestone immediately underneath. To the mind of any one acquainted with the locality, this breccia is evidently a shore-deposit, and this mix- ture of fossils, under such circumstances of deposition, would not be impossible. Therefore I am now entirely of the opinion of M. Hébert, or rather, I believe that the paleontological discussions raised on this subject will require to be solved in accordance with his opinion, which appears the only one that would agree with my stratigraphical studies. “Tt is clear from the comparative table I have sent you, that on both sides, in the Jura and in the Alps there exists a break es —__—_|—__—__ “y oury Ny “SIOGUIV.IYY JO 4072 Ona “al “a7; UAT 81048 ‘gala, WIM ‘ooueray omitted Bp-o1gde She I joudy, jo whydp AG day, Uytaa “omOngoUAy pue ‘Azry Jo ouoysomry [a Se *g oUrT ‘SBLIIOG JO WATUL0909 NT ‘WASUTpPII Jo spog erent Thi ‘(syueg) -p20a) vouwarr ‘snzn) mMEUMLY UF FO SPT) -cewapag YALA SpTR INL *(SuyueM 19970) -(sonSury “TOTULOO bs JO Spey ‘sp.a00) |-edg ® sorlvo -oany aomor] S20 ya vine -foupr qt syrey | -[eo) £ 2bunzndgy Us pue S22? | aq pue aatoneyy Jo | JT ouoysomry TUeUr MHA STL | strep ayy Jo orasy Jo |pue ‘(sounosay “TOTULOD “pruouuD nurj01d HOLL UML ERY ame eh ee -oony staddg |-»9 qt onoysomrT +3091)0N90 : 102940 sypaqurong : YIM pexIUL Werl0s1— “000 dy ‘We jo “oa ‘tandy . “DUUNOD ‘yey woyoodg med, DALISQ TIM pag : ‘yey IaMo0'T : ; HED |r apy) THOM Ban ade 0 qe ons, qjney onzy, SunOpta UN, Fe 9) | —$— — — ‘jos “OT[LAIYO ep [oO “zeyjorkeg Jo watin f “049 ‘(@IAQTN) OUSOD “lomo | eyg Jo yyneyg seddg|"3Q jo yynexy szoddg |jo ynexy seddg ‘pueg user reddy |pueg usery add gq “maTUBTMOMaL) “TaTUBULOa*) SS ‘UaIseMOToyYy | ‘“WoLsvmoyjoyy ‘soqqed.iep ‘Ayeqy ‘jorAy, ‘sour Jo seq-q4nog ‘puvptezjIMg JO 489M -qynos—'sdly *Aueuay ‘eUOTY oy Jo ulseg ‘gulag 91} JO Useq “y Surry ‘I ef CULT ‘TOLSUL]C A LOMO = “o}IUOWT é “eozokig 2 seSuody yyIM pog d ‘QATIOINVF] JO spe ‘poyeyoMayy Jo ou0jg MoTjax | “AvTQ woyoodg | , ayy jo sadejsramory f 7 “MATMOSI) IaMO'T : ‘MOTUOSIE) OFT AA ¢ q SeTTOUGIO ‘ualuepoyy 10 uerydy 19MoT | ‘pueg use1y IOMOT “9 ‘wordy reddq ‘qe IOMOTT PUL OTPPIT | eUx04syTO,T Jo yTNeH *) _ [aspiiqurey Jo yey °g ‘uaTmoovIA IO yey roddq ‘TelseuLoy}OyYy ‘(ostatavUL “eine Yous pure ssIag *puelsuq purg user roddg arery) Te AeyO “sIoquIeIy Jo ouojsomvy 4 ro (onbra “OUMLL) OL“OFT], “WOLSUC] -@A JO UwarUL -0009Nf TAAL *g |[peq oyerpomi1eq UT ‘radolg WTUL0I09 NT ‘MOTOS: ‘uoydy “qe ‘qmey raddq “meImeu0uE*) “698T ‘THdy W3p% “Ganorg “fH W A8 ‘WHLSAS SQOMOVLAUO AHL AO NOILUOd ULMOT GNV WIACIN AHL O NOILYOIAISSV'IO 256 T. Davidson— Continental Geology. in the sequence of deposits, but these two breaks have not begun or terminated at the same time. The Supra-jurassic deposit, in which I was the first to show the existence of fresh-water fossils (Comptes Rendus de lAcad. des Sciences, Oct., 1849), might perhaps have continued, whilst the first beds with T. janitor were being deposited, but additional confirmation by renewed stratigraphical and paleontological researches will be required before we can fix our ideas on the succession or partial synchronism of these breaks or gaps, which are very evident, and call loudly for further research, especially in the immediate parts between the Jura and the Alps.” To his table of the Middle and Lower Cretaceous period (ante, p. 255), M. Pictet adds the following explanatory notes :— “No. 1.—Tithonic stage or limestone of Stramberg. I commence my table (in the ascending order) by a stage of which the position is still doubtful, thus raising one of the most controverted questions of the day. On this subject there exists a misunderstanding between M. Hébert and myself, but this disagreement has been much exaggerated. The facts are as follows: M. Hébert was the first to observe the Cretaceous aspect of the fauna of the Porte-de- France ; to him therefore, incontrovertibly, belongs the merit of having first drawn public attention to this fact. This observation of M. Hébert’s struck me the more forcibly from my having at the same time had occasion to study the remarkable fauna of Berrias, and that I found therein the confirmation of M. Hébert’s idea of the existence of Neocomien faunas more ancient than those already known. I believe I was the first to determine that the section of the Porte-de-France contains three different stages. The jurassic, at the base, the true Neocomien at the top, and the Stram- berg limestone in the middle. In the first instance I was cen- sured for seeking to establish comparisons with the deposits of the Carpathians ; subsequently, the necessity of so doing has been acknowledged, so much so indeed, that the only question now at issue, is that of determining the age of the Stramberg limestone (no one disputes its identity with the limestone of Aizy). “Tn the table published (Mélanges Paléontologiques, 4th decade) I traced a line A which separates the Stramberg limestone from the underlying Jurassic period, and another line B which separates it from the limestone of Berrias situated above. I then suggested that the boundary of the Jurassic period was either on the line A or on the line B, or between the two. M. Hébert accepts the line A as the separation. We were no longer agreed when it was necessary to come to a definite understanding. M. Hébert thinks the question has been sufficiently answered, and admits without reservation that the Stramberg limestone belongs to the Neocomien period. I cannot so speedily arrive at that conclusion; I recommend more study, and require further evidence ere I decide. “JT coincide in his opinion that the evidence derived from the Cephalopoda is in favour of the idea that the Stramberg limestone is Cretaceous. Since the valuable researches of M. Zittel there is an increased analogy, a striking one, between Stramberg and the T. Davidson— Continental Geology. 257 fauna of Berrias, and M. Zeuscher’s researches on the Nerinea, and that of Sig. Gemellaro on the fauna of the horizon of Tereb. janitor at Palermo, seem to denote on the contrary Jurassic affinities. I do not consider myself justified in denying the correct foundation of the identifications arrived at by these eminent paleontologists, and I consequently wait for a renewed discussion with regard to those species. “From what I have already said, I am prepared to accept the idea of the Stramberg limestone being a portion of the Cretaceous system, but I shall only accept it as such when supported by satis- factory evidence, and this I repeat we do not at present possess. “The fauna of the Klippenkalk (Carpathians) and that of the ‘Rosso-Ammonitico’ of the Tyrol are almost contemporary with those of Stramberg, and characterised by the true Terebratula diphya. “As to the Stramberg fauna, the list of the fossils will be found in the works already quoted. The most marked are the Tereb. janitor, Ammonites ptychoricus, A. Leibigi, etc., Nautilus Geinitzi, N. Picteti, etc. “No. 2.— Lower Neocomien or Valangien. Below the true Neocomien some lower beds are found, which it is not easy to correlate entirely, because they exhibit different facies. In the Swiss and French Jura two beds are in general observed in the Valangien, connected by a considerable number of well known species. The upper or limonite is the richest (see the Memoir of M. Jaccard relating to the map of Switzerland, and where at p. 164 upwards of 250 species are mentioned) the principal fossils of the Valangien are Ammonites Marcousiana, A. Gevrilianus, A. Desori, etc., Natica leviathan, Pygurus rostratus, etc. In the south of the basin of the Rhone we find again this same bed characterised by Natica leviathan. Beneath it is the beautiful fauna of Berrias, which I described in the ‘Mélanges Paléontologiques, No.8; it forms a curious transition between the true Neocomien and the limestone of Aizy (Stramberg limestone). “No. 3.—Is an intermediate bed which some geologists connect with No. 2 and others with No. 4. In the Swiss Jura it con- tains Sponges and Bryozoa and is believed to be Velangien. In the canton of Berne, and in the valley of the Rhone, this bed seems to be replaced by marls with a well defined horizon, containing Ammonites Grasianus, A. asperrimus, A. Neocomiensis, etc. “No. 4.—The true Neocomien appears in two forms. A, the littoral, or shore facies, is spread over a large portion of France, the Jura, etc., and is divided according to the localities into two or three beds. The upper one is the ‘Yellow Stone of Neufchatel,’ the middle one is the ‘ Marls of Hauterive.’ It is possible sometimes to Separate from these last a lower bed with Ammonites Astierianus. The characteristic fossils are very numerous :—Belemn. dilatatus, B. pistilliformis, Ammonites radiatus, Am. Leopoldinus, ete. B, the Alpine facies forms a long layer or band extending from the south-east of Germany and Switzerland to the maritime Alps, and returning through the Veronais. It is this facies which contains the VOL. VI.—NO. LX. 17 258 T. Davidson— Continental Geology. magnificent fauna characterised by the unrolled Cephalopoda of the South, which very nearly corresponds to the Barrémien of M. Coquand. Belem. dilatatus, Amm. tethys, A. Rouyanus, etc. Ancy- loceras Emerici, A. Tabarelli, etc. Tereb. diphyoides, etc. “No. 5.—Urgonien. Well characterized in the Swiss Jura, and having a closer connection with the yellow stone of Neufchatel than any other Aptien stage. It is questioned by some French geologists, because in certain southern localities of the basin of the Rhone it is reduced to beds, but slightly characteristic, containing Orbitolites, which elsewhere are strictly Aptien. In the Jura it forms two stages ; the lowest is the richest. The forementioned memoir of M. Jaccard (map of Switzerland) contains a list of upwards of 120 species (Nerinea orbensis, N. Crozetensis, Plewrotomaria orbensis, Pygurus productus, Heteraster Couloni, etc.). The upper stage, in the Jura, seems exactly parallel with the limestone of Orgon, and contains the same Caprotine, Lima Orbignyana, ete. “No. 6.—Apitien. A stage entirely distinct from the Urgonien in Switzerland. It forms two beds, inseparable on account of the great number of species common to both. The lower or Ehodanien (Amm. Martini, A. furcatus, A. Campichet, A. Deshayesi, etc. Bel. semicanaliculatus, etc.) possesses a numerous fauna (see our publica- tions). The upper bed is composed of hard green sandstones, and has a close resemblance to the Gault and is parallel to the bed con- taining Ostrea aquila. These two beds, upon the whole, exactly correspond to the Lower Green Sand, a fact proved and established by us long since. “‘ According to our views, there is consequently in the South of England no Cretaceous deposit more ancient than our Aptien. As to the Speeton Clay, it is impossible for us to have an exact idea of it, notwithstanding Mr. Judd’s description. It is necessary that a paper, accompanied by good plates, should replace, by its clear evidence, those catalogues replete with references to unpublished or little known species. Pray use your influence to induce Mr. Judd to render science the important service of completing this work." “No. 7.—Gault. The true Gault of Folkstone of the Yonne and the Aube is represented with us sometimes by one and sometimes by two beds, designated by the names of Lower and Middle Gault. It is rich in fossils. “No. 8.—Upper Gault presents various aspects. In the Swiss Jura it is a mixture of species found in the Gault (Amm. inflatus, A. Vellede) with forms ordinarily more recent (Pecten asper, etc.), and with some new species. It is the Vraconien of M. Renevier. In the Alps of the Canton de Vaud (Col de Cheville) an association tolerably similar is found very distinct from the Lower Gault. In the Alps of Savoy, on the contrary, there is frequently a mixture of species belonging to the Lower and the Upper Gault. The Vraconien appears to us entirely contemporaneous with the Upper Gault of 1 Mr. Judd informs me that he has at present in preparation descriptions accom- panied by illustrations of the species which occur in the beds of the Speeton Clay, so that M. Pictet’s earnest request will shortly be complied with. T. Davidson— Continental Geology. 209 Cosne (Niévre), of St. Julien de Peyrollaz (Gard), and it can scarcely be dissimilar from the Cambridge Gault or Green Sand. “No. 9.—Oénomanien. The Grés vert Superieur (Upper Green sand) is not found in our regions in the shape of sandstone, but it seems replaced by the Vraconien. The Rhothomagien stage is a marl with Turrit. costatus, Amm. rhothomagensis, A. Mantelli, etc., Inoceramus striatus (but without Pecten asper), which directly reposes upon the Vraconien.” It will be observed from the tables and views already given, that a marked difference of opinion prevails with reference to the pro- priety of combining the Aptien and Urgonien into a single stage, M. Pictet and several other observers are of opinion that the latter is in Switzerland everywhere entirely distinct from the Aptien, while M. Coquand, Leymerie, and some others contend that the two alternate in certain regions named by them. ‘This subject »will consequently require further study and confirmation. Again, certain geologists would limit our Lower Green Sand to the Urgo-Aptien stage, while others include part of it at least in the Neocomien. Some considerable difference of opinion has likewise been ex- pressed, not only at home, but also on the Continent, as to the real value or position of the well-known Cambridge Green Sand or Phos- phate bed. Some consider it to constitute a portion of the Upper Green Sand, while others would refer it to the upper portion of the Gault, and abroad some geologists constitute it a distinct stage, for which the term Vraconien is proposed. I found this identical Cambridge bed with the same water-worn fossils occurring at Hse, a locality not far from the shore, between Nice and Monaco, of which I will give a description in the sequel. It is a point of great importance to determine the exact age of this Cambridge bed, and in making a paleontological comparison, there are several points in the case which will call for especial caution ; and, as sug- gested by Mr. Judd, we must in the first place determine whether there are any derived fossils in the bed (so often met with in beds of phosphate nodules). Secondly, can the distinctive cha- racter of its fauna be accounted for without having recourse to difference of age? For this purpose it will be necessary to apply the crucial test proposed by Edward Forbes, namely, whether the same group of organisms (genus, sub-genus, etc.) is represented by different species? In the Grou. Mag. vol. 3, p. 302, 1866, will be found an interesting paper by Mr. H. Seeley, ‘‘On the Cambridge Green Sand,” to which the reader is referred ;. and I understand that the same gentleman has in preparation a work on the Geology of Cambridge, in which this important subject will, I hope, be thoroughly discussed, and that he will give us a complete list (with figures) of the species peculiar to itt Another valuable paper “ On 1 Mr. J. F. Walker favours me with the following remarks: “ You have called the Cambridge phosphate bed, Upper Gault, although the people here call it Upper Green Sand. I have long doubted the determination. I think that it has been formed by the denudation of the Gault. 1st. Because the common fossils are Gault species. 2nd. The species characteristic of Warminster are nearly absent. 38rd. The fossils 260 LT. Davidson— Continental Geology. the Albien or Gault of Folkestone,” by Mr. C. E. de Rance, will be found in the Grot. Mac, for 1868, and we may obtain considerable fresh light upon the Gault from the careful and indefatigable labours of the Rev. T. Wiltshire in that same locality and formation. Indeed, many points of considerable interest still remain to be determined with reference to our Cretaceous system; and it was with the hope of stimulating further research that I have been led to offer in the pages of this Magazine the opinions entertained by foreign geologists. Having now given the views of most of the French and Swiss geologists with reference to the subject at issue, it will be desirable to cast a rapid glance at the position of matters in the North of Germany, where the Cretaceous system attains an important de- velopment. J have, therefore, requested the eminent geologist, Herren A. Von Strombeck, to forward me his most recent views, which he has kindly done in the shape of the following table. He informs me likewise by letter that the succession of beds which he transmits is not dubious, and has remained the same for a long period in all his memoirs. It is only the grouping and the com- parisons that have undergone changes, and that the identification of a large proportion of the fossils (especially of the Brachiopoda) which he has published, at various periods, will require revision, consequently he has not introduced into his table the names of characteristic fossils, but, as a compensation, he includes the locali- ties! He also adds that in the Lower Chalk they have in Germany two levels or horizons which are entirely similar in other regions, that is to say, the Calcareous Clay with Amm. Nisus (Marls of Gargas), and the zone with Toxaster complanatus (= Marls of Hauterive). M. Strombeck infers that the Lower Green Sand of England is not the equivalent of the true Neocomien, but of the German zone with Ostrea aquila, which are rather more recent. It are often waterworn ; you seldom find associated bones of reptiles, sometimes the rep- tile bones are broken and oysters are deposited on the fractured surfaces. 4th. The fossils are nearly always covered with the phosphate deposit, oysters are attached to the nodules; the nodules are rolled, appear to have been brittle, as I have found pieces broken, and the characteristic Plicatula attached to the broken surface, which would tend to prove that they had not been formed where they are found. 5th. The bed is zzz, full of nodules, bones and shells; the green grains pass up into the Chalk, above the nodule bed, the clay below contains very few fossils (I have obtained fish vertebrae and Plicatula pectinoides). Now if the sea coast had consisted of Gault Clay, which was destroyed by the sea, the nodules, bones, shells, might be washed out (as the denudation of the drift clay forms beds of gravel) and form the Cambridge bed. This would give the reason for the mass of nodules, etc., accumulated in so small a space; some of the bones need not have rolled for a long time, but might be carried by currents into deep water, then we might get associated bones. 6th. It is possible that 7. gracilis and some others may be of the age of the deposit, and may be found at the base of the Chalk. Bones that have mot been through the washing mills are often waterworn, the milis used to be blamed for the appearance of the fossils. 1 Mr. Judd is happy to be able to bear his testimony to the relations of the beds which M. Von Strombeck has made with so much skill and labour. When in Germany he saw most of the beds which he refers to in his table, many of them under his own guidance; but as there is no good general section in Brunswick, and detached stone pits, brick yards, etc., form the only means of study, he believes that considerable changes may still have to be made in the grouping of the beds. T. Davidson— Continental Geology. 261 appears to him also that the Upper Chalk of England and of the north of Germany exhibit a close similarity even in their details. That probably the same sea that deposited their Pliner extended directly ‘into England. Moreover, that in Germany the red Pliner (zone with Inoceramus mytiloides) forms in the great mass of Lime- stone a band which can be easily recognized, and he enquires whether we have not that Red Limestone in England ? CLASSIFICATION or THE CrETacrous System In Nortu-WerstERN GERMANY, By Herrn A. Von Srrompecx. April, 1869. Zone of Belemnitella mu-|White Chalk of Riigen. cronata. Chalk Marl: Luneburg (in part), Duttenstedt, near Brunswick. ‘S| Sandy Marl: Ahlten, near Lehrte, Haldem. Ss Se 7), St ee ee eee ee & \Zone of Belemnitelia quad-|Marl: Northern margin of the Harz (Ilsenburg, rata. Salzburg, near Quedlinburg ») Luisberg, near 2 Aarhen. = Conglomerate of the Sudmerbergs near Goslar. =e Subherrynian, near Upper Quader : Blankenburg. hella) a Le ee ee eee = |Zone of Inoceramus Cu-\Upper Pliner: Steinlahe, near Salzgitter, North- S) viert, ' wards from Pavillon, near Heiningen, not far Sak from W olfenbiitter. ||| SS tr Re ee © \Zone of Scaphites Geinitzi.|Upper Pliner: Southwards from the Pavillon, near Heiningen, Brackwede, near Bielefeld, Strehlen, near Dresden. Zone of Inoceramus Brong-|White Middle Planer: Widely distributed in the -o| arti, in the upper part,| neighbourhood of Salzgitter and in the Teuto- a4) full of Holaster planus.| burger Walde. OF (Facies: Beds with Ga-|Galerite-beds: Fleischercamp, near Salzgitter, 25 Jderites conica.) Aahaus, in Westphalia. Ce (ae) Sl eNaR Ty CAT a ee ee a AEE Se coe ke ae Zone of Inoceramus my-|RKed Middle Planer: Leibenburg, near Salzgitter. tiloides (labiatus). Lower Grey Marl on the Ruhr in Westphalia. ae Ns Meee ai Pho ower Pliner : Langelsheim, near Goslar. (O90) pea a A XS lZone of Ammonites va @) = * oe > . . ea rians (Scaphites cequalis) Lower Planer: Neighbourhood of Salzgitter. BlZone of Terebratula torn-\Tourtia-Essen in Westphalia, Northern Margin acensis. of the Harz. Zone of Ammonites inflatus.|** Flammenmergel:’’ widely distributed in the a North of the Harz and in the Teutoburger pha Mas Walde. (| 2 Q OE OLAS TC Clay: Eilum, near Schoppenstedt. Bs mus. Qu jo Si) Zone of Ammonites tarde-\Clay : Quitzern, near | Sub-Hercynian Lower SF | furcatus. Querum. Quader (in part) be- g |S | | _ tween Halberstadt and ©\Zone of Ammonites Mil-|Clay: Vohrum, near Blankenburg - Dellig- letianus. Peine. sen in the Hills. 262 T. Davidson— Continental Geology. Zone of Ammonites Nisus.|Calcareous Clay (Gargas-Marl) : Mastbruch, near mlx Brunswick. os) > PA = § |Zone of Ammonites Mar- Olhey, not far from Goslar, Frankenmiihle, near tint. Aahaus, in Westphalia. -» |Zone of Belemnites Bruns-(Speeton Clay) Moorhiitte, near Brunswick, Heli- wicensis. goland. a fate BEET) IEE Bohnencamp near Querum, not far from Brunswick. s m Clay, ex- tending Tronstone | Sandstone GB Zone of Ostrea Couloni| between near of the Lower g var. Aquila. Asse and | Salzgitter. | Teutobur- | Greensand S Elm. ger Walde. P B. Sie Sea ee 5a Beds of Elligser-brinke. eae So Tackwelle near Berklin- 3. ener Toxaster Compla- gen in the Asse. san Gl ; (Marnes d’ Hauterive). Wealden formation. o Gross Vahlberg in the ? 4 Asse (Valanginien ?) Notz.—tThe “ Hils”’ is a range of lofty hills lying to the south-west of Alfeld, in Hanover. The “ Elm” and the “ Asse”’ are two Ranges of Hills near Schéppenstedt, in Brunswick. In order to render M. Von Strombeck’s table more clear to the English student, Mr. Judd has kindly, at my request, drawn up the following few notes on the comparison of the English and German Cretaceous, but intimates, at the same time, that this important subject requires ample discussion rather than categorical statement. “The Mesozoic strata of north-western Germany and those of the north of England present many very interesting points of analogy, which perhaps point to the conclusion that both were deposited in the same hydrographical basin. “Unfortunately the Chalk of the north of England has not yet been studied in sufficient detail to enable us to determine bow far the paleontological classification, proposed by M. Von Strombeck, may be applicable to it. One very interesting point of resemblance, however, between the North-German Chalk and that of the North of England is the occurrence in both of beds of a red colour. It is in the middle Cretaceous that we find the most striking differences in the two series. This division is represented in the North of England by the thin formation of the red limestone of Hunstanton ; while in Germany we find various beds of Clay of considerable thickness, the most important of which (from a fancied resemblance of its variegated markings to flames) is called the ‘ Flammenmergel.’ The two zones classed by M. Von Strombeck as Lower Gault are not known in the western part of the North-German area; in England they are equally wanting, and it is not improbable that they repre- G. H. Kinahan—On the Growth of Soil. 263 sent, in part at least, the interval (indicated by unconformity) be- tween the Gault and Neocomien. “The Lower Cretaceous or Neocomien beds are strikingly similar in the two areas. The Clays classed as ‘ Aptien,’ taken together with that called the Speeton-Clay,' by Mr. Von Strombeck, agree precisely, both lithologically and paleontologically, with the highest beds at Speeton, while the beds called ‘ Upper Hils’ as closely correspond with the middle portion of the Speeton series, abounding with Hxogyra sinuata and Pecten cinctus. «‘The remarkable resemblance, both in mineral character and fossil contents between the two lowest zones (Hils—-conglomerat in part of Fr. Ad. Rémer) and the Tealby series of Lincolnshire is also very striking. The yellow sandstones of the Teutoburger Wald, so well described by Prof. Fred. Romer, are also very similar to the Lincolnshire beds. Studying the paleontology of these several strata by the light of the Speeton section, I am inclined to believe that they belong rather to the Middle than to the Lower Neocomien.” (To be continued). IV.—Nores on tHE GrowrTH oF SOIL. By G. H. Krvanan, M.R.I.A., ete., etc. REVIOUS to writing “ Suggestions on Denudation,’”’ I had not seen Mr. Darwin’s paper “On the Formation of Soil ;”* since then, having read this essay, it appears to me that instead of Darwin proving “‘the disappearance of stones, etc., needs no growth of soil,” he advocates in a great measure the statement put forward in ‘‘ Sug- gestions on Denudation.” For Darwin clearly proves that any foreign substance placed on grass land will be gradually covered up by a growth of soil over it. This soil, however, he seems to believe to be entirely due to the labour of earth-worms, who excavate in the ground under the foreign substance and deposit over it. From this it would appear that this eminent observer considers that the total thickness of the soil is not increased upwards by mould formed from vegetable decay, but that all is taken from below the foreign substance and placed above it, thereby adding to the thickness of the upper stratum of the mould and diminishing the thickness of the portion below the foreign substance. This, within certain limits, may be correct; but can anyone assert that the decay of the yearly growth of vegetable matter is nil, and that it cannot possibly add its mite, 1 The Belemnite, which I have stated in my lists as B. semicanaliculatus (non de Blain.) is without doubt the B. Brunswicensis y. Stromb. During a recent visit to Germany for the purpose of studying the Neocomien strata of that country, I re- ceived much very kind assistance from several geologists, and especially from M. Von Strombeck.—J. W. J. 2 Gzrox. Mac. No. 57, Vol. VI. p. 109, 3 Trans. of the Geol. Soc. 2nd series. Vol. v. p. 504, e¢ seg. 4 Although not actually stated, it seems to be inferred that the soil increases in thickness downwards, the worms burrowing into the subsoil and thereby changing 1ts nature. This subject will hereafter be referred to. 264 G. H. Kinahan—On the Growth of Soil. no matter how small, to the thickness of the soil? If the above is the case, how can we account for the growth of peat bogs in Ireland and other countries? On the site of all peat bogs (or the bogs in the low flat country) there originally was vegetable soil, in which trees and lesser plants grew ;—on this, by the decay of the vegetable matter, a spongy soil was formed that retarded the drainage, and was well fitted for the growth of such mosses as the Sphagnum, which began to luxuriate. The earthworms, it is probable, helped to form the vegetable mould in the first instance, but after the drainage was stopped they could not inhabit the place, therefore their part in the work ceased and only the decay of the succes- sive growth of the plants could add to the surface. The growth of the bogs has been ably treated by Portlock in the Memoirs of the Ordnance Survey of Londonderry, and by Nimmo and Griffith in their “Bog Report,’—therefore it is unnecessary to enter further into the subject. Even from Darwin’s examples it would appear evident that the growth of soil cannot alone be due to worms; for spread a layer of lime on a field and the worm, to quote that Author, “is unable to swallow coarse particles, and the finer earth lying beneath would be removed by a slow process to the sur- face.” Thus eventually all the matter that could be reduced small enough to be swallowed by the worms would be brought above the lime, and only the pebbles and fragments of stones left below ; so that above there ought to be only this fine earth, while below there ought to be only gravel and sand. This is the result that ought to occur if to the worms alone is due the vegetable soil; but if they worked in conjunction with the decay of the vegetables, and princi- pally in the soil due to that decay, there would be a continual shift- ing of a soil in which few pebbles ever existed. This, however, would necessitate the surface of the subsoil remaining permanent,—a subject, the consideration of which must be deferred till further on in these notes. Nearly all the examples put forward by Darwin were observed in rich highly cultivated ground where earthworms abound, therefore the growth of the worm-formed soil must have been more rapid than would ordinarily be the case, and the part added, through the decay of the vegetable matter, may not have been very apparent ; Nevertheless, in one instance, he seems to prove that the vegetable decay, not the earthworms, buried the foreign substances; namely, that of the boggy field which was covered over with a coat of gravel, and in two years and a half afterwards, there was a peaty layer three-fourths of an inch thick grown over it. Very similar instances occur, and may be examined in many places in Ireland among the reclaimed cutaway bogs, or as they are locally called Moors. These moors are generally tilled for a few years previous to being laid down in grass, after which a coat of marl or gravel is spread on them. If they are to be kept in good heart more gravel or marl from time to time must be applied to them, and the drainage at- tended to; but if they are neglected, as is too often the case, they will attempt to return to their former state, and in a short time a G. H. Kinahan—On the Growth of Soil. 265 layer of peaty soil will grow on the marl or gravel. It is not uncommon in these moors, if a section is opened through them, to see one, two, or even three of these layers of foreign matter, pointing out the number of times the moor was “ brought in,” and afterwards allowed to run wild. Any one acquainted with bogs well knows that earthworms cannot live in them. They will be found in reclaimed moors in the made soil, both while they are. in tillage and grass land, but once the original boggy nature again predominates they disappear, so that they cannot assist in making the upper stratum of soil above the gravel ; moreover, if this upper stratum is examined, it will be found to be of the same plaity or rudely laminated structure, similar to that of all bogs that grow from the successive layers of decayed vegetable matter. Those conversant with highly cultivated rich grass land, can scarcely have failed to remark the enormous worm-work that yearly goes on, but this is not the case in all lands, for in many (not all) over chalk and limestone there is little or no worm-work, and also in poor sandy soils or in ‘slob-land’ newly reclaimed from the sea. On many chalk and limestone lands as mentioned in “ Suggestions on denudation,” “stones grow,” but in poor sandy soils or in slob- land, although it may be the work of time, yet eventually there will be a surface soil formed by the decay of the vegetable matter, and all the stone will be covered up by the growth of the soil. In such soils at the beginning of the growth of the vegetable clothing, earth worms will be rare; in fact they cannot live without organic food, therefore until the vegetable life began they could not exist. As the vegetable soil increases, so will the earthworms, showing that the two agents work together, also that the growth of the vegetable soil is due, not only to its decay, but also to the worm-work; when the soil becomes rich, the latter agents do the major part of their work, but while it was poor, they could do little or none, owing to the paucity of their number, so that to vegetable decay was due the growth of the first mould. Lands with a permanent turf or sod, that has remained untilled for ages, may be used either as pasture or the grass may be cut to dry into hay. If the surface soil were due only to the earthworms, apparently, in a field all of which has the same fertility, subsoil, etc., if a part is used as permanent pasture, while from the rest hay is always cut, the condition of the whole ought to be similar, and there would be a gradual increase of the mould of the same. This, however, is well known to the farmer not to be the case, for the surface will increase on the pasture-land, but not on the permanent meadow, except the latter is cut early enough to allow of a second growth or “after grass,’ which is left to rot on the ground. To counteract the injurious effect of removing all the vegetation, which naturally should decay on it, from the meadow-land, the land has to be top- dressed with foreign substances ; moreover, all farmers state that mowing machines are harder on meadow-land than hand mowing, because the latter do not or cannot cut as close as the former, and 266 G. H. Kinahan—On the Growth of Soil. for similar reasons horses are harder on grass land than either sheep or cows. It may be said that on pasture land the vegetable products are not allowed to decay. In one sense they are not, but if they are eaten off by the cattle they are returned again to the surface, their fertility being increased from their having been used as animal food. In a comparison between meadow and pasture land, the “hand joined in hand” work of vegetation and of the earthworm appears conspicuous. Hxamine a meadow field after the hay is cut, and the worm-works will be found to be few and far between, but if the after-grass is allowed to rot on the land, and during that process the field is examined, worms will be found working everywhere among the decaying vegetable matter; and in the pasture-land there will be a hundred worms for every one in the meadow-land, the largest portion being found under and associated with the decayed vegetable matter in the droppings from the cattle. Although, as previously stated, Darwin seems to infer that the thickness of the mould does not increase upward, that is, its height is not added to by an increase from the decay of the vegetable matter, although the full thickness may be increased by the earth- worms working up part of the subsoil; yet in no instance is a fact put forward that would favour such a supposition. But on the other hand, facts may be stated which apparently would prove that it does increase upwards. To give a homely instance. Previous to the introduction of wire railings, the usual fencing in parks and pleasure grounds were iron hurdles with double knee-shaped legs. When the hurdles were placed in position, they were forced down till the knees were on a level with the surface of the ground, but in a few years the knees were not only covered, but a greater or less thickness of soil had grown over them. A stone, a piece of crockery, or some such substance, although not probable, might possibly sink bodily with the whole surface of the ground as the earth was exca- vated from below by the earthworms, and carried up by the same agents to be placed on the surface; but this could scarcely be the case with a railing half a mile or more long, and yet over every knee I have observed an equal growth of mould. But if there is an increase upwards in the thickness of the soil due to vegetable decay, it would be natural to expect that each knee of the different hurdles should be gradually and at the same time covered. Darwin brings forward a startling fact in favour of the burrowing powers of the earthworm, in his quotation from Mr. W. Lindsay Carnegie’s letter, however that may possibly be an exceptional case ; for in the alluvial earth, forming some of the flats adjoining rivers in Ireland, such as that along the Little Brusna, the river which divides Tipperary from the King’s County, I have, during the arterial drainage works in operation nearly twenty years ago, observed the burrows of the earthworms at great depths, but usually they seem incapable of penetrating into the ordinary sub-soils that occur in Ireland. The gravelly sub-soils formed by the Esker or post-drift gravels ought to be soft enough for them to work into, yet I never remember remarking a worm-burrow in them. The G. H. Kinahan—On. the Growth of Soil. 267 usual sub-soil, the limy Boulder-clay drift they never burrow in, and a sub-soil frequent in some places, namely, a stratum of bog-iron- ore, they could not possibly enter; yet over all these different kinds of sub-soil the surface mould increases if the land is laid down in permanent grass. The beginning of the soil forming the land over a subsoil of bog-iron-ore, cannot possibly be due to anything but chemical action and vegetable decay, as no worm-work could have been done; and if in such an instance a surface soil can be formed without their aid, why is it that similar work does not go on in other places? Moreover, in such places the work is carried on under most adverse circumstances, for every one ought to know that a bare surface of limonite is not a very favourable place for vegetation, and usually it appears due to the decay of the water lodged on the surface, with perhaps a slight disintegration of the underlying mineral, from which are generated lichens and mosses, and eventually a peaty soil. It, however, is added to very gradually, for in dry weather, there being no depth of earth, the vegetation is withered away. Land that for years has been tilled to one depth will have a surface to its sub-soil like a road, and this is so well known, that to counteract it sub-soiling has been introduced. If such land is laid down in grass and subsequently again broken up, the surface of the sub-soil, caused by the former tilling, will be found intact ; but the depth of the mould will have increased in proportion to the number of years it has remained under grass. This increase cannot take place below, as the old sub-soil surface still remains, therefore the mould must have increased in thickness upwards, and necessarily by the decay of the vegetable substances. It may be said that this is an excep- tional case; for naturally this road-like surface would not be formed over the subsoil. However, if the thickness of the mould increases downwards, is it not remarkable that over each different kind of sub-soil the thickness of the vegetable mould should be so uniform ? Naturally the mould is only a few inches thick over gravel, a little thicker over clay, a good depth over a sub-soil formed of a combi- nation of clay and sand, more especially if it is limey, while over an alluvial sub-soil it may be any depth; unless, indeed, that chemico- Jluvial denudation in each several case has removed an exact equiva- lent from the surface for the increase below; but this is highly improbable. Before leaving the subject it should be mentioned that there are remarkable facts in connection with the decay of drift and its change into silt, that may bear on the growth of soil. One of these is well exemplified in a river that is partly subterraneous and partly sub- aerial; flowing partly between banks of Boulder-clay-drift and disappearing, not in an open vent, but through a filter formed of the insoluable parts of the drift. Such a stream, during floods, wears and cuts away the drift banks, and when it dries up there is a thick coat of fine silt over the natural filter; while in the bed of the stream there will not be blocks and fragments of rock in due pro- portion to those that were in the drift denuded away during the 268 Rk. Russell—On the Flow of Rivers, &c. previous winter, and consequently much less than the quantity that ought to have been left as a residue from all the mass of the drift carried away.'! From this it would appear that some drift can, in away not yet explained, change into fine silt, the blocks and frag- ments of stone disappearing, and in some such way it might be possible that the stony residue from the worm-formed mould might also disappear, and thereby the thickness of soil be increased from below ; however, against this idea still remains the facts stated as to the thicknesses of the mould over the different kinds of sub-soils. From the above notice it appears that the writer cannot agree with Mr. Darwin in believing that in the formation of the surface mould “the whole operation is due to the digestive powers of the common earthworm.” But although Darwin disagrees with him in this particular, yet all the observations of this eminent Naturalist go to prove that in grass land chemico-fluvial denudation is stopped, unless, indeed, part of the worm-formed earth is carried off by that denudent. The latter, however, could scarcely be possible (save in some excep- tional case), for if this agent so acted, it must reduce the quantity of the worm-formed earth, which otherwise would be much more con- siderable than at present. V.—On tHe Fiow or Rivers AND THE Muasure oF RIVER SEDIMENTS. By R. Russex1, Esq., of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. ae importance of experiments and investigations such as those recorded by the Rev. J. D. La Touche, in the GuoLocicaL Magazine for April, can hardly be over-estimated from a geological point of view, and, if carried on in numerous districts and for a sufficient length of time, would furnish data with which, and a basis from which, future calculations as to the rate of denudation at present going on over the land surface of the globe might be esti- mated. For it cannot be denied that at present there is a laxness in the method of computation as regards the rate and amount of degradation both for past and present epochs which ill accords with the ultimate end and aim of all scientific pursuits, viz., truth. Hach one taking a rate which seems most to confirm his own particular 1 The river that flows from Lough Cooter County Galway, at the place now called the “ Devil’s punch bowl,” a few miles southward of Gort, has gradually eaten into an accumulation of Boulder-clay drift, until the drift cliff over the vent, a natural filter, is about 100 feet high. This drift is similar to the general Boulder-clay drift of the central plain of Ireland, being boulders and fragments of Carboniferous lime- stone with some of sandstone, contained in a clayey, slightly sandy matrix. Yearly this stream during floods, carries away a mass of the drift, yet when the water is low, few or none of the boulders and fragments that apparently ought to have been left as a residue of the drift can be seen, the river bed containing scarcely anything else but angular cherty gravel. Some parts of the blocks and fragments may have disappeared by abrasion, and the limestone may possibly dissolve and go away in solution, but how have they disappeared so rapidly, and what has become of the pieces of grits and sandstones? The latter are not very numerous, yet there are many of them, and how have they disappeared, as they could not have gone through the filter, and they could scarcely have dissolyed and gone off in solution ? Rk. Russell—On the Flow of Rivers, &c. 269 tenets, as, for instance, the different rates at which the river Niagara has cut its way back from Queenstown Heights to the present situa- tion of the Falls. It has been taken as three feet, one foot, six inches, and one inch per annum, by different computators. Now I do not say that investigations on the river action of the period in which we live will clear up all such anomalies, because these obser- vations will be of more service in estimating the future rate of the wearing down of the materials composing the land than that of the past, as there would always be the difficulty of ascertaining with precision the volume and velocity of the rivers, and the different elevations at which the land was situated at the particular era under consideration ; still it would be a fulerum on which we might rest the lever of analogy, and raise many questions at present resting in obscurity and doubt into light and certainty. Mr. La Touche will confer a lasting benefit on geological science by continuing these investigations, and still more so by carrying them on with more completeness and accuracy. It would be well to determine the rainfall in the catchment basin from whence the river Onny derives its waters, then knowing the volume of water which is carried away by the river, the ratio of the available rainfall for the purpose of carrying away sediment to the total rainfall may be determined. A system of observations, such as he refers to, carried on throughout the whole of Great Britain would be of great value in many respects ; and by means of which the amount of material annually carried to the sea from the different strata which may constitute the basin where the water is collected (such as steep surfaces of granite, gneiss, and slate; moorland and hilly grounds covered with pasture ; gently undulating and flat cultivated tracts of country), might be obtained. These investigations having been continued for a lengthened period, the estimation of flow in different years, and the amount of sediment brought down might be computed with great exactness in the future, because the discharge and sediment for a number of years having been obtained by means of a series of observations, any one of these years, or a particular portion of one of them, may be used to calculate the greatest, mean, and least discharge for a consecutive number of years, or parts of a year, by multiplying the discharge as formerly obtained by the proportion which the rainfall in those years, or parts of a year, as observed at the standard station, bears to the rainfall at that station during the time that the river was guaged.t As for the different modes by which rivers may be gauged, there are a variety, and the most accurate is by means of the weir gauge ; but it is applicable to small streams only. When a float is used, the 1 Tf we suppose that 7 is the rainfall, d the discharge, and s the sediment, during any part of the period when the experiments were conducted ; 7, the rainfall, d, the discharge, and s, the sediment, at any future equal length of time, then— Ty Gis @ 3 Gy a. Pe ewan a ey SOUR Bias Sa ese 270 R. Russell—On the Flow of Rivers, -c. float ought to be of such weight as barely to reach the surface of the water, so as not to be affected by the wind, by this means the velo- city of the swiftest part, or the centre of the stream, can be obtained, and the mean velocity may be calculated from the greatest velocity by an empirical formula, which I give on the authority of Prony. Let V mean velocity. pane Hy V___s«*-V1.+7.71 feet per second. Vi tet gr eatest velocity id Then Vi_—sC- Vx. +1028 feet per second: By the use, however, of a current metre, the velocity can be measured at any point, and at any depth, in the cross section of the river under consideration. Professor Rankine recommends, as the most convenient instrument for this purpose, ‘a small light re- volving fan, on whose axis there is a screw, which drives a train of wheel-work, carrying an index that records the number of revolu- tions in a given time. The whole apparatus is fixed at the end of a pole so that it can be immersed to different depths in different parts of the stream.”’ Whence the mean velocity can be obtained. With regard to the rate at which the materials forming the bed of the river are carried along and worn down, it depends on the velocity and flow, and what the nature of the bed of the stream really is, since the bed of a river may be stable as when it is composed of rock, unless when exposed to a very strong current, or it may be stable in the ordinary state of the river, and unstable during floods, as when it is com- posed of stones and gravel; or it may be permanently unstable, as in the case of a muddy bottom. ‘This last arises from the fact of the stream carrying matter in suspension, and which is just heavy enough to subside; but the least increase in velocity once more carries it forward. Du Buat states that the bed of a stream in a permanent condition of instability exhibits a number of transverse ridges, each with a gentle slope at the up-stream side, and a steep slope at the down-stream side. The particles of the bed are rolled by the current up the gentle slope till they come to the crest of the ridge and eventually drop down the steep slope to the bottom of the furrow, where they become covered up, and remain till the gradual removal of the whole ridge leaves them again exposed.? An exact counterpart of the sand blown into ridges by the wind, as described by Sir Charles Lyell, when speaking of the ripple mark.’ Observation alone could determine with certainty the size of pebbles and shingle which a known velocity of current would propel, and it would be easy to make a series of experiments by exposing sand, clay, pebbles of various sizes, shingle, rock, etc., to known velocities, and noting that velocity which just carries them along. The requisite velocity of current can always be obtained from a given head of water, taking into consideration the friction of the orifice through which the stream issues from the reservoir, and flows into the channel where the material to be tested is situated. A table, given by Du Buat, shows the greatest velocity of the current close to the bottom of the river, so as not to interfere with the stability of the substances of which it is composed.* R. Russell—On the Flow of Rivers, &c. 271 Soft clay .. ae ae ee ss ... 0°25 foot per second. Fine sand te ee ORD) gy - Coarse sand and eravel as ‘large as peas cow Ose ;, 3 Gravel as large as French beans dc 3. HL00h 8 Gs 7 ' Gravel one inch in diameter... ... 2°26 feet ” Pebbles, one inch and a half in diameter TM EOLOON Us p Heavy shingle sus 600 200 bi ie OR eas a Soft rock, brick, earthenware ... sac Seu) 2200) 835 Rock, various kinds ... ag 6:00 ,, rs From this table we may compute ihe Bite A which the materials are drifted along the bottom, the velocity of the current being known, and also the average size of the sand and gravel of which the bed and banks of the river are composed. We can always estimate the pressure in Ibs. on the square foot, which a given velocity will produce, because if we express that velocity in feet of water, a simple calculation gives us the force of the current in Ibs. on the square foot or square inch, as the case may be. Let v equal the velocity, 4 the head of pressure due to that velocity, and p the pressure in lbs. on the square foot, then h = ”? g, being the force of gravity in absolute units, per unit mass, in the latitude of the place; and p=h 62-4lbs. on the square foot, or p being the pressure on the square inch, p = 4°, Professor Rankine states “‘ that the least velocity of the particles of water in contact with the bed of the river is about as much less than the mean velocity, as the greatest velocity is greater than the mean, and that they might be taken as bearing to each other the ratios 8, 4, and 5. In very slow currents they are nearly as 2, 3, and 4.’ The results obtained by Messrs. Humphrey and Abbot, after a long-continued series of very careful measurements on the flow of the Mississippi river, and the amount of sediment annually carried down by it to the ocean, give about yz as the solid contents, but they also concluded that sand and gravel was pushed along the bed to the very mouth of the river to the amount of j¢ of the mud held in suspension. Some observations made on the earthy matter brought down by the Ganges at Ghazepoor by the Rev. Mr. Everest, show how much the sediment varies at different periods. He gave the average amount of sediment suspended in the water during the floods as zs part by weight, or =, part in bulk. He also found that the proportion of solid matter held in suspension during the dry season was but small compared with that during the rainy season, being only in the ratio of 1 to 159-4,° and the ratio of the quantity during the eight months of the winter and dry seasons, to that of the four months of rain was 1 to 21-263. The ingredients held in chemical solution ought also to be taken into consideration, as in some streams the amount is anything but Insignificant, and it also expresses a certain rate of decomposition and wearing away, as proved by the suites of caverns which are found to exist in all limestone formations. land © Civil Engineering, Professor Rankine. * and 4 Hydraulics, M. Du Buat. 5 Elements of Geology, Sir Charles Lyell. © Principles, Sir C. Lyell. Bie S. R. Pattison—Lake-basins in Westmoreland. VI.—Nore on Post-GuactaL LAKkE-BASINS IN WESTMORELAND. By 8. R. Parrison, F.G.S. HE little village of Crossby-Garrett, near Brough, appears to occupy the site of a Post-glacial lake. Lower Carboniferous strata compose the fell to the south, the lowest beds being yellow earthy limestones. Below this, in all the gorges, are deep red shales of the uppermost Old Red. and on the summits of some of the hills to the south are outliers of the New Red; the Drift lies in patches and contains mud, sandstone, and numerous blocks of Shap granite. The gullies coming down from Crossby fell converge at the gate of the village, and show excavation in Boulder drift. The bed of the torrent is dry during the greater part of the year, it receives only the surface water, which, as it falls swiftly down the valley through the Drift, makes rough work of its sides every freshet. Underneath the church hill, at the lower end of the village, the remains are visible of the dam which once enlaked the little valley. It has been clean cut through by the bursting of the Lake, and the banks of the exca- vation, and bottom of the old lake are now occupied by cottages and gardens. Another small lake existed near the village, in fields still called the tarn-fields, but whilst the former must have been drained, probably in pre-historic times (judging from the subsequent work of the torrent), the latter has disappeared by artificial drainage into the Smardale beck within a century. The lower limestones where they are exposed in the ravines, are more than usually holed into pots and pans ; a notable instance occurs at Great Asby, where the principal pothole in the present course of the stream is 14 feet deep, worked smooth, in the shape of an old oil jar. Close to this are some caves in the limestone, one extending for two miles, which deserves thorough exploration. I saw no trace of cave earth or remains near the entrance. The caves form the outlet for water during much of the year, but there may be remains preserved under some of the upright fissures, in the cheeks of the cavern. I endeavoured to ascertain the rate of progress in the boring of the pots and pans, but beyond the fact that the breaking in and ~ breaking down of some, had changed the course of the stream within living memory, and that those now receiving the water had sensibly increased within recollection, I could get no fact worth recording. The aspect of these valleys so pitted with bench marks made by the torrents, during many thousand years at least, is worthy of note. IN'@ TEC AS, Os Via E@ smo I.—Leonnarp unp Geinitz’s Neuss JaAnRBucH FUR MINERALOGIE, GroLoGiIE, UND Patmonrotociz. Jahrgang, 1868; Hefte 6 und 7. Jahrgang, 1869; Hrstes Heft. ARRANDE, on the Silurian Fossils of Hof, in Bavaria; Zirkel, on the Distribution of Microscopic Nepheline; Zaddach and Leonhard and Geimtz Neues Jahrbuch. ae Runge, on the Tertiary Rocks (with Brown-coal, Amber, etc.) of the Samland in the Baltic; Zeuschner, on the Devonian Dolomite between Sandomierz and Chenciny (Poland) ; Blunn, on some Pseudomorphs; Scharf, on Rock-erystal, from Carrara; Credner, on the Native Copper of Lake Superior ; Roemer’s account of the Meeting of German Geologists at Hildesheim, and of some other meetings of Naturalists in Germany and Switzerland; Von Haver’s notice of the summer work of the Austrian Geological Survey, in 1868; Petersen, on the Basalt and Hydrotrachylyt of Rossdorf, near Darmstadt; Fuchs, on Vesuvian Lavas; and numerous letters by good observers and deep thinkers, on original and casual subjects, constitute the chief matter of these three numbers of the Jahrbuch, besides the usual valuable concise notices of current Geological and Mineralogical Literature. There are several illustrations. Our German brethren evidently lose nothing of their love of mineralogy and of patient research in the character and history of rock-masses ;—subjects that are not widely studied in the British Isles. We see, however, that fossils and geology are not at all neglected, and are well represented in the papers before us. Indeed, we have much to thank the editors and writers of the Jahrbuch for: much new information, carefully worked out, being given in the current parts of this valuable magazine. We hope that its circulation among scientific men in Britain is on the increase. II. Description or Parkeria AND Lorrusra, Two Gieantic TYPEs oF ArENnacrous Foraminirera. By Dr. Carpenter, V.P.R.S., and H, B. Brapy, F.L.S. [Communicated to the Royal Society, April 22nd, 1869.] HE authors of this Memoir commence by referring to the separation of the series of Arenaceous Foraminifera from the Jmperforate or Porcellanous, and from the Zubular or Vitreous, first distinctly pro- pounded in Dr. Carpenter’s ‘‘ Introduction to the Study of the Forami- nifera”’ (1862), on the basis of the special researches of Messrs. Parker and T. Rupert Jones, who had pointed out that whilst there are several genera in some forms of which a cementation of sand-grains into the substance of the calcareous shell is a common occurrence, there are certain genera in which a “ test’”’ formed entirely of an aggregation of sand-grains takes the place of a calcareous shell: and that these genera constitute a distinct family, to which important additions might probably be made by further research. ’ The propriety of this separation of the Avenacea from the calcareous- shelled Foraminifera has been fully recognized by Prof. Reuss, the highest Continental authority upon the group; who had come to accept the principle laid down in Dr. Carpenter’s successive Memoirs (Phil. Trans. 1856-1860), that the texture of the shell is a character of funda- mental importance in the classification of this group, the plan of growth (taken by M. d’Orbigny as his primary character) being of very subordinate value; and who had, on this basis, independently worked out a systematic arrangement of the entire group, which presents a VOL. VI.—NO. Lx. 18 274 Carpenter and Brady on Foraminifera. most remarkable correspondence with that propounded by Dr. Car- penter and his coadjutors. And their anticipation of important additions to the Arenaceous series has been fully borne out, on the one hand by the discovery of several most remarkable new forms at present existing at great depths in the ocean, which has been made by the dredgings of M. Sars, jun., and those of the ‘‘ Lightning” Expedition; and on the other by the determination of the real characters of two fossils, one of the Cretaceous, and the other probably of the earlier Tertiary period, which prove to be gigantic examples of the same type. The first of these, discovered by Prof. Morris more than twenty years ago in the Upper Greensand near Cambridge, was long supposed to be a Sponge; but his more recent discovery of two specimens which had been but little changed by fossilization, led him to suspect their Foraminiferal character; and this suspicion has been fully confirmed by the careful examination made of their structure by Dr. Carpenter, to whom he committed the inquiry, and by whom, with his concur- rence, the name Parkeria was assigned to the genus. ‘The second, which was obtained by the late Mr. W. K. Loftus from ‘‘a hard rock of blue marly limestone”? between the N.E. corner of the Persian Gulf and Ispahan, bears so strong a resemblance in its general form and mode of increase to the genus Alveolina, that its Foraminiferal character was from the first recognized by the discoverer; but as all the specimens brought by Mr. Loftus had undergone considerable alteration by fossilization, their minute structure, though carefully studied by means of transparent sections, could not in the first instance be satisfactorily made out. When, however, Dr. Carpenter’s investiga- tion of Parkeria, with the full advantage of specimens but little changed by fossilization, revealed the very remarkable plan of its structure, the investigation of this type was resumed by Mr. Brady (who assigned to it the name Loftusia\, with the new light thence derived: for as trans- parent sections of infiltrated Parkerve furnish a middle term of com- parison between specimens of the same type which retain their original character, and transparent sections of infiltrated Loftusze, the last- mentioned can now be interpreted by reference to the preceding; so that the obscurities which previously hung over their minute structure have been almost entirely dissipated.—The description of the structure of Parkerva in this memoir is by Dr. Carpenter, and that of the structure of Loftusia by Mr. H. B. Brady; but each has gone over the work of the other, and can testify to its correctness. The specimens of Parkeria, which have been collected by Prof. Morris, are spheres varying in diameter from about 3—4ths of an inch to about 14 inch. But Mr. Henry Woodward has placed in the author’s hands a specimen from the Upper Greensand of Ventnor, in the Isle of Wight, which is not less than 2} inches in diameter. It is interesting to remark that the ‘‘nucleus’”’ of a smaller specimen in the cabinet of J. Starkie Gardner, Esq., F.G.S., from the same locality, consists of a considerable number of chambers arranged in a spore, the structure of its concentric spherical layers being exactly the same as in the specimens described. A detailed description, with plates, will shortly be published by Messrs. Carpenter and Brady. Reviews—Prof. Huxley's Presidential Address. 279 REVIEWS. -L—Prorrssor Huxtry’s ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS TO THE GroLogicaAL Soorery.! NY praise of this admirable address is superfluous. Its terse nervous. English, its fertility and readiness of illustration, its wit, if such a thing is admissable into a scientific essay, and its straightforward and logical pleading are beyond praise, and geo- logists may well congratulate themselves on having met with such an advocate. We propose therefore to discuss the one point on which we cannot quite agree with the author. The main aim and object of the paper is to defend British geologists against a charge brought against them by Sir W. Thomson of being in “ direct opposition to the principles of Natural Philosophy.” 'The point on which issue is joined is that of time, Sir William asserting, from a study of the constitution of the sun, and other cosmical questions, “that the existing state of things on the earth must be limited within some such period of time as 100 millions of years ;” while, as is well known, most geologists have hitherto been accustomed to hold in a vague way that they have proof that the lifetime of our planet has been far longer. Before coming, however, to the defence proper, the author gives a sketch of the present state of geological thought, dividing geologists into three schools, the Catastrophists, the Uniformitarians, and the Evolutionists. The first two, whose names we are already familiar with, though they differ radically on almost every other point of importance, agree in setting certain limits to legitimate geological speculation. The Hvolutionists, who, though they were to be found after a fashion among the earliest cultivators of the science, now receive perhaps for the first time a name, know of no bounds to their speculations, and fearlessly let their thoughts wander back to the birthtime and earliest infancy of our planet, and do not shrink from conjecturing what will be its future history. While paying all due honour to Hutton, the founder, and Sir C. Lyell, the modern expounder of the doctrines of the Uniformitarian school, Prof. Huxley blames them both because they have attempted to limit geological speculation to those periods of which records remain in the rocks of the earth, and have declared that their science has nothing to. do with those dark and far distant ages of which no records have survived, when this planet may have existed as a nebulous mass or a fiery ball of molten matter. We think they are right. We can conceive a science which has for its object the collection and deciphering of the evidence contained in those stony documents in which a portion of the earth’s history is darkly written ; and we can conceive another science, which shall call to its aid a strong imagination, checked by such analogy as is applicable to the case, and shall frame theories as to what may not unreasonably * Quart. Journ, Geol. Soc. Lond. 1869. Vol. xxv. Part 2, pp. xxviii—liii. 276 Reviews—Prof. Huxley's Presidential Address. be supposed to have been the state of the earth in those earlier ages of which no records remain; and the two sciences have much in common, both make large calls upon the imagination, but the checks furnished by evidence in the two cases differ so totally in degree, that for clearness of thought it is far better to keep them apart, and call them by different names, the one Geology, and the other Cosmogony. And many an enthusiastic geologist fights shy of the latter on account of the absence of any definite evidence on which to base his reasonings ; this must have escaped Prof. Huxley when he would have us believe that it is as easy to unravel the complexities of the development of the earth as to trace out the development of the fowl within the egg. We can examine as many eggs as we like, during all stages of mcubation, but when shall we be able to put our theory of the earth’s development to the test of observation ? And this brings us to the real gist of the question, that our knowledge is not yet sufficiently advanced to enable us to found a well grounded Cosmogony. No better proof of this can be brought forward than a controversy on the chemistry of the primzval earth, which took place about a year and a half ago between two of the leading chemical geologists of the day. While humble students were anxiously looking to these great authorities for some land-marks to guide them through the intricacies of the subject; some generally received principle which all would agree to whatever might be the differences of opinion in details, they were more than ever be- wildered by finding their two mentors strongly opposed to one another on at least one important point. And now we must notice one or two weak points in Prof. Huxley’s defence,—masterly to a degree, when we reflect that geology is not its author’s special study. He has attempted to meet Sir W. Thom- son’s charge by shewing that the total thickness of the stratified rocks might well have been deposited within the period to which Sir W. Thomson wishes to tie down geologists. But the stratified rocks do not represent the whole, probably nothing like the whole, of geological time; there are the unrepresented breaks to be taken into account. But, as Prof. Huxley himself remarks, Sir William Thomson’s limits are so elastic that they might be found wide enough to take in the whole, both of represented and unrepresented geological time. It is with the greatest diffidence that we venture to differ from Prof. Huxley on a point of biology, but we had certainly never imagined that “the only reason we have for be- lieving in the slow rate of change in living forms is the fact that they persist through a series of deposits which geology informs us have taken a long while to make.” We had always imagined that our own experience assured us that the rate of change in living beings is now, and therefore probably always was, slow; and that the notion of the great length of geological time, which had previously been arrived at on other grounds, was strengthened by a knowledge of this fact. We have noticed these little matters, not because they really weaken the case -for the geologist, but because they seem Reviews—Lartet’s and Christy’s Reliquie. 277 to shew a tendency to give in where no concession is needed : Prof. Huxley’s answer is to our mind complete, and amounts to this, that these accusations against geology fall to the ground, unless those who bring them forward are admitted to be in possession of all possible knowledge, in short, to be omniscient. To take the one case of the sun; are we sure that we know every possible source from which his heat may be derived? No one would say yes to such a question; butif only one source has escaped us, all our calculations are falsified. Nor can we neglect the possibility of the circulation and return, in some way not yet found out, of heat which these speculations assume is lost to us for ever. All geologists will render their hearty thanks to Prof. Huxley for the masterly way in which he has conducted their case, and not a few, we suspect, will rejoice that, in upsetting the somewhat arro- gant claims of one of the leading Evolutionists of the day, he has unwittingly furnished another proof that the time is not yet ripe for us to look upon Evolutionism as a desirable companion for what we have called Geology.—M.A. Il.—Retiquim Aguiranicm; being Contributions to the Archeology and Paleontology of Périgord and the adjoining Provinces of Southern France. By Epovarp Larter and Henry Curisty, Edited by Prof. Tuomas Rurrrr Jonszs, F.G.8., etc. Part VIII. April, 1869. 4to. London: H. Balliére. Hi are glad to see another part of this valuable work, containing a further instalment of the description of the Cro-Magnon Fauna and the Human Skulls and Bones found in this most interest- ing cavern. M. Lartet remarks that the Saiga Antelope remains— of which, however, only the horn-cores have been met with—are never found except in those stations which had been occupied by the makers and users of barbed arrow-heads, and where the Reindeer predominates. The horn-cores of the Saiga Antelope have been met with in six or seven different localities, always isolated, but not a fragment of a jaw, or detached teeth, or any fragments of limb bones referable to the Saiga, have been found. “« How then,” writes M. Lartet, ‘‘can we account for the frequent occurrence of the horns of the Saiga in the caves of Central and Southern France, and of no other portion whatever of the animal’s skeleton, except by supposing that the long, solid, and pointed horns of the Saiga constituted a formidable weapon, which the Reindeer- hunters of Périgord probably obtained by barter, or commerce of some sort from the people with whom this Antelope was indi- genous ?” Of the human skulls and bones found in the cave of Cro-Magnon, near Les Hyzies, Prof. Paul Broca observes: ‘No discovery could be of greater interest to Anthropologists than that of these bones. “Tt is the complement, I may say the crowning of the important discoveries made by M. Edouard Lartet and his lamented collaborator Henry Christy, in the Caves of Périgord, especially in that of Les 2718 Leviews—Lartet’s and Christy's Reliquie. Hyzies. The objects found in these Caves, not only furnished us with the most satisfactory proofs of the contemporaneity of Man and the Mammoth, but they revealed the most curious details of the life and manners of the old Cave-dwellers of Périgord; still we were without any knowledge of the anatomical characters of this intel- ligent and artistic race, whose clever carvings are objects of our astonishment. “The excavations lately made near Les Hyzies, by M. Louis Lartet, enable us to supply this want; and there cannot be any doubt of the authenticity and high antiquity of the human bones there exhumed.” M. Broca is of opinion that the human remains found at Cro- Magnon are not only “as old as, but even perhaps older than the carved objects from the great Les Eyzies Cave. The latter corres- pond with the period when the Reindeer predominated in the fauna ; whilst the former belong rather to the period of the Mammoth ; and though a considerable time must have elapsed between the two periods, yet there is nothing to hinder the belief of the gradual passage from one to the other, without any ethnic revolution, the same race maintaining itself in the same district uninterruptedly ; so that, if the bones from Cro-Magnon are not those of the artists of the Reindeer Period, they are at least those of the ancestors of that people.” Notwithstanding the great antiquity of these remains, on con- trasting them with skulls and bones of the limbs from the Belgian Caves, belonging, no doubt, to an equally remote race of pre- historic men, M. Broca is struck with the marked distinctness of type which they present. ‘They differ from each other,” observes Prof. Broca, ‘(as much at least as modern races differ from one another.” M. Broca evidently considers this to be a strong argu- ment against the unity of origin of mankind ; but to us it only seems to prove that of which geologists at the present day are becoming more and more convinced, namely, that our ideas of time being all derived from and limited to the records of historical events of civilized races, we are unable to conceive justly the relative duration of the existence of savage races of mankind previous to the period when they were brought in contact with the disturbing influences of even a semibarbarous civilization. So that it will be found, as our knowledge of the Quaternary epoch increases, so will our estimate of the duration of time over which it extended increase. We have in the plates, accompanying this part, illustrations of oval and round Mortar-stones and Rubber-stones, used probably in the preparation of food or in finishing the manufacture of stone or bone implements. Also figures of flint implements and scrapers, and perforated Reindeer’s horns which may have formed parts of sledges. This work, when completed, will prove, like the Christy Collec- tion, which it illustrates, a most valuable contribution to pre-historic archeology and alike interesting to French and English ethnologists. Geological Society of London. 279 REPORTS AND PROCHHDINGS. Groxtocicat Soctery or Lonpon.—April 28th, 1869.—Papers read : 1. “On the Geology and Mineralogy of Hastings County, Canada West.” By T. C. Wallbridge, Esq. Communicated by Dr. Percy, F.R.S. Before describing the gold and iron-ores of Hastings, which formed the main subject of this paper, the author introduced a general sketch of the geology of the county. After noticing certain local deposits of recent origin, he described the extensive accumulations of Drift-gravels and Boulder-clay. A single boulder near the Shan- nonville railway-station was said to cover an area of about 5 acres, and to have a thickness of 100 feet. The evidences of glacial action over the whole country were referred to, and the direction of ice- marks cited from several localities. Below the Post-tertiary deposits the rocks consist, in the southern townships, of Lower Silurian lime- stones, referred for the most part to the Trenton group; and in the northern townships of a large series of metamorphic rocks, supposed to be of Lower Laurentian age. Bosses of syenite and gneiss pene- trate the Silurian beds to the south of the main Laurentian mass, and several outliers of Trenton limestone point to the former ex- tension of the Silurian rocks northwards. All the minerals of eco- nomic value are confined to the Laurentian area. Gold was first discovered in the county of Hastings in 1866. The author described in detail the singular occurrence of the metal at the Richardson Mine in Madoc, where it was found in two pockets associated with a peculiar black carbonaceous substance, a ferru- ginous dolomite, and ochre-brown iron-ore. Assays of the sur- rounding rocks showed the existence of gold even at a considerable distance from the mine. Mention was also made of several other gold mines in Madoc, Marmora, and Elzevir, from which specimens were exhibited, and analyses of ore quoted. The iron-ores of Hastings occur partly as magnetic oxide and partly as hematite. In addition to the well-known “Big Ore- bed” and the ‘“‘Seymour-bed,” the writer called attention to some new localities of magnetic ore in Madoc. The deposit of hematite called the “Kane Ore-bed” was discovered by the author some years back; and from ancient workings in this bed (apparently those of the Indians, who may have used the ochre as war-paint) he has obtained bone-needles and other objects of human workman- ship. Attention was then directed to a large deposit of specular iron-ore in Hungerford, hitherto undescribed, and to the pyrrhotine or magnetic pyrites of Madoc. The paper concluded with a notice of the galena and other less important minerals of the county. Discussion.—Prof. Ramsay inquired as to the proof of the existence of so large a boulder as one of five acres in extent. Under ordinary circumstances large boulders fell from higher rocks on to the surface of glaciers beneath, and were by them trans- ported to the places where now found; but the fall of such a mass seemed almost incredible. He suggested that possibly it might be an outlier of the Lower Lau- rentian beds. 280 Reports and Proceedings. Mr. David Forbes stated that the results of his own examination of some of the specimens from the gold mines of this district did not quite tally with those recorded in the paper, especially those of the rocks in the neighbourhood of the veins. He considered that the gold in Canada was confined to the veins. Mr. Prestwich cited the discovery of a boulder between Stamford and Peterborough, which was atleast 400 feet in length, and consisted of a mass of Great Oolite. Mr. Searles Wood mentioned a boulder of marl in the coast section near Cromer upwards of 300 yards in length and 60 feet in height. Mr. Wallbridge, in reply, stated that the rock must have come at the least twenty miles from its original home. The surface of the Trenton limestone rock in the neighbourhood was striated in the direction of the boulder. There was no evidence of intrusion. The mass was traversed in two or three places by crevices. 2. ‘On the distribution of Flint Implements in the Drift, with reference to some recent discoveries in Norfolk and Suffolk.” By J. W. Flower, Esq., F.G.S. The author noticed some recently discovered localities in the valley of the Little Ouse which have yielded Flint Implements, viz. at Broomhill, about 350 feet from and five or six feet above the level of the river; at Gravel Hill, about one mile from, and ten feet above the river ; at Shrub Hill, about one mile from, and only a foot or two above the river; and at Lakenheath, nearly three miles from the river, and sixty feet above it. In the first three of these localities the worked flints are in coarse gravel, resting immediately on the Cretaceous beds (Chalk in the first and second, Gault in the third), and overlain by regular deposits of gravel and sand. The imple- ments resemble those of Acheul, Thetford, and Salisbury, but pre- sent some peculiarities, from which the author inferred that each place had its own workmen, and that the different forms were intended to answer different purposes. At Brandon implements formed of quartzite were found in a bed consisting of rounded quartzite pebbles mixed with about one-fourth of flints. Flint implements occurred beneath this bed. The author indicated the geographical characters of the district and the peculiarities in the distribution of the flint implements, which he regarded as in accordance with the phenomena presented by the valley of the Somme; and he argued from the consideration of all the facts that the implements were not transported to their present situation by the agency of the rivers in whose valleys they occur, but that they were made upon the spot, exposed upon the surface with the gravels with which they are found, and from which they were made, and finally covered up by the river-gravels and sandy beds which now overlie them. Discusston.—Mr., Prestwich dissented from the author as to many of his conclu- sions. There were in the district drained by the River Ouse beds of gravel belonging to the Boulder-clay series, from which the quartzite pebbles described might have been derived. The author had not taken into proper account the formation of the valleys by erosion, and it was a mistake to suppose that others had not also attributed the formation of the implements to the close proximity of the spots in which they are found. The implements were not. limited to the lower part of the gravel, though principally occurring there, but occurred even above the seams of river shells. He inquired whether the gravel between the Little Ouse and the Wissey might not belong to the Boulder-clay series. Professor Ramsay agreed with the author that flint implements might be found in other localities than those in the neighbourhood of rivers. He protested against Geological Society of London. 281 referring the gravels to the rivers as they at present exist. The ancient rivers had no doubt run at far higher levels than at present. Even the watersheds afford no gauge of the ancient bounds of the rivers. Mr. Evans stated his belief that the gravels on the plateau between the Little Ouse and the Wissey belonged to the Glacial series. He could not agree with the author in limiting the occurrence of the implements to the base of the beds, in ignoring the eroding power of rivers, nor in regarding the deposits at Lakenheath and Vaudricourt as remote from all possible river-action. He maintained that the whole of the phenomena were in accordance with the excavation of the valley, since the highest beds with implements had been deposited near Brandon, and pointed out that a large part of the great plain of the Fens had probably been formed principally by tidal action, since the deposit of the gravel-beds at Shrub Hill. Mr. Searles Wood did not think that the valleys of the district under considera- tion had been formed by river-action. Some portion of the upper valleys of the Thet and Little Ouse were intraglacial, and possibly they might be partly due to tidal action. Mr. Flower, in reply, could not accept the belief that the process of the manufac- ture of these implements could have been carried on during a lengthened period, or other traces of the men who formed them would have come to light. He still thought the French theory of diluvial action was the most in accordance with the phenomena. II.—May 12th, 1869. 1. ‘‘On some of the results arising from the bedding, joints, and spheroidal structure of the Granite on the Eastern side of Dartmoor, Devonshire.’ By G. Wareing Ormerod, Esq., M.A., F.G.S. After noticing the apparent bedding of the granite, the author stated that in various places, as at Scarrey and Bolstone Tors on the north, Kestor and Middleton near Chagford, Blackingstone near Moreton, and Houndtor near Ilsington, the beds dipped, and the contour of the country was there caused by these curves. The joints ran in directions mostly from N. to 8. and KH. to W. The N. and S. joints were gene- rally nearly perpendicular ; the E. and W. often inclined to the N. or S. Descriptions of the chief forms of joints and peculiarities con- nected with them were given; and it was stated that decay acted along these lines, and that to them the forms of the Tors may be traced. Examples were given showing the effect of joints in the large mas- sive Tor and in the insulated rock pillar. A spheroidal structure was shown to exist in the coarse granite south of the Teign, and the possible connexion of the Rock Basins with it was noticed. Various localities were mentioned where the structure was to be seen in cuttings, and in masses like boulders but actually in situ. To this cause the form of rounded insulated rocks was attributed. In conclusion, the author stated that these three causes had acted frequently together, and that he considered that to them the origin of the Logan, or Rocking-stones, was often to be attributed. The Logans at Belstone and Thornworthey he attributed to the action of these three causes; and that at Rippon Tor to bedding and joints. The Drewsteignton Logan he considered as a transported block, and the ‘‘ Nutcrackers”’ at Lustleigh as a rock, which had rolled down from the high ground above. Discusston.—Prof. Ansted had observed similar conditions in Leicestershire, Alderney, and elsewhere. The most important feature in the case was the amount of subaerial disintegration and denudation to which the rocks, and especially the Tors, bore witness. The bedding pointed to the metamorphic character of gramite ; and in some parts of Corsica this was still more plainly evinced than in Devonshire. Mr. W. W. Smyth agreed that the disintegration of granite was mainly due to the 282 Reports and Proceedings. causes pointed out by the author. He did not, however, regard them as entirely re- sulting from subaerial denudation acting on a surface of uniform quality. There was probably a difference in the proportions of the constituent parts in the granite, some parts in the same quarry being soft, while others were of extreme hardness. These softer parts were easily removed, while the harder parts were left. The question was, whether this difference was the result of the original deposition or of subsequent se- gregation. Even where china clay resulted from the decomposition of the rock, some of the nodules of harder granite occurred. Prof. Brayley had observed similar spheroidal structure in other crystalline rocks, and had called attention to the subject some years ago. The phenomena at Karn Bré in Cornwall were much the same as on Dartmoor, and resulted from the concealed concentric spheroidal structure of the rock, or what he might term spheroidal ten- sion. In Leicestershire syenite, Rowley Rag, and Northumberland basalt the same was to be traced. He regarded it as the result of slow cooling. Mr. Scott had observed similar tors in the neighbourhood of Dublin; and on ex- amination of smaller blocks, each was found to contain a nucleus coated with a sort of crust, formed principally of black Mica. In the stratified granites of Donegal such nuclei did not occur. 2. ‘Notes on apparent Lithodomus perforations on the Hills of North-west Lancashire.” By D. Mackintosh, Esq., F.G.S. The author described certain perforations discovered by him in the limestone rocks near Morecambe Bay at altitudes varying from 200 or 300 to 667 feet above the sea. He stated that the course of these per- forations seemed to be irrespective of any differences in the hardness of the rock, and hence, and from the regularity and smoothness of the cavities, he argued that they could not be the result of the chemical and mechanical action of the atmospheric moisture. The perforations were said to occur chiefly in groups, often ramifying from a common entrance, and where the actual entrance is preserved this is narrower than the more deeply seated portions. The author maintained that the hollows described by him had been ground out of the rock, and he ex- pressed his belief that they were made by some animal when ‘the land was submerged to the extent indicated by the altitutes at which they occur.’ From their position he supposed their formation to have taken place during, or immediately before, the Glacial epoch. Discussron.—Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys remarked that Mr. A. Tylor had already called attention to the same subject three years ago. He could not agree in regarding the marking as lithodomus borings. The borings of Sasxicava and Gastrochena were not parallel, but enlarged towards the base into a pear-shaped form. They were also comparatively straight, and not curved or bifurcated, as in the limestones exhibited. The range in height was also against their being the work of marine mollusks. He thought the holes were more probably due to atmospheric agency. Prof. Ansted had seen in the large blocks of the Cyclopean walls of Greece, holes of various sizes, bored to different depths by the combined action of vegetation and atmospheric influences. In some cases these holes were large enough to receive the arm, and were two or three feet in length. 3. “On the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy.’”’ By Prof. James Nicol, F.R.S., F.G.S. The author briefly noticed the two principal hypotheses which have been advanced to account for the fermation of these terraces, and asserted his own belief in their marine origin. He rested his argument against the hypothesis of their lacustrine origin chiefly on the ground that if their formation be due to successive periods of repose, alternating with sudden drainings of a lake occupying the present valley of Glen Roy, we ought still to find traces of the violent déddcles occasioned by these drainings, or of large rivers in the gorges through which the Ldinburgh Geological Society. 283 waters must have flowed. The author states that no such appearances presented themselves; on the contrary, he adduced certain characters exhibited by these gorges, which, he considered, were strongly in evidence of long-continued sea-action, and seemed to indicate that the gorges in question had been occupied, at the time of the formation of the terraces, by arms of the sea. Discussion.—Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys regretted that no organic remains had been found in these beaches. Mr. Evans agreed with the author as to the difficulties presented by the Lake theory in accounting for the terraces, especially those not in Glen Roy itself, but in the valley of the Spean. He called attention to the part which sheep and other animals had played in the preservation of the Parallel Roads, the vegetation on which, in consequence of their being more frequented by the animals, was of a different character from that on the other parts of the slope. Mr. H. M. Jenkins objected to the supposition of the sudden alteration in the level of the water adopted by the author. He thought the gradual sinking of the water was quite compatible with the formation of the roads. He instanced the formation of terraces in gravel-pits filled with water. ; Sir H. James announced that the Ordnance Survey of the district in question was now complete. 4. ‘On Beds of supposed ‘Rothliegende’ age, near Knares- borough.”” By J. Clifton Ward, Esq., F.G.S. The author called attention to certain beds occuring in the neigh- bourhood of Knaresborough, especially at Plumpton, either of a coarse and conglomeratic structure, or consisting of sandstones or sandy shales. These beds have been regarded by some as belonging to the “‘Rothlegende”’ series; by others as belonging to the Millstone Grit. The chief arguments in favour of their belonging to the Millstone-Grit are, as stated by the author:—1. Their similarity to true Millstone Grit beds; 2. Their occurrence in a Millstone-Grit area; 3. Their con- formity to the underlying Millstone-Grit rocks, and the unconformity of the overlying Magnesian Limestone; 4. Their containing plant- remains similar to those of the Millstone-Grit; 5. Their colour. ‘heir purplish tint, and resemblance to certain German “‘ Rothliegende”’ con- glomerates, are the only characters which seem to unite them with beds of that age. EpinsurcH Groroetcat Socrrtry.—The ninth ordinary meeting of the society was held on Thursday, the 1st April. James Powrie, Esq., F.G.S., Vice-president of the Society, in the chair. An elaborate paper on ‘‘The Earliest Vestiges of Vertebrate Life” was read by Mr. Powrie, of which the following is an abstract :—The author stated that the earliest vestiges of vertebrate life had been found in the Upper Silurians of England, consisting of imperfect fragments of fishes. In the Upper Ludlow and Downton beds, and Lower Old Red Sandstone of Hereford, ete. Pteraspis, Cephalaspis, and remains of Acanthodean fishes were by no means uncommon, but these always in such an im- perfect state that the nature and relations of the fishes to which they belonged could scarcely be ascertained. Much light, however, had been thrown on these, the most ancient of known fishes, from the dis- covery, in the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Forfarshire, of a bed of very great extent, consisting of various coloured semi-calcareous shales, with imbedded nodules, which contain remains of Crustacea and Fishes 284 Reports and Proceedings. in very considerable abundance, and from which very complete speci- mens had been obtained of fishes belonging to the families Cephalaspide and Acanthodide. Little notice was taken of the cephalaspid fishes, as a monograph of this family, by Mr. E. Ray Lankester, was in course of publication by the Palontographical Society; but of the various genera and species of the latter lengthened descriptions were given. Five genera of that family, namely, Acanthodes, Diplacanthus, Hutha- canthus, Ponexin, and Climatin, yielding twelve species, were stated to have been found in the Forfarshire sandstones. In addition to these, a solitary specimen of a fish was described, which was shown to have little or no affinity to any known family of this class, whether recent or fossil, The name Cephalopterus Paget was assigned to it, and a new family suggested for its reception, to be called Cephalopteride. In con- clusion, the high class these olden fishes held in the scale of organic existence was pointed out, in many respects approaching to the Placoid order, to which the modern shark belongs, and which, if high organ- ization and great adaptability for the element in which the animal moves mark rank, must stand very high indeed amongst fishes. The Acanthodide are perfect fishes of their kind, classing even higher than the average of those which are found in the waters of to-day; and that, in no respect, approximating to any of the other orders of verte- brate life, they gave small reason to believe in a common origin for all; and in this respect that they agreed with the varieties of animal life of that very ancient period. Not only all the great divisions, but even the various classes of animals, being as distinct then as now, and that no intermediate forms could yet be shown to have existed. Grotoctcat Socrery or Grascow.—The ordinary meeting was held on the lst of April. The Rev. Henry W. Crosskey, F.G.S., Vice- ‘President, in the Chair. The following papers were read :— I. ‘On the action of organic matter on peroxide of iron, as observed in the Post-Tertiary sands of Glasgow.’’ By Mr. J. Wallace Young. Mr. Young’s observations were the result of a visit to the excavations for Stobecross docks, and the following summary, in part only, may prove interesting to chemical geologists: 1. Underneath a few feet of ordinary brown river sand, containing hazel nuts and fragments of decayed wood, a dark-coloured bed of sand, charged with decaying vegetable matter, was found, which, when treated with an acid, gave off sul- phuretted hydrogen, resulting, he believed, from sulphide of iron. The sulphur and sulphuric acid were estimated in the usual manner, and were :—Sand dried at 100 C., sulphuric acid, -10 per cent.; sulphur, 1°49 per cent. The sulphuric acid would be equal to ‘21 per cent. of gypsum, and the sulphur equal to 4:09 per cent. of the monosulphide of iron. 2. A portion of a large oak tree, which had been turned up, gave a water solution containing free sulphuric acid and sulphate of iron, probably derived from oxidation of sulphide of iron by exposure to the air. The presence of sulphide of iron may be explained by the reducing action of decaying organic matter on peroxide of iron and sulphate of lime—carbonate of iron and sulphide of calcium being first formed, and then immediately decomposed into sulphide of iron, which Geological Society of Glasgow. 280 has remained, and carbonate of calcium which had been removed. 3. Some tabular concretions, concentrically disposed around twigs, were found to be composed of sand and clay cemented together by peroxide of iron. Two specimens gave respectively 29°97 and 25:14 per cent. of peroxide of iron. The origin of these tubes the author considered to be due to the decaying of the vegetable tissue of the twigs, leaving small holes through which water had carried down iron in some form or another, and gradually cemented together the surrounding sand and clay. On breaking open many pieces of the brown clay, they were seen to be perfectly crowded with holes, some merely surrounded with a stain of peroxide of iron, and in ail stages up to the perfect tubes. The iron in the surrounding clay appeared to be equally distributed throughout, so that the excess of iron oxide had been added, he be- lieved, in the manner indicated, and not by segregation from the surrounding matrix. II. ‘Notes on the Post-Tertiary Geology of the Carse of Falkirk.” By Mr. John Burns. The author gave an interesting account of the superficial deposits of the district, derived from an examination of several exposed sections, and from the records of the beds passed through in boring, and by the sinking of shafts for the working of minerals ; his views being, in general, confirmatory of those entertained by Messrs. Croll and Bennie as to the existence of a great trough between the valleys of the Clyde and the Forth. III. ‘‘On the succession of the Post-Tertiary beds beneath the Boulder-clay at Kilmaurs.” By Mr. John Young. In the course of his remarks, Mr. Young stated that ever since the discovery, in the year 1816, of the remains of the Mammoth, Hlephas primigenius, at the Woodhill quarry, Kilmaurs, these beds had attracted the attention of nearly every writer on Scottish Post-tertiary geology. Since the period of the first discovery, some nine or ten tusks, and a portion of a molar tooth had been found, also some horns of the Reindeer, Cervus tarandus, preserved in the Hunterian Museum with two Mammoth tusks. These remains were at first referred to the Boulder-clay. Dr. Bryce, a few years ago, however, having become satisfied of the unfossiliferous nature of this deposit as it exists in the West of Scot- land, made an examination of the Kilmaurs beds, and from information obtained from parties who had formerly worked in the old quarry, and from a section opened up for him, he was able to show clearly that the remains of the Mammoth and the Reindeer were not found in the Boulder-clay, but in certain thin beds underlying the Till, and super- imposed upon the Carboniferous sandstone of the Woodhill quarry. In Dr. Bryce’s paper, with section, showing the order of succession of the beds, published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London for 1855, it is stated ‘‘ that several species of marine shells had been found along with some of the tusks,” but as these had never been correctly identified the age of the beds had always remained doubtful, and the relations of the ‘‘ Mammoth” bed to that containing the marine shells was involved in a certain amount of obscurity, which recent discoveries had only enabled the author fully to clear up. From the researches of Mr. Craig, however, and the discovery in the beds of two sets of organisms of different origin and age, such as those 286 Correspondence—Miss E. Hodgson. exhibited, he was able to show their exact relation; and the evidence thus gained beyond what was formerly known goes to prove that the Carmel was a valley in Pre-glacial times, in which roamed herds of Reindeer and the hairy Mammoth, and that some of these have left their remains in certain estuarine deposits formed over the lower levels of the valley. The next evidence is the depression of the valley, with its estuarine beds, under sea level, as clearly indicated by the bed of sand with marine shells of Arctic types, marking as it were, by their presence, the dawn of the Glacial period. Mr. Craig had also obtained evidence, from other pits and bores sunk in the valley, that the marine sand and estuarine beds had suffered denudation at several points before the Boulder-clay and upper drifts (50 feet in thickness) were deposited above them, the Boulder-clay at these points resting upon the Carboni- ferous sandstone of the district. Mr. Young concluded his remarks by stating that he could not give a decided opinion at present as to the exact age of the ‘‘Mammoth” bed at Kilmaurs, but the evidence seemed to point it out as a Pre-glacial remnant of the oldest Post-tertiary strata yet discovered in the West of Scotland. J.A. CORRESPONDENCE, THE SOUTH COAST OF FURNESS.! Str,—In Mr. Maw’s article in the February number of the Gro- LoGicaL Macazins, he does not mention a whitish-grey sandy clay which emerges through the beach gravels about high-water-mark between his two cliffs. The same clay (four years ago) could be seen at intervals for two miles along the east shore; and about that distance from Rampside, I found it, in cutting down to the shell- beds, 200 yards inland, six feet below the surface. On the west shore, near the next cliff, a little over a mile from Rampside, it is bluer, and of a rather more soapy nature, containing smoothed pebbles, a little striated. I fail to see anything new in Mr. Maw’s notice of the shell-beds, except it be in his having carried them to the top of the cliff, a height of more than forty feet (see his Fig. 2, a). This is interesting, if intended to signify the fact, as I had not ascertained that they any- where rose above the 25 feet contour. I had certainly observed that grass-sods falling from above, were charged with minute shells, but T judged they might have been carried over the head in storm-spray. With respect to the age of our Furness shell-beds, I had hoped that the very carefully drawn up list of species given by me on page 216 of the last Number of the Geologist, 1864, and reprinted in the North Lonsdale Magazine, 1866, would have sufficiently indicated their Post-glacial character: not one arctic shell being there re- corded. That list is not a long one, and perhaps it might be augmented : still, owing to their comminuted state in many places, it was a work of time and trouble; and if it be, as I have believed it to be, the only one published, it is not without a certain value. I 1 Owing to want of space last month this and the following letter were unavoidably postponed.—Epir. Correspondence—Mr. W. W. Stoddart. 287 am of opinion that the Bay of Morcamb’ is a much less ancient inlet than the Frith of Clyde, and the Kyles of Bute, where Mr. Smith, Mr. Sowerby, my revered friend Dr. Landsborough, and numerous acute observers have worked so successfully : the coeval shore line of this part of Britain, viz. Cumberland and Lancashire, doubtless stood a long way further out. i. Hopeson. Unverston, 15th March. “GEOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORWICH.” [Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society, Vol. ii., Nos. 7, 8, and 9, 1868, Noticed in Geotocican NaGazine for April, p. 177.] Srr,—Permit me to reply to the somewhat stringent remarks of H. B. W. in your last number, and to suggest that it would have been much kinder if H.B. W. had ascertained whether the short abstract were a correct resumé of the original paper.’ The different statements made at Norwich respecting the geology of that county were so conflicting and contradictory as to call forth a remark to that effect from the President of the Geological section (see Norfolk News, Aug. 22,1868). So puzzling were they that I, in common with many others, felt really “out of my element,” and “at sea,” and therefore had recourse to “literature” for informa- tion to which also I would refer H.B.W. For instance, I found that the Norwich beds are said to have been seen to directly overlie the Red Crag at Chillesford (vide Hlem. Geol. pp. 196,198). Again, the same authority states that the Bridlington beds have about the same age as the Chillesford (loc. cit. p. 198). With regard to my statement respecting the Potamides, I still see no reason why they should not be that sub-genus. nor can I discover any difference between the Bramerton shells and many that I obtained from the fluvio-marine beds of the Isle of Wight. The shells of the Potamides cannot be distinguished from the Cerithia (vide Wood’s Crag Mollusca, p. 68) in their conchological character, but the former lived in estuarine or freshwater, while the latter lived in marine habitats. With the Bramerton fossils are found some freshwater shells, and therefore the conclusion that they were Potamides is a very likely one.’ Mr. Wood also makes a statement to that effect (Crag Moll. p. 68). Sir Charles says (Hlem. p. 196), “It is clear that these beds have accumulated at the bottom of the sea near the mouth of a river.” With regard to the antiquity of the Red Crag, I simply stated that the Red Crag was the oldest Pliocene formation, with which I had then to do, and H. B. W. may fairly have conjectured this, for, probably, there are few to whom the Coralline Crag is not familiar. 1 This is written Morcamb in Beck’s work “ Annales Furnesiensis,” the best work we have.—E.H. 2 We are exceedingly sorry to learn that the Bristol Naturalists’ Society are in the habit of issuing their Proceedings without first consulting authors whose papers they intend to publish, and obtaining their corrections to the same. We would earnestly recommend Mr, Stoddart in future to insist upon seeing and revising his own papers before publication, in whatever Journal they may appear.—Epir. 8 Potamides does not occur in the Norwich Crag.—Epir. 288 Correspondence—Ir. J. M. Wilson. In conclusion, if H.B. W. should ever visit Bristol, I shall be happy to show him my Potamides, and elicit his opinion. 7, Kine Square, BRisTou. W. W. Sroppart. RUGBY SCHOOL NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. Srr,—In your kind notice of the Rugby School Natural History Society's Reports, there are one or two errors of some importance. Will you allow me to correct them? A quotation is made from a report very much out of date, and it is made to appear as if appli- cable to the present system. As it is, very nearly the whole school, and not one-tenth only, are at work at Natural Science, and have been so for five years. The central study is Chemistry, this is connected on the one side with Natural History, of which Botany and Geology are selected as types; and on the other side with Physics, that is, with us, with mechanics, and heat, and electricity. Many of your readers would be interested, I think, in seeing how laborious young observers are in botany, and how much is found to provide them with original work. I must disclaim the honour of being President. This post is most worthily filled by Mr. Kitchener, M.A., F.L.8., to whom the Society is greatly indebted. James M. WIson. Ruaesy, May 8, 1869. P.S.—One of my young geologists, Mr. H. C. Cholmondeley, tells us of a singular subsidence at Marton, near Northwich, on Lord Delawarr’s property. About twelve years ago a circular area, sixty yards across, suddenly sank down, to a depth, as I understand, of a few yards. ‘Two years ago a fresh subsidence took place, sufficient to submerge a poplar tree, which remained standing in the circular lake so formed. Last term the ground again sank, and the sinking was accompanied with much noise, and violent movement of the water. The water was cold. It is four miles to the nearest salt mine, and three to the nearest brine works. He is unable to assign any cause for the phenomena. Perhaps some of your Cheshire cor- respondents can enlighten us.—J.M.W THE GRAVELS OF LOPHAM FORD: Srr,—I think it important that the phenomena at Lopham Ford should be fully discussed, on account of the light they are calculated to throw upon denudation. I am glad, therefore, that my esteemed friend has not allowed my reply to his query to pass without remark, for I hope the question he raises may induce Geologists to go and see for themselves and report to you. - I should not have referred again to the subject, because I have said my say, and stand by my opinion. But Mr. 8. V. Wood, jun., has kindly and spon- taneously written to me, to tell me that he visited the spot with Mr. Harmer, while they were engaged in mapping the glacial deposits, and that he agrees with me that the gravel south of Lopham Ford is Middle Drift, and not a river-gravel. O. FIsHEr. P.S.—Erratum at p- 552, line 42, vol. vy. 1868, for ‘‘ Boulder-clay” read ‘“ London clay.” - OF THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LXI—JULY, 1869. Ore GIN AS) “Asie? Sha Cree Sy —— 1.—Tue Cryrerocamic Forests or tH Coan Prrtop. By Wititam Carrvutuers, F.L.S., F.G.S., of the British Museum.! HE student of fossil botany encounters greater difficulties in his efforts to restore the vegetation of former epochs in the earth’s history, than those which beset the labours of the comparative anatomist in his restoration of extinct animals. These difficulties arise chiefly from two causes: First, the absence in the vegetable kingdom of a substance which would resist decay like the solid skeleton found in all the vertebrate, and in many of the invertebrate members of the animal kingdom, causes the fragments of plants which have escaped decomposition to be preserved much less perfectly than the remains of animals. Carbonaceous stains or amorphous casts are the most frequent indications of the former vegetation of the globe; specimens exhibiting structure are comparatively rare; and it is such specimens only that give certain evidence of the nature and affinities of the organisms to which they belong. The other serious source of difficulty arises from the fact that no relative proportions exist among the different parts of a vegetable individual. The size of the leaf, the flower, or the fruit, can give no indication of the size of the plant. Indeed, these are more frequently found large in humble plants which never rise above the surface of the ground than in large trees. And this is true, not only in the general, but even among members of the same natural group ; where great differences exist in the size of the individuals, no corresponding differences are to be found in the parts of which they are composed. Thus the foliage and fruit of our only indigenous pine—the Scotch fir—are greater than those of the mammoth Wellingtonia of California ; and the fruit of the small willow /Salia herbacea, L.), which covers with a dense carpet the summits of some of the higher mountains of Scotland, is as large as that of the huge willows which ornament the margins of our English rivers. On the other hand, the different parts of an animal possess such relations to each other in size, form, and 1 Being the substance of a lecture delivered before the Royal Institution of Great Britain, at the Weekly Evening Meeting on Friday, April 16, 1869, Sir Henry Holland, Bart., M.D. DC.L. F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Illustrations have been kindly lent by the Council, together with permission to reprint this valuable contribution to Fossil Botany.—Epir. VOL. VI.—NO. LXI. 19 290 W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. structure that a zoologist has not so difficult a task before him in restoring, even from imperfect materials, the general aspect of an extinct animal. I state these difficulties which face us at the very threshold of our investigations, not to magnify the work before us this evening, but to account for the comparatively little progress that has been made in the interpretation of extinct floras, and forthe great diversity of opinion that exists among botanists as to the systematic position of numerous fossil plants ; and further to account for the very large number of genera and species which have been established on imperfect and fragmentary materials, the systematic position of which is conse- quently indeterminable. The progressive accumulation of observations, and the more care- ful preservation of instructive specimens in local and private museums are supplying the means of dealing with fossil botany after a different method. The most important recent advances in this science have been made in uniting the separate fragments,—roots and stems, leaves and fruits,—described under different names and placed in different and often widely separated genera, so as to build up vegetable individuals, the systematic position and affinities of which can be understood. These observations are specially true in regard to the vegetation of the Coal Period. Little information has been obtained from the vast stores of the carbonized remains of the plants of this period which are ever being brought under the inspection of man in the form of coal, for this material is so completely altered as to be almost destitute of structure. The best preserved plants occur in the beds of shale which accompany the coal, or are obtained from earthy nodules in the coal itself, which injure its marketable value, and are consequently got rid of by the miners. We may at once set aside that great division of the vegetable kingdom with which we are most familiar, comprising all plants that have true flowers and seeds, and confine our attention to the more obscure cryptogamous plants which are destitute of flowers, and for seeds have bodies of much simpler structure called spores. The cryptogams are either wholly cellular in their composition, like the mosses and sea-weeds, or they are composed partly of cells and partly of vessels, like the ferns and club-mosses. If we except some supposed Alge, no traces of true cellular plants have been hitherto detected in the Coal-measures. The long-continued maceration to which the coal plants were subjected when the beds composed of their remains were forming on the surface of the earth, and the subsequent changes they have undergone, have reduced to one common. structureless mass the varied vegetation of which the coal is composed. One of the first results of these operations would be the disappearance of the cellular plants, which under the then existing very favourable conditions must have abounded; just as the soft cellular parts are almost always destroyed of those specimens which have been so favourably situated as to have their vascular tissue preserved. W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. 291 Excluding then the cellular cryptogams, we may shortly consider the classification and structure of the vascular forms. They are divided into four groups, all of which are represented in the indi- genous Flora of Britain. J. Ferns (Filices). Polypody, Brake, Spleenwort, etc. II. Horse-tails (Equisetacee). Horse-tail. II. Club-mosses (Lycopodiacee). Club-moss and Quill-wort. IV. Pill-worts (Marsileacee). Pill-wort. I. The Ferys have a rhizome which creeps below or upon the surface of the ground, or rises into the air like the trunk of a, tree. This trunk in some species attains a great height ; it is nearly uniform in diameter throughout its whole length, and is covered with the symmetrical and regularly-arranged markings of the stalks of the old leaves. Internally it is composed of a central cellular pith sur- rounded by a cylinder of scalariform tissue, and this is invested by a cortical cellular layer or bark. The woody cylinder is composed of simultaneous vascular bundles, which originate and are completely developed at the same time; there is consequently no addition to it from subsequent growth. It is penetrated by large open meshes, each of which permits the passage of the vascular bundles that supply a leaf, accompanied with a certain amount of cellular tissue from the medulla which occupies the centre of the mesh. The leaves, which are very variable in size and form, not only perform the functions of ordinary leaves, but also bear the fruit, and are hence called fronds. The fruit is produced in clusters on the back or margin of the fronds; each cluster contains many sporangia, and each sporangium numerous uniform spores. Though there is a great diversity in the size of the plants of this order—from the humble Wall Rue to the giant Alsophilas,—there is a remarkable uniformity in the size of the spores. When the spore germinates it bursts through the outer membrane and puts forth a tubular prolongation, which increases by cell-multi- plication until a small green leaf is produced, called the prothallus, on the under-surface of which two kinds of glandular-like bodies are developed: the one, the antheridia, containing numerous cells with spermatozoids, the other, the pistillidia, one of which when fertilized develops into a true fern. II. The Horss-tatts have slender, hollow, and jointed stems. Hach joint terminates in a toothed membranous sheath, composed of leaves reduced to this elementary state. Whorls of branches and branchlets are given off at the joints in some species. The fruit is produced in terminal cones composed of numerous stalked peltate scales, each of which bears on its under-surface a circle of sporangia filled with numerous uniform spores. The spores have a spiral covering, which, when they are ripe, breaks up into four clavate threads called elaters, which are remarkably hygrometric. The spores germinate like those of ferns. JII.—The Crus-mossrs have solid stems composed of an axis of spiral vessels, surrounded by a thickish cortical cellular layer. The 292 W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. leaves are simple, and arranged spirally on the stem. The branches are irregular and dichotomous. The fruit is produced in terminal cones composed of imbricating scales. Each scale bears on its pedicel a small sporangium full of spores. In Selaginella two kinds of spores exist. The one, called microspores, produces spermatozoids ; the other, macrospores, germi- nates, and forms a prothallus on which pistillidia appear ; and these, when fertilized by the spermatozoids of the microspores, grow into perfect plants. In Lycopodium microspores only have been seen, and the process of its germination is still unknown. The little Quillwort (Isoetes) which grows at the bottom of most of our mountain lakes, agrees with Selaginella in having two kinds of spores ; but it differs from the true club-mosses in its habit and in the structure of the stem. Like Welwitschia it never increases in height ; but this is even more remarkable in the Quill-wort than in Welwitschia, seeing that in it there is, as long as the plant lives, a continual development of nodes with their foliar appendages going on. The axis of the stem is composed of cellular tissue. This is surrounded by a vascular cylinder, which grows, as in exogens, by the addition of external layers, there being in this plant a true cambium layer outside the wood, a structure unknown in other cryptogams. IV. No plants allied to the Prruworts have hitherto been detected in the Coal Measures ; we need not, therefore, be detained by an examination of their structure and development. In examining the paleozoic eryptogams of the Coal Forests, I will follow the same order as that in which we have glanced at their living representatives. I. The Ferns need not long occupy our attention. They were very abundant, though as a rule they were humble herbaceous plants. Arborescent stems are extremely rare—only two undoubted species have been met with in Britain. ‘The numerous known forms have either grown on the earth, or, as is very probable, been Epiphytes. Fructification is rare; in the few cases in which it has been found it agrees with that of recent ferns. Occasionally young fronds exhibiting cirvinnate vernation have been met with, showing that this method of unrolling the frond was as characteristic of the ferns of that period as it is of those of the present. The fern is a remarkably stable type of vegetation. The earliest forms, like the Cyclopteris Hibernica of Forbes from the Old Red Sandstone, agrees in all comparable points with the recent plants ; and throughout all the intervening space no divergence in any point of importance has been detected. II. No group of fossil plants can more fully illustrate the imper- fect materials with which the paleontological botanist has to deal than that group which I have united under the name Calamites.' The various parts of the plant—the root, the stem, the leaves, and the 1 On the Structure of the Fruit of Calamites. Seeman’s Journal of Botany, vol. v. (1867), p. 349, Pl. 70. W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. 293 fruit—have been formed into numerous genera, which have been referred to widely different positions in the vegetable kingdom. Considerable diversity of structure is to be found in those stems which are referred to Calamites. I shall ask your attention to one of these forms which I have described,! and which is beautifully ilus- trated by a series of drawings, recently published, of specimens in Mr. Binney’s collection.2 This stem was composed of a central medulla surrounded by a woody cylinder, composed entirely of scalariform vessels and a thin cortical layer. The medulla penetrated the woody cylinder by a series of regular wedges, which were continued, as delicate laminz of one or two cells in thickness, to the cortical layer. The cells of these laminze were not muriform ; their longest diameter was in the direction of the axis. The wedges were continuous and parallel between each node. As the axial appendages were produced in whorls, the only interference with the regularity of the tissues was by the passing out through the stem at the nodes of the vascular bundles which supplied these appendages. As the leaves of each whorl were (with one or two exceptions) opposite to the interspaces of the whorls above and below, there was also at each node a re- arrangement of the wedges of vascular and cellular tissues. The stem is described as having been fluted on the outer surface. This error had its rise in the specimens examined, being only casts in the amorphous substance of the rock of the medullary cavity, sur- rounded by a thin film of coal representing the cylinder of wood. On the death of the plant, the cellular medulla decayed, while the woody cylinder was still able to retain its original form. The hollow interior was filled with some of the mud or sand in which the plant was buried. In the course of time this offered greater resistance to the pressure of the beds above than the originally hard cylinder of scalariform tissue. now softened by the moisture in which it had so long lain: the more indurated amorphous axis on pressure necessarily produced its cha- _racteristic ridges and furrows on the smooth outer surface of the film of coal. This coal is described as the cortex or bark, and stems exhibiting only the rocky casts of the medullary cavity are called decorticated specimens; but, besides the cortical layer, they have also been deprived of all that remained of their woody tissue. The stem terminated below somewhat suddenly in a blunt cone, the internodes of which were slightly developed; and from the nodes were given off whorls of large roots, which again gave off innumerable branching rootlets (Pinnularia). The stem or main axis was simple, supporting numerous branches arranged in whorls, which again produced numbers of whorled leaves. Three different forms of leaves have been formed into as many genera. When the structure of the fruits associated with them is better known, by the discovery of better preserved specimens, it is possible they may be found to constitute three genera, but there are no characters 1 On the Structure and Affinities of Lepidodendron and Calamites. Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin. vol. viii. (1866) p. 495, Pl. 8 and 9. 2 On the Flora of the Carboniferous Strata, Part I. By E. W. Binney. Paleont. Soc. vol, xxi., 1868. 294 W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. possessed by the leaves which prevent them belonging to one well- defined genus. Pratt I.—Foutace anp Fruits oF CALAMITES. 1 and 2, Asterophyllites; 3 and 4, Annularia; 5 and 6, Sphenophyllum. The simplest form of leaf (Asterophyllites) is slender and linear, with a single nerve. ‘This can scarcely be separated from the form to which the name Annularia has been given, and which differs chiefly in having a larger amount of cellular tissue spread out on either side of the midrib. This form has a different aspect in the fossil state from the other, for its whorls of numerous broad leaves are spread out on the surface of deposition, while the acicular leaves of Asterophyllites have penetrated the soft mud, and are generally preserved in the position they originally occupied to the supporting branch. The third form (Sphenophyllum) consists of whorls of wedge-shaped leaves with one or more bifurcating veins. They occur like those of Annularia, spread out on the surface of the shale. The plan of arrangement of the three forms is the same, and fruits are found associated with them which have the same general appearance ; but they are so ill preserved that their internal struc- W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. 295 ture has not hitherto been determined. The different forms have been placed together as allied genera, and have been referred, by those who have specially studied them, to the phanerogamous Order Haloragacee near to the Water Milfoil (Myriophyllum), with some species of which they agree very remarkably in the arrangement and aspect of their foliage and fruit.’ W.G.SMITH.DEL Puare 1].—F rurits or Equisrtum anp CALAMITES. Fig. 1. Eguisetum arvense, L. 2. Portion of the sporangium wall. 3. Spore, with the elaters free. 4. Spore with the elaters clasping. 5. Longitudinal section of the part of one side of cone with three fruit-bearing scales supporting sporangia. 6. Transverse section of cone. 7. Calamites (Volkmannia) Binney, Carr., magnitied three times. 8. Portion of the sporangium wall. 9. Two spores, one showing the bases of two elaters free, the remainder being removed in slicing the fossil, and the other showing the elaters clasping. 10. Longitudinal section of part of one side of cone with three fruit-bearing and four simple leaves. 11. Transverse section of cone, showing six fruit-bearing leaves and twelve protecting scales. The determination of the internal structure of one of these fruits which I made, first from specimens collected by Mr. Binney, and have since confirmed from specimens which have been some years 1 Monographie des Sphenophyllum @ Europe. Par E. Coemans and J. J. Kickz. Bulletin Acad. Roy. de Belgique, 2nd Ser. vol. xviii. (1864), No. 8. 296 =69W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. in the cabinet of Dr. Millar, has enabled me to refer these fossils with certainty to the cryptogamous Order Hquisetacee as near allies of our living Horsetails. This fruit, to which I have given the name Volkmannia Binneyi,' is a small slender cone, composed of whorls of imbricated scales (twelve in each), arranged like the successive whorls of leaves on the branch, so that the scales of one whorl are in a line with the spaces between the scales in the whorls above and below. The scales completely conceal the fruit-bearing leaves. These are stalked and peltate, arranged in whorls alternating with the scales, but having only six—half the number of the scales in a whorl. The sporangia, four in number, are borne on the under-surface of the peltate leaves; their walls are formed of elongated cells, which have in their in- terior a secondary deposit of cellulose proceeding in short truncate processes from the sides of the cell-walls which are in contact, and having the appearance of an incomplete spiral. The sporangia are filled with simple spherical spores, which in the closely-packed sporangium appear to be furnished with double cell-walls. In the half-empty sporangia the outer wall cannot be detected, but there appear instead a number of thread-like processes proceeding from the spore like the elaters in the living Horsetails.? A comparison of this fossil cone with the fruit of Equisetum ex- hibits a remarkable agreement in every point of importance. In the form of the fruit-bearing leaves, the arrangement and structure of the sporangia, the form, size, and structure of the spores. even to the possession of hygrometric elaters, both fruits agree. The only difference is that in the modern plant all the leaves of the cone are fruit-bearing, while in the fossil every other whorl retains a form closely approaching that of the normal leaf of the plant. As these envelope and protect the fruit-bearing leaves, they may be held to give to the fossil a somewhat higher systematic position than is pos- sessed by the living genus. This superiority is further exhibited when we contrast the complex structure of the stem, and the free leaves of Calamites with the fistular and sheath-bearing stems of Equisetum. III. The stems, branches, and fruit of the genus Lepidodendron, are so abundant in the shales that cover the coal, that the external aspect of this tree has been for a long time well known. Specimens exhibiting structure are more rare, but these also have been met with, so that we know the internal organization as well as the ex- ternal aspect of the fossil.? The stem is composed of a central pith surrounded by a slender cylinder of scalariform woody tissue, and by a large cortical layer 1 Prof. Schimper has more recently described and figured the same fruits under the figs a Calamostachys Binneyana in his Traité de Paléontologie Végétale, vol. i. 1869), p. 330. % Mc. Binhey has beautifully illustrated the structure of the stem and fruit of Calamites in a series of drawings from specimens in his rich collection, published by the Palzontographical Society in the end of last year. 3 On some Fossil Plants, showing structure. By E. W. Binney. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xviii. (1862), p. 106, Pl. 4—6. Phil. Trans., 1865. W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. 2917 which is divided into two portions, an inner consisting of large spherical and thin-walled cells, and an outer made up of regularly arranged elongated cells with a small diameter. The vascular cylin- der is penetrated by radiating meshes through which the vascular bundles passed that supplied the leaves. The outer surface of the stem is covered with the spirally arranged and beautifully marked stigmata of the fallen leaves. The stem branches repeatedly in a dichotomous manner. The younger branches are densely covered with small lanceolate leaves, having a single median vein. = = SSS — a ef = SS = SS WO SMITH.DEL. Prats III.—Fruits or SELAGmINELLA AND TRrIPLosponritEs, Fig. 1, Selaginella spinulosa, A. Braun. 2. Scale and sporangium from the upper portion of the cone. 3. Antheridian microspores from ditto, 4. Macrospore. 5. Scale and sporangium from the lower part of the cone containing macrospores. 6. Triplosporites Brownii, Brongn. 7. ‘Three scales and sporangia of ditto. 8. Micro- Spores from the sporangia of the upper part of the cone. 9. Macrospore from the sporangia of the lower part (drawn from Brongniart’s description and measurements). 10. Scales and sporangia of a cone of Fvemingites. The fruit isa cone composed of imbricated scales arranged spirally on the axis like the true leaves, and bearing the sporangia on their 298 W. Carruthers—The Forests of the Coal Period. horizontal pedicels. Three different forms of fruit belong to this genus, or it should perhaps rather be called group of plants. The first’ of these is the cone named by Robert Brown Triplo- sporites,' and described by him from an exquisitely preserved specimen of an upper portion, in which the parts are exhibited as clearly in the petrified condition as if they belonged to a fresh and living plant. The large sporangia have a double wall, the outer composed of a compact layer of oblong cells placed endwise, or with the long diameter perpendicular to the surface ; the inner isa delicate cellular membrane. The sporangium is filled with a great number of very small spores, each composed of three roundish bodies or sporules. Recently Professor Brongniart has described a complete specimen of this fruit, in which the minute triple spores are confined to the sporangia of the upper and middle part of the cone, but the lower portion, which was wanting in Mr. Brown’s specimen, bears sporangia filled with simple spherical spores ten or twelve times larger than the others. The structure of another form of cone (Lepidostrobus) has been expounded by Dr. Hooker.* The arrangement of the different parts comprising it is precisely similar to what occurs in Triplosporites ; but the sporangia are filled with the minute triple spores throughout the whole cone. The third form of cone, which I have described under the name Flemingites,* differs from the other two in having a large number of small sporangia supported on the surface of each scale ; and it agrees with Lepidostrobus in the sporangia containing only small spores. In comparing these fossils with the living club-mosses, one is struck with the singular agreement in the organization of plants so far removed in time, and so different in size, as the recent humble club-mosses and the paleozoic tree Lepidodendrons. The fruit of Triplosporites, like that of Selaginella, contains large and small spores, the microspores being found in both genera on the middle and upper scales of the cone, and the macrospores on those of the lower portion. On the other hand, the fruits of Lepidostrobus and Flemingites agree with those of Lycopodium in having only microspores. The size of the two kinds of spores also singularly agrees in the two groups. This is of some importance, for among the recent vascular cryptogams there is a remarkable uniformity in the size of the spores in the members of the different groups, even when there is a great variety in the size of the plants. ‘Thus the spore of our humble Wall-rue is as large as that of the giant Alsophila of tropical * Some account of Triplosporite. By R. Brown. Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xx. (1851), p. 469, Pl. 33 and 34. 2 Notice sur un fruit de Lycopodiacées fossiles. Par M. Brongniart. Comptes Rendus, vol. lxvii., Aug. 17, 1868.—Translated in Seemann’s Journal of Botany, vol. vil. (1869) p. 1. 5 On the Structure and Affinities of some Lepidostrobi. By J. D. Hooker. Memoirs of Geol. Surv., Vol. ii., Pt. 2 (1848), p. 440, Pl. 3-10. * On an Undescribed Cone from the Carboniferous Beds. Gurox. Mac., Vol. II. (1865), p. 438. Pl. 12. W. Carruthers— The Forests of the Coal Period. 299 regions. So also the spores of Hquisetum and Calamites agree in size, as may be seen in Plate IL., Figs. 3, 4, and 9, where the spores of the two genera are magnified to the same extent. And a similar com- parison of the macrospore and microspore of Triplosporites with those of Selaginella, and of the microspore of Lepidostrobus with that of Lycopodium, exhibits a similar agreement. This is made apparent by the drawings of the two kinds of spores of Selaginella on Plate IIL, Figs. 3 and 4, with those of Triplosporites, Figs. 8 and 9, which are drawn to the same scale." The fossils represented by the group of stems known under the name of Lepidodendron, and by the three fruits described, agree in all essential characters with the living Club-mosses, the only difference of importance being that. the stem of the fossil has a higher organiza- tion suited to its arborescent habit. The vascular tissue continued to increase with the growth of the plant somewhat like an exogenous stem. In all the living vascular cryptogams, the vascular tissue is produced at once in its full extent except in Isoetes, which has a cambium layer surrounding the cylinder of wood in which as the plant grows new vascular tissue is developed. The zone of thin- walled spherical cells which surrounds the woody cylinder in Lepidodendron, and which is so rarely preserved, has been a true cambium layer like that in Isoetes. But for the existence of this small water-plant, the large trees of the coal-forests would present in the growth of their stems an inexplicable anomaly. Sigillaria, a very abundant Carboniferous fossil, is a member of the same family as Lepidodendron. Its stem is rarely preserved so as to exhibit structure, the only specimen hitherto described bemg S. elegans, Brongn. ;* but its roots are frequently found in a very perfect condition. The name Stigmaria was given to the roots at a time when they were supposed to be independent plants. Their relation to Sigillaria was suggested by Prof. Brongniart from the correspondence in their structure, by Sir W. Logan from the position the two fossils occupied in the beds in which they occur, and the matter was finally set at rest when Mr. Binney observed the roots and stems in actual continuity. As the structure and arrangement of corresponding parts in the same plant are uniform, as of the root, stem, branches, and axis of the cone, we may supply the want of information regarding the stem by that which can be obtained from the root. The root is composed of a central medulla surrounded by a cylinder of scalariform tissue, and this again is invested by a large cellular layer. The vascular cylinder is broken up by meshes through which passed the vascular bundles to the rootlets. There are no traces whatever of medullary rays in the wood. The supposed medullary rays which have been described in Sigillaria are the accidental re- sults of desiccation in particular specimens. The internal structure 1 T have given the precise measurement of these spores in a Notice of some Plant Remains from Brazil. Grou. Maa., Vol. VI. (1869), pp. 158, 154. 2 Observations sur la Structure intérieure du Sigillaria elegans. Par A. Brongniart. Archives du Mus., Vol. i. (1831) p. 408. 300 T. Davidson—Notes on Continental Geology. of the stem is precisely the same as in Lepidodendron, to which it is closely allied. Externally it has a very different appearance, being either a simple cylindrical column, or in some species dividing dicho- tomously into a few thick branches. The leaves are long, slender, and parallel-sided. Their scars ornament the older portions of the stem, on which they are arranged in perpendicular series with in- tervening furrows. The fruit has been described by Goldenberg. It agrees with that which I have described in Flemingites except that the small sporangia are scattered in an irregular patch over the dilated base of an ordi- nary leaf, and this confirms the systematic position which I have given to Sigillaria.} The ferns and other genera which I have described may be con- sidered the types of the plants to which we are indebted for our stores of mineral fuel. They grew in extensive level plains, their fleshy roots penetrating the soft mud which formed the surface soil, or the spongy layer of vegetable matter which covered it. The moist atmosphere (not at all likely to have been charged with more carbonic acid gas than that of our own day) would encourage the growth of cellular parasites and epiphytes, and the Aroid dis- covered by Dr. Paterson, with the several species of Antholithes, most probably represent races of epiphytes of a much higher or- ganization than the cryptogamic trees on which they flourished. Coniferous trees may have grown on the margins of the plain, but their proper habitat seems to have been the higher ground, from which an occasional stem was floated down by running water to the plains below. What plants were associated with the Conifers in those upland regions, is as yet quite unknown. The Flora of the coal period as at present ascertained is that of the plains. And this is of high interest, apart from the economic value of its products, because it reveals to the biologist an assemblage of plants agreeing in all essentials with some of the humble members of our present Flora, but attaining at so early a period in the history of the world a development not only in size but in organization, greatly in advance of their modern allies. I.—Norns on Continentat Gronogy AND PAaL#oNnTOLOGY. By Tuomas Dayinson, F.R.S., F.G.S. (Continued from p. 263). (Part IY.) N the June Number (p. 251), we gave Messrs. Pictet and Lory’s most recent views on the disputed age of those beds which con- tain the Terebratula diphya or T. viator of Pictet. In order to com- 1 For a lengthened examination of the affinities and structure of this genus, see a Memoir read to the Geological Society, at its meeting on March 24th, and to be published in its Quarterly Journal on the 1st of August next. 7. Davidson—Notes on Continental Geology. 301 plete their views I now publish a letter recently received from M. Hébert, which he requests me to add to the present notes. “ Parts, 20th May 1869. M. Pictet, who maintains the utmost courtesy in our discussions, communicated to me some time ago an extract of the opinion he sent you regarding the limestone with Ter. diphya. It seems necessary in my turn to address you fur the sole purpose of stating my opinion precisely. It shall be a short one, repeating very nearly what you will find in the Bulletin of the meeting of the 9th Noy., 1868, p. 138, and which will be speedily forwarded to you. If you read what I have published upon this question you will observe that I have hitherto only drawn up conclusions concerning the limestones with Ter. diphya or janitor of the Porte-de-France and those of Aizy which contain the same fauna. This fauna, composed in a great measure of Cephulopoda, is, to my mind, certainly Neocomian. The more I study the question the fewer are the - doubts I have on this subject, because I find a greater number of species really Neocomian, But in the limestones with Cephalopoda there is intercalated at Aizy a thin bed of small extent, disappearing at a little distance, containing a mixture of this fauna with another which resembles the Coralline fauna. In like manner at Stram- berg to the fauna with Neocomian Cephalopoda, of the Porte-de-France, is made the addition of Diceras, of Brachipoda and of Nerinea, which had until now seemed identical with Coralline species. This portion of the fauna of Stramberg does not exist at the Porte-de-France, but is found identically the same at Inwald (Galicia), at Saléve, at Echaillon, in the lower Alps, and in the Gard; but in all these localities of the Carpathians, of Switzerland, of the Dauphiné, and of Provence, this Coralline fauna has hitherto included none of the Neocomian Cephalopoda of the Porte-de- France, or of Stramberg ; this remark ought not to be lost sight of by Geologists. It is true that a more attentive examination has singularly reduced the number of identities admitted between this Coralline fauna and the veritable Coral Rag of the north and of the Jura; but we must not forget that the reputed Jurassic species are not found either at Aizy, or at Stramberg, save in those beds that are true breccias resulting from the destruction of an older deposit. Therefore the question concern- ing the limestone with Cephalopoda appears to me as much settled, as the question regarding the beds with Diceras and Nerinea seem to me to be obscure. In fact, we do not yet know very positively if there is a single form identical with the Jurassic species. In the case of some identities still maintained we do not know whether they are contemporaneous with the deposit, or are species which have been introduced from a lower bed. We have now to study this curious fauna of Inwald, of Kchaillon, of Saléve, of the Serane (Gard). The most complete collections from these formations have been generously placed at my disposal by Messrs. Zejszner, Lory, Pillet, Wallet, and Jeanjean. Shall I have leisure and capability to derive therefrom a correspond- ing advantage? That is the question. Anyhow it is certain that from the Carpathians to Montpellier the beds with Terebratula Moravica (Glock) constitute a stage distinct from the limestone with Lereb. diphya, or janitor, that we shall probably be able to observe in the south of France the stratigraphical relation of the two systems, and from notes recently sent to the Geological Society by M. Coquand, I can almost deduce that Tereb. Moravica is regularly inferior to Zered. janitor. This, however, is not asserted decidedly as yet. Pray inform your English colleagues that I have proceeded with the greatest caution, and that I have confined my observations to the beds with ered. diphya, These are the ones I have considered to be Neocomian. I have brought forward nothing in regard to the position of the formation with Zered. Moravica. I am doubtful of the latter belonging to the Coralline period, but I know nothing of it. This to me is the actual horn of the problem. Oppel had referred to the Titonie formation, the Portland limestone, the beds of Boulogne, of Solenhofen, Nattheim, etc. Zittel, on the contrary, rejects with good reason all these from the ‘litonic stage, and I think we must also eliminate the limestone with Zered. diphya as Titonic; there consequently only remains the limestone with Zered. Moravica, which really appears to me very curious; but I cannot as yet pronounce upon its age decisively. These explanations will show you that M. Pictet and I are very close upon a mutual understanding, since the objections of my eminent colleague and friend rest now almost entirely upon the fauna of the bed containing Zered. Moravica, and that I consider it in no way demonstrated that the fossils of these beds are con- temporaneous with those containing Zered. janitor.” 302 T. Davidson—Notes on Continental Geology. In a letter recently received from M. Coquand, that gentleman states :— “‘T quite understand the difference in opinion which geologists entertain relative to the divisions of the Chalk, or Cretaceous system, but I cannot conceive why they should refuse to see what really exists. How is it? because, in France, we do not | possess the Hastings sands or the Tilgate beds, should we deny their existence in England? Such would be neither logical nor philosophical. With reference to my Cretaceous stages, is it not true that the sands of Kouen (my “ Carentonien’’) are situated above the beds with Pecten asper 2 If geologists should call the first ‘‘ Upper Cénomanien,” and the second ‘‘ Lower Cénomanien,” they would correspond to my divisions; no other change would be effected but the rejection of my names. It would be possible (likewise from the same motive) to efface the terms “ Bradford Clay,” ‘‘Cornbrash,” ‘‘ Fuller’s Earth,” ete., and to say instead Lower, Middle, and Upper Great Oolite. Is it, or is it not true, that above the bed with Inoceramus labiatus (Inferior Lower Chalk), and under the Upper Chalk with Belemnitella mucronata we possess in Provence—lIst, thick beds with Radiolites lumbricalis and Radiolites cornu-pastoris; 2nd, 300 métres of sandstone (Grés d’Uchaux); 38rd, 150 métres of limestone with three forms of Hippurites, which are wanting both in England and Paris. Since such is the case, we cannot help admitting it; and if all this assemblage does occur in the South of France, it must result, that in a general classification of the system one cannot suppress these beds. I am aware that I shall be answered that the Turonien or the Craie Marneuse would correspond to the above-named assemblage of beds; but as this assemblage lies in Provence above the bed with Jnoceramus labiatus and under that with Micraster cor-anguinum, the result is that the complete series of the Chalk does not exist at Paris nor in the North of France, but must be seen in the South of France. Had the English or Parisian geologists possessed this stage in their country, they would scarcely have failed to introduce it into their series or classification, and they would have been right in so doing. It is just as if one denied the existence of the Muschel- kalk because it is absent in the British Isles. In a science of observation, one must progress by the aid of positive facts. I defy any geologist to explain the sections in Provence by the Chalk series as found in England and in the North of France. It is just as if English geologists had the pretension to include in the Speeton Clay all the Lower Cretaceous divisions of the Continent. What Mr. Judd has demonstrated is this, that you possess equivalents of some. ach district has its peculiar and local formation, and it is there that one should seek for the type.” I believe Geologists will concur with M. Coquand that the com- plete sequence of geological formations cannot be found or sought for in any particular or limited district, and that in all sound general classifications one must take into consideration those deposits which may be present in different parts of the globe, and, as far as such a thing is possible, locate them into their proper stratigraphical posi- tion. We must, however, carefully avoid too minutely dividing and subdividing our great divisions, for by exaggerating the number of our stages we might, perhaps, be liable to fall into the prevalent mistake among Palzontologists, namely, that of forming an unneces- sary number of so-termed distinct species or varieties out of one great but variable specific type. I quite agree with M. Coquand that neither in England nor in the north of France do we possess several of the étages he describes, and, no doubt, with time and further consideration, we shall arrive at a suitable general classification of the system, which will embrace all the divisions that occur in different countries. In the meantime further study of the system is urgently requisite, and many points now advanced will, prior to definite adoption, require to remain open questions. T. Davidson—Notes on Continental Geology. 303 In connection with the subject under discussion, Dr. M. Neumayr favours me with the following statement (Vienna, June 5) :—“ Sir, Having read in the June number of the Gronocican Macazine two notes communicated to you by MM. Lory and Pictet, in reference to the classification of the beds with Terebratula diphya, wherein the close affinity of the limestone of the Porte-de-France with those of Stramberg, and with the Klippenkalk of the Carpathians are several times pointed out, I think it will not be uninteresting for you to record a few additional notes on the position of these beds which, in the Carpathians, constitute the Tithonic stage. I therefore send you a few lines relating to these formations, which I studied for nearly three months last year. “There are in the Carpathians two parallel bands, each of them more than a hundred English miles in length, and in width rarely exceeding one mile, covered by a great number of ridges or reefs of Jurassic and Tithonic limestones, which pierce in discordant order the Neocomien marls. A great number of the reefs (‘ Klippen’) in the northern band are composed of the Stramberg limestone, while that rock is very seldom found in the southern band, but, on the contrary, there is an abundance of the Klippenkalk (calcaire des récifs), a denomination which has not a very precise signification, and under which are united or combined various beds of very dif- ferent age. Nevertheless I succeeded in finding the Stramberg limestone in two localities in this southern band, and in one of them the superposition of this bed on the most recent portion of the Klippenkalk (the breccia with Ter. Catullot or diphya,) is very dis- tinctly observed. “The beds of the Klippenkalk, which are connected with the ques- tion at issue, consist here, at their base, of a red nodular limestone, containing a fauna corresponding pretty nearly to the one with Ammonites tenuilobatus, said to be Oxfordian by M. Lory, which is found at the bottom of the beds with Ter. janitor at the Porte-de France, and which should be placed according to another opinion in the Kimmeridgian stage. In the upper beds of the reddish lime- stone are found already intermingled with the fossils of the first horizon the Ter. diphya and several Ammonites by which this species is ordinarily accompanied. ‘The next layer is rather thick, and consists of a breccia made up in some places of Ammonites, Tere- bratule, etc., in such excellent preservation and so different to what is found in all other neighbouring layers, that it is impossible to admit the likelihood of a mixture of fossils. I published in the fifth number of ‘Verhandlungen der Geologischen Reichsanstalt,’ Vienna, 1869, a list of the fossils which are found in the breccia, from which it is apparent that by the side of a great number of forms peculiar to the stage is found one Neocomian, and two or three Jurassic species ; two forms of a Cretaceous type, eleven species of a Jurassic type ; eight forms are common to the breccia and to the Stramberg lime- stone, which immediately overlies it at Kiow in Hungary, and on the frontiers of Poland. “The fauna of Stramberg is now so well known that it is sufti- 304 T. Davidson—Notes on Continental Geology. cient to mention that the Cephalopoda of this locality approach a little nearer to the Neocomien type, while the Echinoderms and the Brachiopoda have somewhat more of a Jurassic aspect; nevertheless their resemblance to the former or the latter fauna is very slight. Elsewhere the fauna’ of Stramberg is very intimately allied to that of the breccia of the Klippenkalk by a number of identical or analogous species; so much so, indeed, that these beds ought, in my opinion, to be united into a single stage, namely, the Tithonic, of which they represent two horizons. The Stramberg limestone corresponds exactly to the limestones with Ter. janitor of the Porte- de-France, the breccia of the Klippenkalk to the white limestone with Tereb. diphya of the centre of Italy, while the upper portion of the ‘Ammonitico Rosso’ of the Southern Tyrol represents those two horizons in a single bed. Carpathians. | Southern Tyrol. Central Italy. Porte-de- France Limestone of Stramberg | ( Limestone with | Upper portion of Ter. Janitor. < the “Ammonitico — Rosso.” White Limestone | Bed with large Breccia of Klippenkalk. L with Zereb. diphya.| Aptychus? “Tn regard to the classification of the formations in question, MM. Lory and Pictet have adopted the opinion expounded by Oppel, who correlates them with the freshwater deposits of the north-west of Europe, on the limits of the Cretaceous and Jurassic formations. It, therefore, appears to me a question of secondary importance, and more or less formal, whether the beds in question are placed in the Jura or the Chalk, stating at the same time that the Tithonic beds in the districts I have been able to visit, namely, in the Southern Tyrol and Carpathians, are in closer connection with the Jurassic than with the Neocomien deposits. I only insist, however, on the re-union of these formations in a stage independent alike of the Kimmerigian and the Neocomien, for which Oppel pro- posed four years ago the name of Tithonie stage.” Since the publication of the June number of the GuroLocicaL Magazine, Dr. U. Schloenbach, of the Imperial Museum of Vienna, has kindly transmitted to me the following table and remarks, with a request that they should be added to my Continental notes. “« Allow me to address to you, on this occasion, a few remarks on the upper part of the Cretaceous formation (Pliner of Prof. Gimbel) in the countries where I have had the opportunity of studying it myself—namely, the ancient province of Maine in Western France, Northern France, Northwest Germany, Saxony, and Bohemia, and the Northern and Western Calcareous zones of the Eastern Alps in Austria. In the accompanying table (see p- 306) I have attempted to exhibit my views on the parallelism of the strata in those regions. In this table I have omitted our Austrian Alps, as my opinion on the different strata developed T. Davidson—Notes on Continental Geology. 305 therein is not yet quite fixed; as for the Gosau beds representing this formation in the northern zone, they seem to include, in my opinion, all the strata indicated in the table upwards, from the zone of Inoceramus Brongniarti, and Am. Woollgari, and possibly the zone of Inoceramus labiatus also, while the Cénomanian stage does not seem to be represented at all. This view differs somewhat from any of those hitherto issued, principally from that of Prof. Zittel, who regards the Gosau formation as representing only the “ Htage Provencien” of M. Coquand, but the Stratigraphical and Palzonto- logical researches I shall publish by-and-bye, induce me to dis- tinguish a series of strata lithologically and paleontologically different. In the southern zone of our Calcareous Alps in Tyrol and Venetia, the development of the Upper Cretaceous formation is more simple and uniform, principally so in the Western portions of this country, to which I have necessarily confined my researches. The so-called ‘‘Scaglia” there overlying the Neocomian limestone, called “Biancone,” is the only representative of the Upper Cre- taceous series in this region, while, farther eastward, it acquires a greater thickness and a more varied development by the inter- calation of beds very rich in Rudista. The Scaglia of Southern Tyrol consists of alternating beds of Grey and Red Chalk-marl and Calcareous marl, containing but few fossils. Besides which, these fossils seem to be the same throughout the whole thickness of the series, so that it is scarcely possible to make any paleontological distinction within it. The fossils are generally in so bad a state of preservation, and the number of species as yet known is so small, that it is rather difficult to form, or obtain a precise opinion on the age of the Scaglia ; yet the general character of its fauna, consisting of Echinoidea, Rudista, and Inocerami, bears a close resemblance to that of the “Oberer Planer” in North-western Germany, i.e., with the zones of Inoceramus labiatus, Inoc. Brongniarti, Micraster brevi- porus, and Micraster cor-testudinarium. “TJ must add some further remarks on the accompanying table. The first column contains a general classification in which all the strata developed in the different regions indicated in the following columns may easily be arranged. The second and third columns are intended to give an idea of my views concerning the parallelism of the principal divisions made by M. Triger in the Department de la Sarthe, with the general classification, and also with that of M. Hébert for the Paris Basin. You will find that in this I agree in most points with M. Hébert, and it would be too long to point out and discuss here the slight differences existing between our views. As for the fourth column, the series there enumerated, and their relative horizon as compared with those of the foregoing column, have been discussed in several publications. For the 1 Ueber die Parallelen zu d. Oberer Planer Norddeutschlands und den Gleich- alserigen Bildungen im Seine-Becken (Neues Jahrb. fiir Min. 1866, p. 309). Krit Studien iiber Kreide Brachiopoden (Paleontographica, xiii. 6). Ueber die Brachio- poden Norddeutscher Cénomanbildungen (Geogn. Pal. Beitrage, i. 8). Ueber die Galeriten Schichten der Nordd, Kreide (Sitzber. Akad. d. Wiss., Wien, lvii. 1). VOL. VI.—NO. LXI. 20 30G *(ermoyog) zywrsuoyounyy tou ‘oped pue zmIMoxOsop] 4B ‘pv9)NS 091780 yy Avpo puw ‘UIpHayy *Z}1S80 3 “ZT -dog, ((Auoxvg) uepserq tvou ‘me Yory9 qe “0,0 ‘ppihrit puyngnigalay “snsou -ads snphipuody “zp sogydvas T}tM *(erpeqdyse AA ) aployueTOY pue yooqre[dy jo puesueo.t4) {‘mqaeyT oyy Ul Sanquijpeny pue ypeys -U18 NT‘ (LOAOUL FT) IETS ‘10}41SZ[ Rg ‘Ue.SUT 10 F] ‘("Yy4se AA )MOZoquone yy 4e'sn.Lodraag Jajsplouyy pue wun sazydnog ‘snsou ‘(qyeyroueld Jeteqa) euoyseur, Aprey|-2ds snphipuody yrs ‘({reuL yey) reuer,g “eluULetog Ul “ZyIqnpred pues meIssIUQy punorw pus ZAVIGUOTOUN TAL ivou ‘qooqoud ‘ediey ‘wyog ‘Z71u -pney Ivo “Z{IM0g ‘zqIosury ‘WOSOTL | qe ‘wnwnurpnzsar-L00 “Lop Pues bavUny) SnUpLav0Uy *(eImoeTog) ne[z -unqsuny, tou ‘yeuto[yO ‘edtery Wostut *(10A0 -Uv]]) ZL] OY} UI IeTSOH puB 104yLSZ[Vg ‘QyB[ULE}G JO ‘wnwmuUrpnjsaz—L00 LasmLoujy ‘geqrynovg yim Avpo pur [Avp|pue waranp snwmi200uy YIM ‘(AV) Louee] ‘ZAIVTT OY} Ul ‘sinqueyuvlg pues Sinqurijpeny Jo euojspueg Ayavyy : (teA0 -UvyT) qesoy pues ueyNng ‘Uoepiyer) jo ey, weeyny, ‘(aoaouvy,) SanqounT jo ununbuv- 100 *Loupy pue vhaoiayy “79g YY meq §(‘ydysoq) areyep jo ‘etjedeqo -yog ‘ziqne ‘z4tqtetyy Jo Jopeng) todd y|-v[-xty pue s[eeA JO SpuUvs pUB OUOJSpuRs *SUTJUR AA eo *VINTHOG AONV ANOXV§ “A *‘(msung) [oygnques[OAA Iveu ‘opueMorg 4v pur ‘(toaouvy]) ypoyoermyoR pus uey[qVv ‘(‘TdyseA\) ployseog 72 “wunjna =109 LagsvfQ pue snzoipond “jag YIM [Le *(qeaouvy,) Sinqouny pus woyyy ‘ppeqoormyog 48 ‘wpodoryo -vig AUBUL PUB snyDUOLONU “JAT FIA FeO ‘(IOAOULTT) VEIT V pus wWoepley Woy SHLa00INaFT PUB SNIDUOLONU “JIT TILA [LET ‘eI[VYdyse A Ul ‘oestequineg pue qs1oYMepue Jo speq-Ysly ‘Speq-Fyorysev [iy "ANVNUAY LSAM-HLYON “AT eee ‘HovaNaoTHOS ‘Q ‘uq Aq poarderd ‘(THEWOD ‘W JO MANY Id) VLVULS SOOMOVLEUO UdddO HAL FO WTaVL "ZO NT -zurjg dep ‘nvew1y ‘guopeyQ 72 ‘snupwadsong “WwW JO BUOZ, *0}0 (euuo x jneomry dures -OT Ye ‘wnwnupnzseg 09 Jaysnuoiyy JO ouo?Z, *STOIUL VW pur odderg 4v ‘wnunb —Un-09 “LOU FIM euOZ, *(oum0 X ) sueg pue suoyy ye ‘sn2 -nupond "jag YALA ouoz, *(uopnoyt 50) “U0LIni “jag YYIM Sud, *saqunovg YIM [LB]L *oUOSOUUT O1FL[OST ‘A1OQ9H “TT JO “FIS8¥IO FONVU] NUAHLAON TIT “snypound, srphp -uodg pure siiwynoiinn OLISC ULM ,,“USTPoT [EA ep eIVIg,, 10 snqvo -undy srphpuody jo euoz, “snsou ads snphpuody jo ouo7, (d) (¢) SaryUeM “BUTYL AA *SUTYUe A “IOSTLY, “TL JO “FISSBIO *(ANIVI) AONVYT NUALSEM “TT *snsou -ids snpipuody PUR rzprmay sage -ydnoy ‘sniodia -alq “loupyy JO eu0Z “Vdavangy *o0ur R wnrvourypngsay 409 “OUT JO 907 =nu “79g JO ou07, “I ae} a Db: 4 | i ‘ununb o -up-109 wagspio “yy ~pue who -layy "Jag JO ouo7, * Q q 5 td ‘sngoiponb YG jo euog *sngvUo.Lo Ne “SUTFUB AA *(ermoyog ) ‘zyranoy ‘zytuoury, ‘zqn10g ‘(Auoxeg) euoyqosreparyy 9e ‘sjuejd pus S[[SYS LoyVMYySerty YILA PIvVU pus euo}s ~puBg ‘S[Issof JNOy}IA soyeretmopsu0g ¢ *(eItmeyog ur) ‘ojo ‘Sxequeyqn yy ‘ur[Oy JO s[rewmt snorejtypIssoF £ zzTM -OYQo'T ‘zytuseMopeyy pure ueyAIOy, JO ansipny YIM ‘semoyseurT Pues sozyeIeulojsuoy ‘ (evrureyoq) UISSOTZ, puw uss{y, Jo euoyspueg d SNOLOTTISSOT ! 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Davidson— On the Geology of Nice. fifth column I refer to my paper, ‘Uber die Brachiopoden der Bohmischen Kreide” (Jahrb. d. k. k. Geol. Reichsanstalt, 1863, xviil. 1), and to my reports published during the summer of 1868, in the “ Verhandlungen d. k. k. Geol. Reichsanstalt, where I have explained in detail my views on the Cretaceous formation in Saxony and Bohemia.” 2.—Notes on the Geology and Paleontology of the Neighbourhood of Nice. Nice, and its surrounding mountains, offer to the Geological as well as to the Paleeontological inquirer, subjects of considerable interest, I have, therefore, availed myself of a winter’s residence in the South of France to study some of their most important features. I soon learned that the fashionable and much frequented town of Nice,’ possessed but two or three local Geologists, and indeed I found that M. Ph. Gény, Inspector of the public promenades of the town, was the only individual who devoted his serious attention to the subject upon which I am writing. M. Gény, who from his varied acquirements in Natural History, Geology, Paleontology, Botany, and Archzeology, has been locally styled the “Buffon of Nice,” alone possesses in the town a really scientifically classed and nearly complete local collection, which he shows with the utmost courtesy to all those who desire to become acquainted with the products of the district. Besides conducting me to the most im- portant localities, he afforded me much of the information I propose to give here. To the Chevalier Perez I am likewise indebted for much politeness and information. He had, in former years, paid considerable atten- tion to the geology of the district, with which he is well acquainted. Having been desirous of leaving Nice at the period of the annexa- tion to France, he liberally presented his geological collection to the small but interesting museum? of the town. Somewhat prior to the labours of the two gentlemen above named, the district had in a measure been explored by the well-known chemist of the town, Antonio Risso, and the result of his labours (now much out of date) were published in his work “Histoire Naturelle de l’HKurope Meéridionale,” and at the Villa Risso may be seen many interesting local fossils, assembled by the last-named naturalist. When we have stated that M. Cameré, one of the engineers of the town, occasionally collects fossils, we shall have enumerated the geo- logical resources of the place; for although there exists a large public library, scientific works are the greatest rarities therein, and 1 Doctors sometimes most injudiciously send their exhausted patients to Nice, without considering whether they can stand the diurnal variations in temperature, discomforts, cost, and very indifferent food. ; 2 This museum was founded by A. J. B. Vérany, a distinguished naturalist. It contains, among other things, a good collection of recent shells, and a remarkable series of models of all the mushrooms found in the Department of the Maritime Alps. These have been made at a considerable cost by M. Brala, the present Director of the Museum. There exists also a good collection of Butterflies, presented by M. Haas, a zealous local Naturalist. T. Davidson—On the Geology of Nice. 309 without books of reference no work can be satisfactorily achieved now-a-days. Although the district surrounding Nice is replete with subjects of considerable interest, I am sorry to say that there does not appear to be any satisfactory map, or any complete work on the Geology and Paleontology of the Department. In several general Geo- logical maps the district has been vaguely included; thus we may name those of Pareto, Sismonda, De la Beche, etc., but these are mere sketches, and upon by far too small a scale for useful purposes ; indeed, it would require much time, labour and expense to map out correctly so disturbed and mountainous a region as the one under notice. The attempt has been made by M. Gény, but his map has not been hitherto published. Many geologists have in succession visited the neighbourhood of Nice, and perhaps the best memoirs or sketches upon the subject are those by Sir H. T. de la Beche and Dr. Buckland, published in the Transactions of the Geological Society of London (vol. iii. 2nd ser., 1829) ; a paper, by Faujas St. Fond, in the tenth volume of the Annales du Musée; one by Allen in the seventh volume of the Tranactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ; and another by Sir R. Murchison ; a memoir “ On the limits of the Cretaceous formation in the Maritime Alps” by Perez (Atti della ottava reunione degli Scienziati Italiani, 1847); Bellardi’s excellent monograph of the Lower Tertiary Fauna of Pallarea, near Nice; and several articles contributed by M. Gény to the volume of the Congrés Scientifique of France at Nice in 1867, are, I believe, among the principal frag- mentary records which may be consulted on the geology of the district. The chief object of my own examination of a small portion thereof was to acquire a superficial knowledge of its general geo- logy, and to study in particular those Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Jurassic formations containing Brachiopoda; but prior to detailing my personal observations, I will lay before the reader an unpublished section given to me by M. Gény during my residence in Nice, in which will be found in a condensed shape the results of the many years he has devoted to the exploration of the department in which the town of Nice is situated. General Summary of a Geological Section of the Department of the Maritime Alps, by M. Ph. Gény. 1869. In the department of the Maritime Alps there are representatives of the larger number of known geological formations. We distin- guish first of all several systems of upheaved mountains, accom- panied by subsidences, depressions, and enormous faults, then the central points of our Alps (forming the granitic nucleus of our Alpine system) attains an altitude of 8118 metres above the level of the sea. The culminating point, termed Mount Gélas, has its principal axis from north-west to north-east, from which converge a multitude of minor ranges, of which the longest stretches to the south and to- wards the sea (those of the north constituting a portion of Piedmont), 310 T. Davidson—On the Geology of Nice. naturally dipping in an opposite direction to that of the principal axis ; consequently we see nearly all the lower formations in suc- cession tilted up and set back to back almost continuously against the central axis, but generally in a more or less metamorphic condi- dition at, or near, their point of contact with the unstratified or igneous mass. The quartzose derivatives which border the granito-gneissic crys- talline nucleus, are sienites, eurites, porphyries, serpentines, schists, etc ; the Greywacke and Saliferous schists lie close to these first deri- vatives. The Carboniferous formation follows a parallel direction to that of the great axis of upheaval of the centre of the basin of the Maritime Alps, and forms a band in the shape of a bird’s tongue, which, extending from north-east to south-west, denotes the con- tinuity of this formation by Draguignan to the Hsterel. This band is margined by different stages both of the lower and middle Jurassic series. Now, as the metamorphic action has affected all the rocks in its immediate contiguity, we find the Liassic stages have, in part, been converted into marble, while the Oolitic, Oxfordian, Coralline, and Portlandian stages are often transformed into Sulphate of lime, forming at the same time minor centres of chemical action, of which the neighbouring parts are frequently converted into Dolomite, and where the magnesian influence has often reduced them into a. coarse sand, causing frequent doubt to arise in reference to their age: added to all this, their poverty in fossils deprives us of that which might otherwise have afforded a means of identification. The Cretaceous strata attain a thickness nearly equal to that of the Jurassic, and being in close approximation to the posterior portion of the centre of our Alpine basin, have in turn undergone enormous convulsions,—as may be perceived from the almost vertical inclination of the beds and their numerous flexures. These con- tortions and contractions are accompanied by numerous faults, frac- tures, and overthrows in the stratification ; thus causing, at times, considerable uncertainty as to the age of the deposits, or where the line of contact with the lower or upper one commences or terminates. Some of the stages are rich in organic remains. The Tertiary deposits, which spread over nearly the whole of our Alpine crests, terminate the Department at its four angles, and the extremities of these outliers are lost beneath the Mediterranean. Others do not extend higher than the middle of the Alpine basin, and the average thickness of the strata nearly equals that of the larger number of the Cretaceous ones. The rocks of this period in the district surrounding Nice have undergone no modification by the action of former chemical influences, but in other portions of the Department certain changes have taken place. The lower and upper Tertiary strata are very rich in fossils, though very much out of shape (see the much esteemed works of Messrs. Deshayes, E. Sismonda, and L. Bellardi, of which the detailed catalogue of the Nummulitic fossils from the ancient county of Nice is sufficiently recent, 1853). T. Davidson—On the Geology of Nice. 311 The upper stages are very rich in Gasteropoda and Rhizopoda, but in the neighbourhood of Nice they are rarely found lying conformably on the lower beds, but are more often seen resting unconformably on the Cretaceous and Jurassic strata that le beneath. The stages or deposits referable to the present period (Quaternary) generally repose on Lower Tertiary deposits, as well as upon the most ancient of those belonging to the Upper Jurassic period. I have likewise been able to notice in some of these deposits along our shores, that deep sea beds have been frequently thrown up, together with the mollusca they contained, the thickness of their shells much exceeding that of the same species inhabiting the Mediterranean at the present day. SECTION. J. ConTEMPORANEOUS PERiIop (QUATERNARY). a. Actuat on Recent; alluvium and concretions. Upper bed: land increased by sea shore, fluviatile and marine deposits, limestones, marls, ete. ; hori- zontal; thickness, five metres; discordance with the Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Jurassic formations. Heterogeneous composition. Recent fauna and flora. In many places Glacial drift; Breccias. Lower bed: arenaceous ~ and pebbly deposits. Inclin. 15 deg. N.S.; two metres; discordance with the Coralline Limestones: heterogeneous deposit, fragments of undeter- minable shells. Loc. Mt. Boron, St. Philippe, St. Hospice, near Nice. b, AnTRopo-LirHosten, Gény—Stone age. Upper bed: deposit of Osseous breccia in caves. Inc. 17 deg. N.S.; one metre fifty centimetres in thick- ness; discordance with the dolomites. Heterogeneous composition. @. with cut flints; 4. with polished flints and serpentine. Loc. Antibes, Castle of Nice, Menton, etc. —— Marine diluvian; lower bed, deposit of white marls with sub-fossils, situated at from three to five metres above the level of the sea. Inc. 20 deg. N.E. ; thick. 70 centimetres. Discordance with the deposits of Parisian matl; bed composed of agglutinations of fragments of shells, white limestones and siliceous sands. Recent fauna, deep sea fauna. Loc. Beaulieu and Monaco, IJ. Tertiary Perron. a. SUBAPENNINE or Older Pliocene (Lyell). Upper bed sandy and pebbly; conglomerate, etc. Inc. from 20 to 30 deg. N.W.; 60 metres. Discord- ance with the Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Jurassic. Contains several rolled and transported fossils—TZurritella communis, Natica glaucina, etc. Loc. Hills of Bellet, Magnan. — Median bed—Sands and yellowish plastic clays, ete. Inc. 20 to 30 deg. N.W.; 10 metres. Discordance as above; tolerably rich in Gasteropoda and Bryozoa, Bulla spirata, Vermetus articulatus, D’Orb. Loc. St. Jean, St. Etienne, Trinité, Nice. — Lower bed—Bluish plastic marls, ete. Inc. 20 to 30 N.W.; 30 metres. Dis- cordance as above. Less rich in Gasteropoda and Bryozoa. Buccinum maculosum, D’Orb. Loc. Mantega and Fontaine du Temple, near Nice. b, Faxunten, D’Orb. (Molasse), Upper Miocene (Lyell) ; ferruginous arena- ceous marls, ete. Inc. 25 to 35 deg. E.; 15 metres. Discordance with the Lower Tertiaries; poor in fossils. Rhyne. bipartita, Ter. pedemontana. Loc. Baumettes and Lazaret, Nice. — Lower bed—Ferruginous, tuffaceous marls, etc. Inc. as above; 50 metres. Discordance as above ; few fossils; undeterminable Zoophytes. Loc. Fossan, Bordighéra, etc. c. Tonerten, D'Orb. Lower Miocene (Lyell). Upper bed, bay coloured sand- stones and grits, etc. Inc. 30 to 40 deg. E.; 20 metres. Discordance as above; poor in Gasteropoda, but rich in Foraminifera. Clypeaster truncata, Agas. scutella. Loc. Calvaire, 4 Vence, Fossan at Menton. 312 T. Davidson—On the Geology of Nice. TERTIARY PER1IOD—continued. — Lower bed—Fine blackish grey anthracitic sandstones, etc. Inc. 30 to 40 deg. E. Discordance as above. Some branched Zoophytes, undetermin- able. Loc. Garavent, east of Menton. d. SuEssonien, D’Orb. Plastic Clay (Mantell) upper bed. Plastic Parisian Marls or London Clay. Inc. 40 to 50 deg. E. Discordance with Cre- taceous; not rich in fossils. ARhizopodes, Goniaster, Orbitoides radians, D’Arch. Loe, Villeneuve and Villafranche, near Nice. — Middle bed—Arenaceous sandstone (Mantell); earthy Parisian limestone, crumbling when exposed to the air, etc. Inc. from 40 to 50 deg. E.; 7 metres thick. Discordance as above; tolerably rich in fossils. Turritella imbricata, Lamk. Natica patula. Loc. Cagnes, Pallarée, Menton. — Lower bed—Kocene (Lyell). Hydraulic limestone. Inc. 45 to 55 deg. S.E. ; 15 metres thick. Discordance with the Cretaceous and Jurassic. Very rich in fossils. Gasteropoda. Nautilus regalis, Fusus Noe, Ostrea flabellula. Loe. Beaulieu, Jarrier, Braus, Mortola. III. Creracrovus Pertiop. Epoch. B. Danten Desor wanting. Sénonten, D’Orb. Argillaceous limestone. Upper bed—White marls and grey limestone, friable when exposed to the atmosphere. Inc. 50 to 60 deg. N.E.; 150 metres. Discordance with the Jurassic (throughout the whole Cretaceous period); poor in fossils. Nautilus simplex, Sow. Scaphites compressus. Loc. Mt. Gros, Mt. Maccaron, St. Cécile. — Lower bed—Compact marly limestone, of a greyish colour, crumbling on ex- posure. Inclination and thickness as above; poor in fossils. Micraster cor- anguinum, Ananchytes ovata. loc. Mt. Gros, Mt. Rinardiére Cantaron. Turonien, D’Orb. Lower Chalk-marl (Sow.) Upper bed—Greyish marly limestone (Tuffau) with few siliceous grains. Inc. 60 to 70 deg. N.E.; 70 metres thick; not rich in fossils. Ammonites peramplus, A. Woolgari. Loc. Mt. Papaton, Mt. St. Catherine at Drap. — Lower bed—Marls with numerous siliceous grains, either compact or friable. Inc. 60 to 70 deg. N.E.; 230 metres thick; few fossils. Am. deverianus. Janira quadri-costata. Loc. Mt. Gros, l Abbadie, Ese, Drap, etc. CéNnomaANIEN, D’Orb, Chalk-marl (Mantell). Upper bed—Grey bay coloured plastic clay, with a small quantity of alumina, etc. Inc. 70 to 80 deg. N.E.; 2 metres thick; poor in fossils. Nautilus elegans, Am. Rhothomagensis. Loc. Mt. Gros, Col de Papaton, ete. — Median bed—Lead grey, compact schists with cleavage lines, breaking up into small parallelepedes. Inc. 70 to 80 N.E.; 10 metres; fossils few. Am. varians, A. falcatus, Scaphites equalis. Loc. Varnée, Vienne, Blausasque. — Lower bed—Whitish, compact marly limestone, veined with white spar. Inc. from 80 to 90 deg. N.E.; 100 metres thick; here Ammonites attain their largest dimensions. Turrilites and Inoceramus. Discoidea cylindrica, D. tubuculus. Loc. Mt. Gros, Drap, Mt. Rinardiére. Azien, D’Orb. Prriop A. Gault. Upper bed—Green siliceous marls (Glau- conite), very friable. Inc. from 80 to 90 deg. N.W.; 30 centimetres thick ; very rich in fossils. Ceratites Seneguiert, Am. deluct. Loc. Ese, Rayet, Papaton, etc. — Lower bed—Compact grey marly limestones with green siliceous grains of iron (Glauconite). Inc. 40 to 50 deg. N.W.; 80 centimetres thick; rich in fossils. Amm. mammillatus, A. cristatus, Turr. catenatus. Loc. Laghet, Papaton, Ese, Rayet. Aptien, D’Orb. Speeton Clay (Phillips). Upper bed—Greenish grey siliceous friable marls, containing very little lime. Inc. 45 to 55 deg. N.W.; 10 cent. in thickness; not very rich in fossils. Fucoids. Belemnites semi- canaliculatus, Am. Matheroni. Loc. Saurée, Mt. Gros, Turbie, etc. Lower bed—Compact, green, and blackish siliceous marly limestone. Ine. as above ; 40 centimetres in thickness; poor in fossils. Am. Guettardi, Toxaster complanatus. Loc. St. Blaise, Revel, Baus. T. Davidson—On the Geology of Nice. 313 Cretacnous Prrrop—continued. Ureonien, D'Orb. Speeton Clay, Judd (Pars). Lower Green Sand (Fitton). Upper bed—Marly limestones (Glauconie), not very siliceous, and breaking up by exposure to air. Inc. from 45 to 55 deg. N.W.; 90 cent. thick. Fauna rick here and there, but the fossils generally attaining small dimen- sions. Belemnites, Ammonites, Gasteropoda, Brachiopoda, etc. Loc. Drap, Saurée, Ese, Mt. Chauve, etc. — Lower bed—Compact spathose marly limestones, with green siliceous grains. Inc. as above; rich in deep sea fossils of large dimensions. Ancyloceras, Hamites. Nautilus varulensis, ete. Loc. Revel, Ese, Rap, Rayet, etc. Neocomiren, Thurm. Upper bed—Lead grey, marly limestone, neither siliceous nor oolitic. Inc. 50 to 60 deg. N.W.; 60 cent.; very rich in fossils, but often confounded with those from the Cénomanian Stage of Nice on account of their colour. Hamulina Emerici, D’Orb. Tereb. diphyoides. District near Grasse, Mount Cheiron. Lower bed—Bay coloured marly limestone, with ferruginous oolitic structure (Fauvonie). Inc. as above; 70 cent. thick. Very rich in fine fossils, but always found in depressions or faults. Nautilus Neocomiensis, Am. Neoco- miensis. Loc. Mount Chauve, Mount Leuse, Drap, Turbie. WEALDEN. Weald Clay wanting. IV. Jurassic Pxrtop. PortnanDien, D’Orb. Portland stone and sand. Upper bed—Earthy grey compact limestone. Inc. 70 to 80 deg. N.; 150 metres thick. Few fossils. Nerinea terebra, Ziet. Pentacrinus. Loc. Sarratan, Drap, Turbie. Kimmeriperen, D’Orb. Kimmeridge Clay, Fitton, wanting. Coratuien, Thurm. Coral-rag (Phil.). Upper bed—Milky white limestone, with fine grains (strong lime). Inc. 65 to 85 deg. N.; 20 metres thick. Rich in Zoophytes (corals). Diceras arietina, D. Mose, etc. Loc. Mount Chauve, Lazaret of Nice, Cap Martin. Middle bed— Grey, sulphated, amorphous, masses, red and black in colour. Cidaris coronata, Goldf. Ostrea gregaria, Sow. Loc. Cimies, near Nice, Col of Villefranche, etc. Lower bed—Dolomitic mass, white, grey, red in colour, saccaroid. Acrocidaris tuberosa, Ag. ; Astarte elegans. Loc. Mount Vinaigrie, St. Pons, Baus-Rous. Oxrorpien, D’Orb. Oxford Clay (Phil.). Upper bed—Compact and nodular, marly limestones. Inc. 70 to 90 deg. N.; 50 metres thick. Tolerably rich in Ammonites, Am. tortisulcatus, A. tatricus, A. perarmatus. Loc. Caire of Mount Causimagne. : — Middle bed—Compact limestone, with siliceous nodules. Inc. 70 to 90 deg. N.; 80 metres thick; poor in fossils. Loc. Valley of St. André, Mount Leuse, near Nice. — Lower bed—Metamorphic limestone, Gypsum and dolomite. Loc. Mount Ferrillon, Mount Agel, etc. Cattovien, D’Orb. =Kelloway-rock (Phil.). Upper bed—Compact limestone, without Oolites. Inc. from 75 to 95 deg. N. Amm. athleta, Sow. Loe. Valley of St. André, near Nice. — Lower bed—Compact, slightly Oolitic limestone. Inc. as above; 1 metre. 50 cent. thick. Loc. Caire of Mount Chauve, near Nice. BatHoniEn, D’Omalius, Great Oolite (Phil.) Upper bed—Compact limestone, large oolitic grains, etc. Inc. 75 to 95 deg. N.; 20 metres thick ; poor in fossils. Loc. Grasse, La Marbriére. Basocien, D’Orb. Grey Limestone (Phil.) Upper bed—Ferruginous Oolitic limestone, etc. Inc. as above. Loc. Mouans-Sartoux, Tignet, Mongins. Toarcien, D'Orb. Upper Lias Shale (part, Phil.) Upper bed—Calcareous marls, crumbling by exposure to the atmosphere, etc. Inc. 70 to 80 deg. N. ; 8 metres thick. Amm. Holandrei, D’Orb. Loc. Col de Monale, St. Dalmas le plan. — Lower bed—Blue limestone, Dolomite or Gypsum; rock well crystallized. Am. annulatus, Sow. Loc. Cime de Coss, Col.de Monnier. 314. 7. P. Barkas—On Ctenodus from the Coal-shale. Jurassic Pertop—continued. Lrasten, D’Orb. Marlstone (Phil.) Upper bed—Blackish compact limestone Inc. from 75 to 90 deg. N.; 100 metres thick; poor in fossils. Amm. lunula, Zeit. Loc. Mount Monnier, Fontan. Lower bed—Metamorphic limestone, black marble, with white sparry veins, Coprolites. Loc. Chaudan, Mount Monnier. SrnEmuRiIEN, D’Orb. Lower Lias Shale (Phil.) Upper bed—Lead grey coloured limestone, breaking up by exposure to the atmosphere. Inc. 80 to 90 deg. N. ; 30 metres thick; poor in fossils. Ostrea arcuata, Brong. Loc. Mount Vanque, Mount Monnier. _ V. Triassic PzEriop. Saurrerien, D’Orb. Red Marl (Murchison). Upper bed—Salt Springs and Saline Alluyiums. Loc. Amen, Sausse, Roquette, Tignet. Concuyiien, Brong. New Red Sandstone (Murch.). Upper bed—Compact Limestone, breaking up by exposure to atmosphere. Loc. Mandelieu, Pégomas, Iles Lérins. VI. Patmwozoic Prriop. Prermien, Murch. and Vern. Lower Red Sandstone. Upper bed—Violet coloured fine Sandstone of the Vosges, ete. Petrosiliceous rock, without fossils. Loc. Belvedere, Val de Spaillars. CaRBONIFERIEN, D’Orb. Carboniferous Limestone. Upper bed—Red tinted compact Limestone in amorphous masses. Loc. Summit of Mount Bégo. — Middle bed—Red and gray slaty schists withiron. Loc. Boquebilliere Fontan. — Lower bed—Limestone with quartzose conglomerate, etc. Loc. Foot of Mount Bégo. DrEvonien, Murch. Old Red Sandstone (Murch.). Upper bed—Fetid grey limestone or greywacke. Loc. Mount Raus, Saorge Breil. Stturtan. Upper Silurian(Murch.). Black friable Marly Schists. Loe. Col. Formosa, foot of Mount Abyme. VII. Pertopr Azorqur StTratiFrr&E, D’Orb. Taucires, D’Orb. Tale plastique. Upper bed—Aluminous Talc, etc. No fossils. Loc. Col. de la Querce, baisse de St. Véran. — Lower bed—Calcareous Tale, siliceous, compact, antimonius (serpentines, chloromélanite). Loc. Vallauris, Biot, St. Anne, Riofredo. Micacitzs, D’Orb. Mica schists, Syenites in large masses, in thin layers or schistose. Mica, black felspar with siliceous paste. Loc. Col long, St. Anne, Cannes. Geiss, Bréchiole, red porphyry. Upper bed—Compact red porphyry: erystal- line rocks. Loc. Croisette, Cannes, Esterel. — Middle bed—Coarse Gneiss, or Gneiss with large grains, crumbling by ex- posure to the atmosphere ; white quartz. Black felspar. Loc. Mount Malcontourn. -— Lower bed—Fine Gneiss; or Gneiss with fine grains, white or with black spots. Loe. Salése, Trinité, Borréon. Azoic Preriop. Rocks not stratified. White snow-coloured Granite, with fine grains, spotted by small dots of black felspar. Alpine type. Loc. Mount Gelas, St. Martin Lantosque. (To be continued). III.—Norers on Various Srecirs oF Cravopus FOUND IN THE Low Matn Coat-sHatz, Newsnam Coiiizry, NoRTHUMBERLAND. By T. P. Banas, F.G.S. (PLATE IX., Figs, 1 and 2). OR many years the various Coal-shales and other strata asso- ciated with the Coal-seams of Northumberland have been known to be rich in the remains of Plants, and the majority of the specimens which are illustrated in Lindley and Hutton’s elaborate Geol. Mag 1869 fol. VI. Pl. IX 7. “4 .f i a 5 Be | j : ; ' 1 4 F mn 7 ir - il a i x ‘ G.R.DeWilde del et hth. Mandibular and W.w : Palatal Teeth of Ctenodus. Natural Stze Coal Measures | SS ee ee ee ee hl T. P. Barkas—On Ctenodus from the Coal-shale. 315 work on the Flora of the Coal-period were obtained from collieries in Northumberland and the adjoining county, Durham. It is only within the last few years that close attention has been directed to the investigation of the fauna of the Northumberland coal-fields. The first systematic investigator of the fauna of the Carboniferous period in this locality was Mr. Thomas Atthey, late of Cramling- ton, now of Gosforth; and within the last few years Messrs. Kirby, Sim, Taylor, and Crags have each secured good collections of the Carboniferous fossils. Among the most numerous animal-remains discovered in the Northumberland Coal-measures are those of various species of fishes of the genus Ctenodus, of which as yet little is positively known, further than that their oral armature was of a very peculiar descrip- tion, and that their opercular plates and head-bones to a great extent resemble those of Dipterus, as described by Hugh Miller. As the species to which I am about to refer have been previously described in the “Annals of Natural History” by Messrs. Hancock and Atthey, but have not been figured, I desire to direct the attention of the readers of the Gronoertcat Macazrne to figures of the largest and most rare of the species obtained in our Northern coal-fields. In the articles just referred to there are seven species described, six of which are new and one, Ctenodus cristatus, which is at present in the Leeds Museum, was described and figured by Prof. Agassiz in his “Poissons Fossiles,” vol. iii. p. 187, pl. 19, fig. 16. Prof. Agassiz figures four additional species in his “Monogram des Poissons Fossiles du Vieux Grés-rouge,” none of which correspond with those referred to, which have by Messrs. Hancock and Atthey been named Ctenodus tuberculatus, C. corrugatus, C. obliquus, C. ele- gans, CO. imbricatus, and C. ellipticus. Ctenodus cristatus is very rare in our coal-shale ; I have only suc- ceeded in obtaining one specimen, but that fortunately has associated with it a perfect sphenoid bone, a beautiful opercular plate, and several of the head bones of the fish. At the edge of the slab con- taining the specimen there are impressions of three tubercles, which have been made by the tubercular prominences of another tooth, but unfortunately the specimen which left the impressions has not been obtained. The tooth now in my possession is two inches long, 14 inch broad, has twelve ridges strongly marked with sharp-pointed denticles, and bears a considerable resemblance to the specimen in Agassiz “‘ Poissons Fossiles.” The opercular plate is thick and strong, and is rather deeply marked with vermicular reticulating lines, somewhat resembling those which cover the maxillary bones of Rhizodopsis, and which underlie the polished covering of the scales and bones of Megalichthys; it is 12 inch long, and 12 inch broad. I have in my possession a large, nearly circular, opercular plate, which is supposed to belong to one of the Cienodi ; itis 64 inches in its longer diameter and 6 inches in its narrower, and is about 2 of an inch thick at its thickest part. To what species this large operculum belongs I do not know; but assuming that it bears the same pro- 1 “Footprints of the Creator,” p. 58, new issue. 316 TT. P. Barkas—On Ctenodus from the Coal-shale. portion to the size of the fish that the opercular plate of C. cristatus does to the fish to which it belonged, it must have been, according to the estimation of competent paleontologists, little short of ten feet in length. I have not yet discovered any palate teeth of a size proportioned to opercular plates so large as that just described; the largest tooth I have obtained, and, I have reason to believe, the largest that has been obtained anywhere, is a palatal tooth, which, provisionally, I ascribe to Ctenodus tuberculatus, although it in some respects differs materially from the description of that species given in the “ Annals of Natural History.” In order to afford an opportunity of estimating the appearance and size of teeth of this species, figures are annexed (see Plate IX.) of a palatal (Fig. 2) and mandibular tooth (Fig 1). Fig. 2 represents a palatal tooth, and Fig. 1 a mandibular tooth (both of the natural size) with the mandible attached and in situ. The figures represent teeth belonging to the same species, and al- though they were not obtained on the same day, it is not improbable that both belonged to the same fish—their sizes, state of preser- vation and general appearance so closely resemble each other. Of the teeth of C. tuberculatus I have but three specimens, those figured and a fragment of a mandibular tooth which has eight perfect ridges, one of which I have removed for the purpose of making a section for microscopic examination. The bony texture of the tooth is ex- ceedingly hard, the base being very open and cellular; but the exterior grinding portion being dense, thick and hard, it must have offered a formidable surface for crushing food during the lifetime of the fish. This excessive hardness of the outer enamel will account for the fact that the greater proportion of the palatal and mandibular teeth that have been found are as perfect, sharp, and well- defined as though they had never been used. The cellular portions of the teeth and plates of attachment of the Ctenodi bear consider- able resemblance to the Plewrodi and Pecilodi in their microscopic structure. Of Ctenodus corrugatus I have not found a single specimen; the only remains of that species with which I am acquainted being a palatal tooth, which is preserved in the Museum of the Natural History Society of Newcastle-on-Tyne. The tooth is crossed by nine irregular, corrugated ridges, and is remarkably unlike the teeth of any other known species of Ctenodi. I have obtained about two hundred specimens of C. elegans, C. obliquus, C. imbricatus, and C. ellipticus, several of which have been presented to museums and private paleontologists. In my collection there are also three specimens with four ridges, probably new to science, and many specimens respecting which I have not yet obtained any satisfactory information. EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX.—Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1.—Mandibular tooth of Ctenodus tuberculatus. », 2.—Palatal tooth of same, both from the Coal-shale of Newsham Colliery. Additional Note on Ctenodus. 317 IV.—Notrz on a Toots or Crrvopus rupERCcULATUS IN THE British Museum. By tae Epritor. (PLATE IX. Fig. 3.) Having had our attention directed by Mr. Barkas’s paper to the Specimens of this genus in the National Collection, and com- pared Mr. Barkas’s figures with Mr. T. Atthey’s description of Ctenodus tuberculatus [see “Annals and Magazine of Natural His- tory” (4th series), Feb. 1868 (p. 83) ]; Mr. W. Davies having also kindly pointed out to us a small but very perfect palatal tooth (see Plate IX. Fig. 3), probably from the Coal-measures of Carluke (from the collection of the late Mr. Alexander Bryson of Edinburgh), closely agreeing with Mr. Atthey’s description in all its characters ; we have thought it well deserving of a place in our Plate. At the same time we may state that there is no reason why Figs. 1 and 2 on Plate IX. may not also belong to the same species as suggested by Mr. Barkas, as the teeth of this genus appear to be subject to considerable individual variation. The annexed description is taken from Mr. Atthey’s paper above referred to (op. cit. p. 83) :— “ Ctenodus tuberculatus, n. sp.—Tooth plate-like, thick, with an irregular ovate outline, 2% inches long, 1th inch broad, the narrow end posterior; the inner margin gibbous or angulated in the centre; the outer margin a little convex; the surface is slightly convex, and is furnished with twelve or thirteen deep, sharp, parallel, approximate ridges, which are strongly tuberculated towards the outer margin, and divided by narrow, deep, angulated grooves; they are arched posteriorly and enlarged towards the exterior border, but do not at all assume a radial arrangement, the anterior ridge, which is wider than the others, is reflected and prolonged for some distance beyond the outer margin; the tubercles are conical, with obtuse points; those next the external border are coated with shining enamel, and are well produced.” Besides the specimen figured (Plate IX. Fig. 3), there are in the British Museum several fine teeth belonging to this genus (probably also from Carluke), and a portion of the head and lower jaw with both the upper teeth and one lower (or mandibular tooth) in situ from the Coalfield of Airdrie. V.—Tur Lrap-Braring Districts or THE NortH or ENGrAnp.! By Prof. Morris, F.G.8., ete. HE district to which attention is directed is situated in the centre and the most elevated part of Great Britain, which is thickly inhabited by an industrial population, many of whom are occupied in the working of Lead-mines. ‘The Agent’s house of the Beaumont 1 Being the substance of a Lecture delivered before the Geologists’ Association at University College, London, by Prof. Morris, F.G.8., the President of the Asso- ciation, on June 4th, 1869. 318 Prof. Morris—Lead-mines of the North of England. Mines is at an elevation of 1400 feet above the sea, Kilhope Law rises 2206, while Crossfell (capped by Millstone Grit) attains a height of 2901 feet ; Dufton Pike 1575 feet, and the Cheviots 2676 feet, the three counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Durham meeting at Rampgill Head; Durham, Yorkshire, and Westmoreland at Cauldron Snout. This elevated district, bounded on the east by the Tyne and Wear Coal-field, and on the west by the Whitehaven field, chiefly consists of the Carboniferous rocks, and presents varied physical features. The Penine chain, of which Crossfell is a part, extends from the borders of Scotland to Derbyshire, and from its westerly trend it forms the watershed, whence on the east side fall the waters of the Tyne, Wear, and the Tees. The country presents a varied aspect ; to the east are broad low plains, succeeded by rolling hills and dreary elevated moors, followed by a more hilly and more rugged district, rising gradually on the east side of the Penine chain, and descending more steeply on the western side. These, together with the character of the rocks, influence the vegetation of the country, as shown by the “basset” of the Great Limestone, which forms almost the boundary of cultivated land and human habitations. Above it (as Mr. Sopwith observes) are more or less brown and dreary moors, and below it the hill-sides present a green surface and flowery meadows. The counties of Northumberland and Durham occupy about 2905 square miles, three quarters of which belong to the Carboniferous strata. The geological structure consists of more or less altered aqueous rocks with others of igneous origin, some anterior, some probably contemporaneous, and others posterior to the great mass of the strati- fied rocks. The aqueous include the Silurian, Devonian, Carboni- ferous, Permian, and Triassic. 'The igneous are Porphyry, and Basalt or Dolerite. The Silurian consists of schists, grits, and slates, altered and much plicated or folded, containmg very few fossils, except Graptolites ; it attains an elevation of 1700 feet. The Old Red attains an elevation of 200 to 700 feet, and is about 500 feet thick, yielding a few fishes (Holoptychius, &c.) ; it is unconformable to the beds below, and conformable to the Carboniferous, of which it forms the base. This unconformity is well seen at Siccar Point, near St. Abb’s Head, Berwickshire ; also at other places on the way to Canrobie. The Carboniferous rocks, which are about 7000 feet thick, and occupy three-quarters of the area, include the Tuedian, Scar and Yoredale series, Millstone Grit, and Coal-beds. The Tuedian consists of sandstones, shales, and limestones, sometimes magnesian, but no coal; it is about 1000 feet thick, with indications of Estuarme condi- tions, and contains remains of plants, shells, Cephalopods, some fish, but neither Crinoids nor Brachiopods. With regard to the Carboniferous Limestone, great differences are observed in tracing this deposit from South to North. It is very uniform in the South of England, North and South Wales, and in Derbyshire. It is wanting in South Stafford, where the Coal-measures overlie the Silurian rocks, but in Yorkshire a change takes place. A line drawn from Jervaux Abbey, on the Yore, Yorkshire, through Prof. Morris—Lead-mines of the North of England. 319 Kettlewell and near Malham, to Lancaster, separates, according to Phillips, the Yorkshire Limestone tract into two well-contrasted parts,—the southern type, in which the Lower Limestone Group is nearly undivided, and the Upper Limestone Group thin, and with in- terbedded shales. In the northern type the Lower Limestone Group is divided by shales, sandstones, &c.; and the Upper Limestone Group, about 1000 feet thick, is complicated, and consists of lime- stone, coal, flagstone, and shales, alternating with each other. In the more northern counties a still greater complexity is observed, as in Northumberland, Durham, and Cumberland, showing a transition to the Scottish type. Thus, north of the Tyne and the great 90 fathom dyke, the Carboniferous Limestone is divided by Mr. Tate into two series—the Lower Carbonaceous, the Upper Calcareous, the total thickness being about 2600 feet, of which 1400 are sandstone, 900 shale, 230 limestone, 70 coal; the lower, about 900 feet, extends from the Tuedian to the Dun limestone, contains little limestone (about 20ft.), but eight seams of good workable coal, of which the Scremerston and Cooper Eye coals are the best. The Upper series, 1700 feet thick, is distinguished by its workable limestone (about 200 feet thick), interstratified with sandstone, shale, and coal, some of fair quality, as the Shilbottle and Licker coals, and the Beadnell about 5 feet thick, but others poor and thin. South of the Stublick dyke the whole series, according to Forster's section, has a thickness of 2080 feet, of which 820 are siliceous, 790 argillaceous, and 470 calcareous. ‘The series has been divided into two groups, the lower, below the Whin Sill, comprises the Scar Limestone series of Phil- lips, crops out in Cumberland and Westmoreland, and includes the Melmerby limestone. The Upper, comprising the Yoredale series, includes the strata between the Whin Sill and the Fell Top limestone, of which the larger portion consists of argillaceous and siliceous sedi- ments, with about 180 feet of calcareous strata, and 4 feet only of coal. The following table of the relative thickness of the Lead Measures (Yoredale series, Phillips) from the Fell Top Limestone to the Tyne Bottom Limestone above the Whin Sill, shows the principal mineral characters and their alternation, and the predominance of mechani- cally formed over chemically and organically formed strata, arranged from W. Forster’s “Section of the Strata,” p. 165 et seq :— ARGILLACEOUS AND ARENACEOUS. CALCAREOUS. hee FEET Fel] Top Limestone... ... oc. se 42 Crow Coal, Hazle, Plate, Slate Sill, Firestone, Pattinson’s Sill ......... 330 Tattle Limestone... 0. us ce 8 Plate and impure Coal ... ... ... 68 Tumbler Bed and Great Limestone, with three flat veins ... 0 ... ... Tuft, Hazle, and Plate Beds ... ... 102 Four-fathom Limestone... ... ... 24 63 PRC ANG PLatCle rast igecs imess. tren OF. Three-yards Limestone ... 1... 2. 9 Hazleand Plate ... . 1. oe 46 Five-yards Limestone... ... . 6 Coal, Plate, and Hazel ... ... ... 30 320 Prof. Morris—Lead-mines of the North of England. ARGILLACEOUS AND ARENACEOUS. CALCAREOUS. FEET FEET Scar Limestone... ... se 00 oo 980 HaziePlatesaud=Coalmes meseemese son Cockle-shell Limestone ... ... ... 2 Hazle and Plate ... .. .. ... 102 Tyne Bottom Limestone... ... ... 24 Whetstone Bed, etc.... 500 Whin Sill. Turning now to the igneous rocks and commencing with the Whin Sill, so called from its sometimes being apparently parallel to the other strata, but really varying as much as 1000 feet when traced over the whole area; it is from a few to 200 feet thick in Tees- dale, giving a picturesque character to the scenery, and may be traced through Northumberland, into Durham, Cumberland, and Yorkshire. Its age is anterior to the fissures holding the lead, as they traverse it, and also to the Penine fault, which may be contemporaneous with the veins, the force producing the one causing the other. The whin is a dolerite of augite and felspar, with titano-ferrite. Many dykes also traverse this district. Two are comparatively well known—the Hett dyke traverses the Mountain Limestone, Millstone Grit, and Coal- measures, and the Cockfield dyke, about 70 miles in length, passing through the Mountain Limestone, Millstone Grit, and Coal-measures, and New Red Sandstone. This district is traversed by many Faults, which have had a most important influence on the physical character of the district, and to some extent upon the industrial resources. The 90 fm. dyke (east and west), Tynedale fault, and Stublick dyke, throw down the coal to the north and west—hence the Stublick, Midgeholm, Conewood, and Hartley Burn coal-fields. The Penine fault has a downthrow to the west of 3000 feet, which, with the Craven fault, so materially influences the physical features of the dis- trict traversed by them. The Burtreeford dyke is a north and south fault, crossing the lead-mine district from the Vale of Tyne to the Tees, affecting the Yoredale rocks only, and has an upthrow to the west. The Butterknowle dyke runs east and west in the county of Durham, and throws the strata down to the south. The Tees Valley fault is an upthrow of about 45 fathoms to the west. The mining country occupies about 400 square miles, and includes the district of the head waters of the Tyne, Wear, and the Tees; the chief lead district comprising Derwent, East and West Allendale, in Northumberland ; Weardale and Teesdale, in Durham; and Alston Moor in Cumberland. The geological formation is the Yoredale series, or Mountain Limestone of Phillips, while the lead veins further west in Cumberland are found in the Silurian and meta- morphosed rocks, each district having a somewhat distinct associa- tion of minerals. Discussing the question, What is a vein? it is worthy of remark that the rich or right-running veins run a little north of east and south of west, the cross-veins bear nearly north and south, besides which are quarter-point veins bearing between the two. When three veins lie near each other the two outer veins are termed north and sun veins respectively. The same vein has Prof. Morris—Lead-mines of the North of England. 821 frequently many names, according to the lease length, which is about 1200 yards. Cross veins commonly alter right veins, but not always (as at Scaleburn cross vein), and right veins are often split, and sometimes lost in cross veins. The “hade” is the inclination; the upper side is the “ hanger,” and the under side the “ledger cheek.” In Weardale the hade is south, in Allendale and Alston to the north but it varies with the nature of the strata. The throw of veins is a more or less vertical disruption of strata, but this is variable. There is, however, a connection as well known to practical men between the hade and throw of veins—if the throw is up to the south, the hade is to the north and contrariwise. Veins are of different kinds, as rake, pipe, strings, gash, flat veins. The rake vein is the most common, and occupies a fissure extending downwards a considerable distance, and may have opposite, similar, or dissimilar cheeks, and thus the vein is more or less productive, and is irregular in size. The sub- joined shows the character of the lode according to the nature of the cheeks, although this is subject to modification :— Argillaceous .,........ss0e8 Vein unproductive .......sscese Argillaceous. Gritstone cai .scSececdessas Weimer ar Race. sseseceses —_ Joun Wituram Satter, A.L.S., F.G.S. Born December 15, 1820. Died August 2, 1869.—This eminent Paleontologist, after an educa- tion at a private boarding-school, was, in April, 1835, by his own wish, bound apprentice to the well-known James De Carle Sowerby, with whom he hoped to pursue the study of Natural History (espe- cially Entomology) for which he had, from childhood, an ardent love. He has been known to pull his companions (Wm. and J. Sowerby) out of bed on a cold winter’s morning to wade through the snow after some insect, the habitat of which he had just heard of; or, at other times, knee-deep in the long hay-grass to a favourite pond after water-insects. About this time (1836-7) he wrote his first paper “On the Habits of Insects,” read at the “Camden Literary Society.” With Mr. Sowerby he was engaged in drawing and engraving the plates of “‘ Sowerby’s Mineral Conchology,” then in progress towards completion ; Supplement to “‘Sowerby’s English Botany ;” “Lou- don’s Encyclopeedia of Plants ;” ‘‘Murchison’s Silurian System.” The figures for these and many other scientific works, engraved by Mr. - Salter at this time, being all drawn from the actual specimens, he 478 Obituary—Mr. J. W. Salter. was, naturally, training his eye to that perfect knowledge of fossil forms which, in later years, rendered him so distinguished and keen a, Paleeontologist. In 1842 he visited Cambridge, where he remained for a short time to assist Professor Sedgwick in arranging the fossils of the Wood- wardian Museum. It is not uninteresting here to note, that the first and the last independent work of his life was at the Cambridge Museum in connection with Sedgwick, who continued to be to Salter, up to the last, what, indeed, he has been to so many others, a staunch and generous friend. In that and the three following years he made several short trips into Wales, and did his first field-geology under Sedgwick’s teach- ing, whom he always referred to as ‘the Master.” In 1846 he married Sally, second daughter of Mr. J. De Carle Sowerby, with whom he had learnt that art of which in the illustra- tions to so many scientific works he has left testimony showing not only the ability of the master but the aptitude of the pupil. In the same year, at the age of 26, he entered upon the Geological Survey, and for eight years served as chief assistant to the Paleeonto- logist, Prof. Edward Forbes. Writing to his friend Dr. Grindrod, of Malvern, Salter says, “From 1846, to the time of Forbes’s re- moval to Hdinburgh in 1854, I shared with him the arrangement, description, and cataloguing of the public fossil collections of the Survey, took part in the field-work, and in all other duties shared the work with him and had his full approval.” On the retirement of Edward Forbes it was found expedient to separate the Lectureship on Natural History from the office of Paleontologist. Prof. T. H. Huxley was accordingly appointed to the former post (with the title of ‘‘ Naturalist”), and Mr. Salter to the latter office. “The duties of Palzontologist to the Survey consisted of Field- duty in connection with the work of the Local Directors and Surveyors ; the arrangement of the materials collected, and their naming, comparison, and collocation in the cases; the selection of duplicates ; and correspondence with Naturalists and Geologists at home and abroad.”? Such is the account Mr. Salter gives of the work he was called upon to fulfil. In consequence of the increasing extent of the labours of the Geological Surveyors, the examination of the Irish fossils was, in 1856, handed over to Mr. W. Hellier Baily, and, in the following year Mr. Robert Htheridge, having been appointed to the Geological Survey, took charge of the fossils of the Secondary and Tertiary formations of Britain, thus leaving Mr. Salter free to devote his whole energies to his favourite work—the fossils of the paleeozoic formations. 1 The letter we refer to is dated “ Leicester House, Malvern. Nov. 14, 1868,” and is addressed to Dr. Grindrod and W. Mathews, Esq., M.A., F.G.S., and appears to have been intended for publication, with a view to soliciting a pension from Government, which, owing to his retiring at the end of 17 years’ service (in 1863) he was not entitled to claim.—Eprr. 2 Extract from the same letter. Obituary—Mr. J. W. Salter. 479 During his period of office Mr. Salter prepared three Decades, with 10 plates each (8vo. size), on the Trilobites in the collection at Jermyn Street, and, in conjunction with Prof. Huxley, a Monograph on the genus Pterygotus, illustrated with sixteen folio plates. He also completed a Decade on the Hchini, commenced by Prof. Forbes; and supplied a part of the paleontology to Prof. Phillip’s Memoir on Malvern. The Paleontological portion of Prof. Ramsay’s Memoir on North Wales was also written by Mr. Salter. One result of the combination of the “Geological Survey of the United Kingdom” with the “Museum of Practical Geology” and the “Royal School of Mines,” has been not only to require from the officer holding the position of Paleontologist a large amount of routine work in examining and naming specimens and preparing lists of fossils of most prodigious length in connexion with the Survey, but the duties of a Curator in arranging and naming the fossils ex- hibited in the Museum, and, added to all this, a series of demonstra- tions have to be given annually to the pupils of the School of Mines, on fossils characteristic of the various strata, with their range and distribution in time and space. More than thirty papers by Mr. Salter, on various geological topics, are to be found in the Journal of the Geological Society ; he also wrote in the “ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” the GxonogicaAL MaGazrne, &e. Four parts of a Memoir on British Trilobites, illustrated by thirty 4to. plates, and 216 pages of text, have been published by the Palzontographical Society. In Murchison’s “ Siluria,” and Lyell’s Manual, Mr. Salter’s services, with both pen or pencil, are apparent and acknowledged. Mr. Salter has also contributed to Sedgewick’s Memoirs, 1844 to 1847; Sharpe’s Memoirs (Geol. Proceedings); Reports of the British Association, 1844-1868 (Sections). In the published account of the Arctic voyages of Beechey, Om- maney, and Penny, the description and correlation of the fossils was made by him. Mr. Salter has described fossils from the Himalayas, Australia, China, South Africa, Canada, Oregon, etc., etc. A list of sixty separate papers by Mr. Salter is given in Bigsby’s Thesaurus Siluricus, in the preparation of which he was also engaged. He projected, and, conjointly with Mr. Henry Woodward, pre- pared a Tabular view of British Fossil Crustacea, showing their range in time, which was engraved and published by Mr. J. W. Lowry, in 1865, and, but for the great expense attending the engraving, several other groups were also intended to be tabulated. In 1865, Mr. Salter received the “ Wollaston Donation Fund ” from the Geological Society, in recognition of his valuable services to Paleontology, and especially for his Monograph on Trilobites, then in course of publication by the Paleontographical Society. After his retirement from the office of Paleontologist to the Geological Survey in 1863, he was engaged at various times in arranging and naming the Paleozoic Invertebrata of the Manchester, 480 Obituary—Dr. James Hunt. Leicester, Leeds, Worcester, Malvern, Taunton, and Cambridge Museum collections ; he also executed numerous plates and wood- cuts. A catalogue (illustrated by himself) of the Cambrian and Silurian fossils in the Woodwardian Museum was one of the last tasks which he undertook, and which remains uncompleted, as does his Monograph on the Trilobites. It is difticult to say what combination of official conditions could have been found better suited to him than those in which he was placed. He often pictured the happiness of a post in the British Museum; but it is doubtful, had he realized his hope, whether his health would have improved. Those who knew him well, will remember how cheerful and light-hearted he was at times ; he was, in many ways, remarkably like a child, fond of boyish athletic sports, a lover of Nature, fond of wild-flowers, and domestic pet animals, which he encouraged his children to keep. Anon he would be fretful and irritable, often without any reasonable cause, proving that the chronic ill-health of which he complained was certainly mental. His staunch friends, Murchison and Sedgwick, helped him right manfully throughout, and he had many friends in the West of England and in Scotland, who gladly welcomed him to their homes, and cordially sympathized with him. But though he spoke cheer- fully and hopefully after resigning his post at Jermyn-street, we have his written testimony that he regretted the step he had taken. No one, however, who will fairly weigh the amount of valuable work done by Mr. Salter, and the large contributions he has made to our knowledge of the paleeozoic rocks and the early life-forms which they contain, will deny that a man of such ability deserved some recognition in the way of pension from Government; and it is sincerely to be hoped that Mrs. Salter, with her seven children, may at least be granted some small share of the Royal bounty, as some acknowledgment of the services rendered to science by her husband. Mr. Salter is buried in Highgate Cemetery, the resting-place of several of his fellow-workers in science. James Hunt, Ph.D., F.S.A., F.R.S.L., ete.—We regret to have to record the death, on the 29th August, at the early age of thirty- six, of James Hunt, Ph.D., F.S.A., F.R.S.L., founder of the Anthropological Society of London, and its first President, an office he held during five years. Soon after the foundation of the Society in 1868, the deceased, with that spirit of enterprise which dis- tinguished him, established the Anthropological Review, of which he was proprietor and Editor from its commencement to the current number. Whatever may be the future of Anthropology in England, the name of James Hunt will long be remembered as one of the most active and disinterested workers in that branch of science of which he was passionately fond, and in the pursuit of which he died. Erratum.—In the Obituary of Mr. J. Brrrz Juxss last month, p. 431, the name of Mr. A. Srxwyn, his associate in the Survey of North Wales, was accidentally omitted.—Hpir. THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LXV.—NOVEMBER, 1869. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. ————— ie I.—Nortss on Two IcHTHYODORULITES HITHERTO UNDESCRIBED. By Professor Own, F.R.S., ete. N a recent inspection of the grand collection of Fossil Fishes in the Museum of the Earl of Enniskillen at Florence Court, his lordship called my attention more particularly to two Ichthyodoru- lites, which he believed to be new. I was unable to refer them to any known or named species, and, in compliance with my friend’s desire, I here record a brief notice of their distinctive, and, I believe, specific characters. The first specimen (see Woodcut, Fig. A.), was # discovered and worked out of the coal-shale of /ff, Ruabon, North Wales, by Lord Enniskillen him- | if iy self. It belongs to the rare genus, called Lepra- [jij canthus by his friend and fellow labourer in Pali- é chthyology, Sir Philip Egerton,’ whose intention ' I fulfil in dedicating the species to his lordship, under the name Lepracanthus Cole. The generic name of this fossil fish-spine refers to the form and serial arrangement of the minute risings or short ridges on the enamelled part, which give it a resemblance to the scaled covering of a ganoid fish. The more obvious arrangement of the minute scale-like risings is longitudinal, and nine rows may be counted on each side of the basal half of the ganoin, but the risings are not parallel trans- versely in the several rows; they project so as to lie in oblique series across the side of the spine, which adds to the resemblance above noted (see Fig. B, magnified portion). The spine is gently curved, moderately compressed, with the back or A convex border rounded ; the thinner concave border is armed by relatively large recurved pointed denti- 9 2?7aqanihus Colei, _cles, sub-compressed and strengthened by an almost Ruabon, N. Wales. * ridge-like swelling along the middle of each side. These denticles 1 See ‘“ Agassiz, Histoire des Poissons Fossiles.” 4to. tom. iii. (1842). VOL. VI.—NO, LXV. 31 482 Prof. Owen—On Two New Ichthyodorulites. are few in number compared with most similarly barbed fossil fish- spines; four project from about one third of the length of the body of the spine, and not more than seven are traceable in the present specimen. The ganoin, which enamels that body, terminates as usual below in an oblique line descending from the dentate border to the thick convex border or fore part of the spine. The implanted base is also, as usual, smooth and finely striated lengthwise. The length of the spine, as here preserved, is 2 inches; but adding the wanting point according to the indications of the rate of contraction, and from the impression in the counterpart leaf of coal- shale, the entire length would be 23 inches; the greatest breadth is three lines; the thickness at that part is 2 line. The soft plastic state of the carbonaceous oose in which this weapon, with probably the fish that bore it, sunk, and ultimately settled, is shown by the exquisitely beautiful impression of the ornamentation of the glittering blade which the hardened coal now retains. Fig. A, side view of Lepracanthus Colei, nat. size. B, magnified view of part of the ganoin. Hybodus complanatus, Ow.—This spine rests in a block of stone, from the Iguanodon-quarry of Mr. Bensted, at Maidstone, of the Neocomian or Greensand period, the latest, I believe, in which any evidence of the genus Hybodus has been detected. The sides are flatter, and join the thick hinder border at a less open angle than in most other Hybodont spines. The sides are longitudinally ridged, but with less regularity and with more variety in the size of the ridges, than in any other Hybodi. At the summit they are fine and close set, but they slightly increase in thickness toward the front margin ; they recede from each other as the spine expands and descends: the finer ridges at the hinder half of the side continue close-set along the upper half of the spine, and also for one third of the breadth of the side next the inner con- cave border. The thicker ridges at the lower half of the enamelled body, are reduced to three or four in number, separated by a smooth tract, along the middle third of the side, from the finer ridges: the coarser ridges near the front border become reduced to two along the basal fourth of the enamelled body, with a wide smooth or unridged interval between them and the finer ridges. The anterior border is narrow, but obtuse. Along the middle of the broad flattened hinder border, a series of short strong recurved denticles arms the very low or open angle at which the halves of the hinder border meet; there are about thirty denticles along this angle: they are thick, triangular, two lines across the base, nearly three lines in length, pointed. The enamelled body of this spine is slightly recurved. From Hybodus reticulatus (and from Hybodus curtus, which is the second shorter spine of H. reticulatus),1 the present species differs in 1 This fact is shown in the rare specimen with teeth, integument, and both spines of Hybodus reticulatus in the Museum at Florence Court, where Acassiz recognised his Hybodus curtus in the second smaller spine, on his last visit to Ireland. # nay fot VE EY AVI Geol Mag 1869. R.De Wilde hth. y a C ol* EG Bennet Burr OwWws of Mollusca 1 Carbonifero Us Limestone. Great Crmes Head. Rev. T. G. Bonney—Burrows in Limestone Rock. 488 the non-continuance of the numerous ridges down the sides. Hybodus formosus differs in the larger ridges, with wider intervals, and a more regular disposition over the sides of the spine. In both H. reticu- latus and H. formosus, the halves of the hinder border meet at a less open angle, and the median dentated ridge is more prominent; con- sequently the hind border meets the lateral surface at a more open angle than in H. complanatus. From the known species of Acrodus, the present specimen differs in the pattern of the ridging of the sides: the ridges in Acrodus are fine, but regularly longitudinal, and in some specimens almost obsolete. The sides of the enamelled body of the spine are less flat, more convex, in Acrodus, and the spine is thicker in proportion to the breadth in Acrodus than in Hybodus. The length of the present spine of H. complanatus, is 1 foot 4 inches; the breadth is 1 inch 9 lines; the thickness posteriorly is nearly 1 inch. The proportions of the enamelled and unenamelled surfaces of the spine, the obliquity of the terminal basal line of the ganoin, and the excavation of the smooth implanted basal part or root, accord with the usual Hybodont type of Ichthyodorulite. II.—On tue Suprosep Occurrence oF PHontas Burrows IN THE Upper Parts oF THE GREAT AND LirrLE ORMESHEADS. By T. G. Bonney, M.A., F.G.S. (PLATE XVII.) N apaper entitled “‘ On Traces of Glacial Action near Llandudno,” printed in the Grotocican Magazine, Vol. IV. p. 289, I des- cribed certain indications of glacial action (as they appeared to me) upon the two masses of Carboniferous Limestone, well known to visitors at Llandudno under the name of the Great and Little Ormes- heads. The principal conclusion at which I arrived was that, “after the limestone hills of the district had acquired their leading forms by upheaval and marine denudation, the whole district was depressed. The summits of the low rocky islets thus formed became capped with ice-fields, which in places descended in glaciers into the sea. At times, very probably, they were united to the mainland by pack or coast ice.” I then supposed that, after some minor changes, “the whole was gradually upheaved above the sea, probably—at any rate, in the case of the Great Ormeshead—not quite uniformly.” This conclusion was opposed by Mr. R. D. Darbishire in a paper read before the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, and published in their Memoirs (ser. 3, vol. iv.), a copy of which he very kindly sent to me. In this, after mentioning sundry indications of marine action, he describes certain burrows which he has discovered on various parts of the above hills, and considers to have been formed by a species of Pholas, probably P. crispata. He comes, therefore, to the following conclusion: ‘‘ In the preservation of these burrows, in loose beach stones, and in the edges of the tables of out- 484 Rev. T. G. Bonney—Burrows in Limestone Rock. cropping strata, and in the level sea-stripped scars, I submit that we have final and irrefragable proof that the surface of these anciently submarine hills had not been touched by the iceberg or glacier for some time before, nor at any time since, they respectively emerged from the waves.” I have recently had an opportunity of examining the neighbour- hood of Llandudno, with the aid of Mr. Darbishire’s very interesting and valuable paper, and will endeavour to state why on this point I see no reason for altering my conclusion. If I rightly understand him, we are agreed that the district shows signs of both marine denudation and glacial action ; the debate, therefore, is narrowed to this one point, whether or not these hills have been capped by ice since they were covered by the sea. Mr. Darbishire argues for the negative answer from the presence of (1) sea-beach and beach marks ; (2), Pholas burrows. (1). Among these he enumerates certain large blocks lying on the upper plateau of the Great Ormeshead, “ the remains of the play or rage of the waves about the head of the new-born island, and as such emphatically a raised beach of the grandest kind,” and several nearly horizontal surfaces of limestone in the same neighbourhood, “cut and furrowed, and worn in fissures, potholes and other forms, very similar to those of the like beds in like positions in the inter- tidal spaces below.” ‘These blocks I had described, figuring one of the largest (Plate XII. Vol. IV. p. 289) as most probably blocs perchées. That this is a gigantic stranded boulder is placed beyond dispute by a very brief examination of the locality. Its base is flat, and rests upon three slight projections in the rough shelving scar of limestone, upon which it lies. The only question is by what agency it has been conveyed to its present position. This may have been done : (a). By the force of the waves, as suggested by Mr. Darbishire. No doubt the position of this, and the numerous other similarly situated blocks, might be accounted for in this way; but in that case, I think, we might fairly expect to see a more beach-like arrangement of the boulders, a larger quantity of rounded pebbles, and (as the elevation of the Head can hardly be more recent than the deposition of the lowland ‘till’ with its numerous boulders of trap and foreign rocks—often ice-scratched) a considerable sprinkling of boulders from the neighbourhood of Conway. Mr. Darbishire himself acknowledges that he has “not found anywhere at the higher level one block of any other rock than Mountain Limestone.” The weathering of the limestone scars in the neighbourhood, which he brings forward, with some reserve, as a proof of marine denuda- tion, does not differ from what may be seen on most horizontal surfaces of limestone, and may be produced by the action of the atmosphere and of freshwater impregnated with carbonic acid gas. I am familiar with similar markings in many limestone districts far away from the sea, among others in parts of the higher Alps.’ 1 During my examination of the large boulder mentioned above, I was led, in a search for ‘ Pholas’ burrows, to look narrowly into a crack about an inch and a Rev. T. G. Bonney—Burrows in Limestone Rock. 485 (). By being dropped from floating or stranded bergs. The objection to this is the difficulty of understanding, without assuming a considerable alteration of level, whence these blocks could have been derived, and the evidence (as it appears to me) in the contour of parts of the Great, and more especially of the Little Ormeshead, of glacial subsequent to marine action. (c). By being moved to their present position by land ice. The difficulty in this explanation is that the only broken crest of rock now visible (to the N.W.), from which such a boulder is likely to have been derived, is but little higher than it. This crest, however, is higher than the base of the boulder, and the rock to the S. is still more elevated, although it is now a bare scar. Possibly some of these blocks may represent a former extension of the ‘reef’ over this now denuded portion. There is also much higher ground to the §.H. Mr. Darbishire appears to feel a difficulty in regarding a block as ‘perched,’ unless it has travelled from a distance, in saying, “They are uniformly of a stone apparently identical with the beds in their immediate neighbourhood, and may often be connected with a neighbouring reef of rock, both by the character of the stone, and the style of wearing. A few may be found actually in situ, as isolated pillars or tables,” etc. (p. 14.) I never supposed that they had travelled more than a few hundred yards, at the most; and the distance a block is conveyed by a glacier, will be little, or great, according to the size and form of the ice-stream ; nor did I intend to imply that I considered the Ormeshead glaciers to be large. All the indications of an extensive glacier system are wanting. Therefore, notwithstanding some difficulties, I still adhere to my opinion that many of these scattered masses of limestone rock are true blocs perchées. (2). If, however, Mr. Darbishire is right in attributing the peculiar pits and depressions in the limestone rock to the excavating .action of some species of Pholas, the question is pretty well settled ; for although under certain circumstances the sea (as may be ob- served on many parts of the west coast of Norway) has surprisingly little effect in obliterating the traces of glacial action, it is impro- bable, to say the least, that any would have survived in a rock so liable to denudation as carboniferous limestone, and in a position 80 exposed as the Ormesheads. But are these pits Pholas burrows ? quarter wide, indicated in the middle of the side towards the spectator, in the plate. At a depth of about three inches it appeared to be choked with angular fragments of limestone, among which could be seen a shell, which, when uncovered a little, proved to be Buecinum undatum, wedged in with its spire downwards. As it had a very ancient appearance, I supposed that this would make for the marine theory ; but a little poking at it with a chisel showed that the fragment in contact with it above was bone, probably of a sheep. Beneath the Buceinwm, was a shell of Helix aspersa. Further examination of the crack showed that it extended to the upper part of the stone, and widened in that direction, so as to be at last three or four inches across. It was filled with limestone fragments to within a foot or so of the top; on removing the topmost of these, I found a fresh bone (part of the clavicle (?) of a lamb). I suspect, therefore, that the Buccinwm, with the bones, were dropped down the crack by a raven or a gull. I was confirmed in this view by finding that I could not succeed in extracting them from the crack by the lateral aperture. 486 Rev. T. G. Bonney—Burrows in Limestone Rock. I have long had suspicions that they are not; and the very fact of their discovery some 1,400 feet above the sea on the hills of Derby- shire, appeared, by proving too much, to do worse than prove nothing. Is it not in the highest degree improbable that such burrows, so easily weathered, should have survived the atmospheric waste of so many centuries? What is there to show that these hills of central England have been submerged since the period when the valleys of Wales and the Lake-districts were filled with glaciers ; and, without very strong corroborative evidence, are we justified in assuming such an inequality of upheaval as would be required in this case? If, however, the Pholas burrows belong to an earlier epoch, say to that of the drift shells on Moel Tryfaen, is it likely that they would have escaped the action of ice and weather during the subsequent glacial period? But to return to the supposed Pholas burrows at Llandudno. Most of the limestone of which the neighbouring hills are composed appears to have a tendency to weather in generally oval or cireular pits; so much so, that not unfrequently a face of rock appears to have suffered from a kind of gigantic small-pox. Still, besides these and other cavities, often curiously regular, which may be set down to atmospheric action in one form or another, there are a considerable number occurring at various elevations above the sea—roughly speaking, almost all over the Great Ormeshead—which cannot be thus accounted for. Of these I select two groups for especial description. The first is in a block of limestone which projects from the steep turfy slope on the northern face of the Great Ormeshead, a few yards below the pathway which surrounds the mountain. It is in the line of a slight glen or depression by which a narrow track leads to the upper plateaux, some three or four hundred yards to the east of St. Tuduo’s Church. The burrows are clustered about a natural sub- angular step on the north-western face of the block, the lowest being about a foot from the turf. The annexed sketch (Plate XVII., Fig. 1) will show their general character better than any description. The fol- lowing are some notes on the burrows numbered in the figure:—(1). About an inch in width, and two in depth, it curves gently upwards, having a small aperture in the side at the point.* (2). Does not _y extend any further into the stone. (8). Hx- @e/ tends, curving gently upwards, for about 1} inches ; this contained a small specimen of a banded Helix. (4). Extends nearly four inches upwards into the stone, present- ing in section through its axis, roughly, the form indicated in the accompanying figure. (5). Descends slightly. (6). About one inch deep, and at right angles to the channel in which it is placed. (7). A curved channel, about one inch wide, not extending up into the stone. (8). A curved channel, rather irregular in section, perhaps a natural depression. (9). A curved channel, ’ See note and references at the end of Mr. Darbishire’s paper. Section of Burrow, No. 4. Rev. T. G. Bonney—Burrows in Limestone Rock. 487 apparently, from the form of the end, a burrow, but much weathered. (10). A channel of dubious origin. The other unnumbered burrows extended but a very slight distance into the stone, and presented no special features. I did not think it worth while to make very precise measurements of the burrows, for at best they could only be approximate, but most of them were a little more than an inch in diameter. The second group of burrows was on a somewhat similar block on the eastern face of the Great Ormeshead, about fifty or sixty yards from the second gate on the pathway round the mountain. My attention was attracted by some fine burrows on the southern side of the stone, a few inches below the top, and above a roughly horizontal fissure rather more than an inch in greatest width. At right angles to this fissure was asmaller one. To the right of this were two burrows, one small, the other about 24 inches deep, and more than an inch in greatest width; and, on examining them, I found a third immediately behind the latter. 'To the left was a pair of burrows, one of which was partly concealed in the rock; in this, and in the third of the other group, fine specimens of Helix aspersa were snugly nestled. Wishing for a specimen of these burrows, and seeing a fair chance of obtaining one in tolerable condition from this boulder, I proceeded to break away some of the stone, and then found that the horizontal fissure extended some inches deep into the stone, narrowing very gradually. On thrusting my fingers into it, I detected other burrows also tenanted by living Helices, and saw several empty shells in the fissure. I then broke away the stone as well as I could, a task of much difficulty with the means at my command. Thus, after putting the fragments together, I obtained a portion of the roof of the fissure, in which, besides those already mentioned, are four distinct burrows, and two circular depressions. Two of these burrows were tenanted by living specimens of H. aspersa. For their position and arrangement, see Plate XVIL., Fig. 2. Now, these four inner burrows are perfectly smooth, fresh, unweathered, and are stained with the excretions of the snails; the deepest is about an inch, the shallowest half-an-inch. They are all of them completely protected from the weather; the most remote being nearly four inches from the centre of the large burrow seen from without. In form they coincide with those described by Mr. Darbishire in the following paragraph: ‘All the holes that I have seen occur in surfaces which have obviously suffered some super- ficial waste. Hence the smaller holes, which usually crowded the surface of a burrowed stone off a recent beach, have generally disappeared, and the fossil-holes which remain are the ends of the larger perforations.” Besides these, I examined a large number of other groups on the Great Ormeshead, and some on the Little Ormeshead, with the following results. (1). They are clearly the result of the action, mechanical, chemical, or both, of some living agent. Many of them are in positions where rain or wind cannot reach them, run almost vertically up into the rock, and are practically impervious to water 488 Rev. T. G. Bonney—Burrows in Limestone Rock. at the highest point. (2). They are rarest on surfaces much exposed to prevailing winds, or where the rock approaches to a grit. (3). They usually occur on boulders, or projecting rocks, at no great distance from the surface of the soil; in not a few cases the turf had actually grown into them. (4). The axis of the burrow usually is not at right angles to the surface of the rock; often is only inclined at a slight angle to it, so that the burrow commences as a channel (if this be not a natural depression utilised), and sinks gradually into the rock. Frequently it is driven into some slight prominence, as though the burrowing animal had first sheltered itself under the lee of this, and then gradually worked its way deeper into the rock. (5). The burrows are very frequently curved. Sometimes the tangents to the axis at the two extremities, if pro- . duced to meet, would include an angle not very much greater than 90°. (6). Helices, especially H. aspersa, are generally abundant in the neighbourhood of these burrows; empty shells are common in them, and in the freshest, smoothest, and least weathered of them, I always found a living Helix. (7). The con- striction in the upper part of the burrow, characteristic of perfect Pholas excavations, is generally wanting, and though the burrow sometimes contracts towards the mouth, this is often not quite regular in form; so that a Helix which would exactly fit the end would be able to quit the burrow. At least, I believe this to have been the case with all that I examined. The ends, also, of the burrows are, I think, generally rather flatter than is usual with Pholas holes. From the above considerations, and especially from the position of the cavities in the second example described above, the conclusion is, I think, irresistible, that these are not the weathered burrows of departed Pholades, but have been and are being hollowed out by Helices, the principal, if not the only agent being H. aspersa. I may, perhaps, in conclusion, be allowed to advert to two other points of my paper, which have been criticized by Mr. Darbishire. (1). The shells found about the sand pit at Gwyfyd farm. (2). The mussel beds exposed in the sand cliffs in Conway Bay ; both of which he considers to have been brought to their present sites by the hand of man. The former deposit being now nearly exhausted, I could obtain no fresh evidence as to its age. When writing, I did not overlook the possibility, strengthened by proximity to the fortress on Pen-y- Dinas, of this being a kitchen-midden ; but the condition of the shells, so different from those in the middens on the 8.W. face of the mountain, their comparative rarity, the way in which they were mixed up in the red clay, and the “lie” of the neighbourhood, made me then, as now, think it possible that they had been deposited under water. The latter deposits I have re-examined. On the for- mer occasion I was quite aware of the existence of mussel fisheries in that neighbourhood, and at first attributed these beds to them, but the number of instances in which (in one bed especially) I found both valves in contact, certain indications of a raised beach, and the Rev. T. G. Bonney—Burrows in Limestone Rock. 489 apparent antiquity of the deposit, inclined me to the opinion that they were not refuse heaps. This conclusion I now think to have been erroneous. I detected lately in one of the lowest seams in the second set of deposits N. of Tremlyd Point, many bits of carbonized wood, with fragments of bone, pebbles, and stones, some of which ap- peared to have been burnt, together with the right metacarpus of a sheep, perfect but carious. Above this deposit was between eight and nine feet of sand, with some thin seams of mussel shells, about 34 ft. up, capped by a seam nearly a foot thick, just under the sandy surface soil. A little to the north, and still lower down in the cliff, was a thin dark carbonaceous band, in which I found two teeth, very decayed, of a sheep. This, and the first seam also, contained rotten fragments of Littorina, Purpura, Buccinum(?), Cardium, Tapes (?). Still further to the north we have the following section. (1). Sandy soil, with mussel shells, 9 inches. (2). Sand, with frag- ments of mussel shells, 44-ft. (8). Mussels, with carbonized wood, 4-ft. (4). Sand, 1-ft. (5). Mussel shells, 2-ft. (6). Sand, and sandy talus, about 3 feet. (7). Shore a little above high-water mark. Nevertheless, though I have to thank Mr. Darbishire for correcting my error, I yet doubt whether all these deposits ‘ must be set down as appertaining to the most recent human period.” That, however, is a point of minor importance. P.S.—The above paper was written immediately after making the observations recorded therein. At that time I concluded, from the silence of those who had written or spoken on the subject, whether before the Literary Society at Manchester or the Geological Society of London,’ that no literature existed on the subject. Since my return to Cambridge, in conversation with various friends, I have been directed to sources from which I find myself not alone in the opinion expressed above. See especially the abstract of a paper “On the Agency of Land Snails in corroding and making deep Excavations in compact Limestone Rocks,” by Dr. Buckland, in the Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, Vol. iii., p. 430; and a valuable memoir, ‘Observations sur les Hélices Saxicaves du Boulonnais,” by M. Bouchard-Chantereaux.? The author of the latter discusses at considerable length the mode of excavation, and attri- butes it to the action of an acid secreted by the snail’s foot. His observations on the form and arrangement of the burrows correspond very closely with my own, and his excellent lithographs of two groups might almost have been copied from some of those near Llandudno. Til.—On tHe Surrace-Gerontocy oF THE LAaxke-DIstRIctT. By C. E. Dz Ranczg, of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. HE following notes were made during a few days’ leave of absence, spent chiefly on the Green-slate area of the Lake-district, the beds of which have an east-north-east and west-south-west direction 1 Quarterly Journal, Vol. xxv. Proceedings, p. 280. 2 Annales des Sciences Naturelles. 4me Ser., Zoologie. Tome xvi., p. 197. 490 C. E. De Rance—Surface Geology of the Lake-district. of strike, extending across the country in a belt about fourteen miles in width, resting on the Skiddaw Slates, and passing under the various divisions of the Coniston series. The characteristic feature of this tract of country is the uniformity in direction of all the gorges, or depressions, in which the lakes occur. The initiative of their direction (as pointed out by Dr. Nicholson)' appears to have been given by a system of north and south faults : thus Windermere, Rydal Water, Grasmere, and Thirlmere may be said to lie in one line of depression. Between the two last-mentioned lakes the pass of Dunmail Raise forms a col between two valleys. In the bottom of the valley, between the pass and Grasmere, there are immense mounds of moraine matter, the pebbles are all angular and strictly local. Steel Fell and Seat Sandal form two cliffs on either side, that on the western being much the steeper; the summit of Helm Crag, being much weathered, forming the well-known “couchant lion with a lamb under its nose,” of the guide books. Following up the ice marks of Hasdale Valley into that of Raise Beck, there seems little doubt that the two glaciers occupying these valleys united between Silver How and Nab Scar, and thence bore down upon Loughrigg Fell, which stopped its forward progress in a direct line, deflecting it into what is now Rydal Water. The lake Grasmere is excavated in a rock-basin, and one can easily understand its excavation being due to the immense pressure of the ice infring- ing on Loughrigg Fell. A similar state of things took place at the foot of Rydal Water ; the rocks here are moutonnéed and glaciated upwards. Moutonnéed rocks occur wherever the gorges are narrow and contracted, or wherever a mass of rock, opposite the entrance to a valley, formed a bar to the further progress of a glacier. The glaciated rocks above Skelwith Force being an example of the first ; those at the entrance to Grisdale, above Patterdale Hall, of the second. The feature which strikes the eye of a geologist, on viewing the country from the top of Helvellyn, is not the ‘‘ sea of mountains” of the guide books, but the flatness of the tops of the hills ; the valleys and gorges appearing mere gashes in the upland plain. This plain (which may possibly be part of that old plain ofmarine denudation which has been described by Professor Ramsay, in his “ Geology of North Wales”), varies but little in elevation; the watershed of the lake country, as pointed out by Mr. Bolton, being a complete circle. Within this circle all the streams flow north, and fall into the rivers Derwent and Cocker, which unite at Cockermouth, and thus drain nearly the whole of the Lake-district.. Some of the most remarkable passes of the district are situated on the southern edge of this circle, as Kirkstone Pass and the Pass of Dunmail Raise. It would thus appear, before rain began to fall, and rivers to flow, over this tract, in pre-glacial times, that there was a circular tract of high flat land in the centre of the district, surrounded by sloping ground dipping out- wards in every direction. This circular plain (the top of a truncated cone) being no doubt the result of a pause in the subsidence during 1 Geology of Cumberland, p. 18. C. LE. De Rance—Surface Geology of the Lake-district. 491 which the sea denuded the rest of the country into a gently inclined lane. Mr. Mackintosh, in an article on the Lake-district in the Quo- LogicaL Magazine for 1865, comments on the fact, that “we continually meet with a precipitous escarpment running along one side of a mountain-range, the other side of which is a gradual slope ;” and, further, that “‘the steep escarpments generally face the east, south-east, or north-east, apparently showing that the indenting and undermining current must have assailed the ancient Cumbrian Archipelago from the east.” His facts are undoubted, but I regret I cannot agree with the inference. For if the sea formed the in- dented voes of the eastern slope of Helvellyn, acting from the east, it could not have also formed the precipitous slope of the western side of the narrow Thirlmere valley, also acting from the east; for as the valley runs in a north and south direction at the foot of Helvellyn, it follows that the sea must have entirely denuded away the Hel- vellyn range, before it could have been exposed to the eastern breakers. It seems to me rather that the western sides of the gorges, or eastern sides of the hills, are steeper because they are most exposed to frosts and consequently to landslips than the opposite sides. My friend, Mr. Bolton, of Ulverstone, thus describes the effects of a winter’s frost on the disintegration of the rocks of the lake district :—‘‘At Dow Crags sometimes may be seen a spectacle of no common interest; the immense cliffs for a consider- able distance are perpendicular, and in some places overhang the base, containing fissures and joints which admit moisture. A hard frost in winter converts all this into ice, which, by its natural expansion, forces off from the parent rock large masses of stone, to bound and crash along the steep descent at the foot of the cliffs, . . . . some large “blocks even entering Goat’s Water before their progress is arrested, the border of that small lake being covered with their debris . . . several single stones weighing about three or four tons each.” The western sides of the valleys are more subject to landslips than the eastern, not only because they are more subject to the frost influence of easterly winds, but because the normal dip of the Green-slate being south- easterly, the rocks of the western slopes have an upward dip, causing the beds to have a tendency to slide along the dip planes into “the valley beneath, while the inward dip of the eastern slopes defy the effect of frost to disintegrate their mass. They do not, however, entirely escape; for though less ruthlessly, and less suddenly destroyed, the gradual wear of western storms of wind and rain, round the step-like form, first impressed by the running brook, and finished by the glacier, into a gradual slope, or rather a parabolic curve. At page 304 of his article, “on the Lake-district,”* Mr. Mackin- tosh mentions the eastern side of Helvellyn, as a “sea cliff,” which 1 “ Geological aaa p. 45, ‘Dow,’ or ‘ Doe,’ crags are a little west of Coni- stone Old Man. —C. EK ® Grox. Maa., Vol. II. 492 C. L. De Rance—Surface Geology of the Lake-district. he accurately describes as being, “not only the most precipitous, but indented with voes separated by edges, one of the voes termi- nating in Red Tarn Cwm.” TI have not the 6-inch ordnance maps of this district, but from a rough observation I made, when des- cending the precipitous slope described by Mr. Mackintosh, believe the base is about 860 feet below the apex of Helvellyn, dipping at an angle of from 40° to 60°; on the Catchedecam side the angle is rather less, on Striding Edge rather more. From the bottom of the precipice to Red Tarn is a gradual slope of perhaps 50 feet. Through the centre of this slope, flows Red Tarn Beck, the first commencement of which is found in a small pond of running water immediately below the precipice, fed by a number of springs, issuing from the base of the cliff. The water, notwithstanding the great heat of the weather at the time of my visit (August), was intensely cold. From the dryness of the season, the lake Red Tarn was empty, and I therefore had an opportunity of examining its bottom. The banks consist of angular fragments, derived from the mountain above, none seemed to have experienced ice or glacier action, and most certainly there was no sign of the sea, neither a rounded pebble, or a single foreign fragment. The bottom of the Tarn was composed of fine sand brought by the springs out of the mountain ; the banks of fragments, torn off its slopes by frosts and landslips. The sub-aérial deposit in which this lake occurs, appears to have choked up the bottom of the gorge under the mountain to a con- siderable depth, but following Red Tarn Beck, down the valley towards Ulleswater, the beck cuts down to rock, which is here and there glaciated. If the sea formed the two voes on either side of Striding edge, it is difficult to understand why it did not destroy the edge itself, especially as we know that the sea destroys headlands at the same and even “quicker rates than it works back lowlands.” Though I agree with Mr. Mackintosh, “that, in those river gulleys which graduate upwards into larger valleys we may often discover a sufficient distinction between their respective contours to justify our referring the one to fluviatile, and the other to marine denuda- tion” (p. 303), as applied to some districts, yet I think such hollows of undulation in the original surface of marine denudation, in the lake district, are of extreme shallowness, and play altogether a secondary and unimportant part in the physical features of the country. Nor does it appear that the higher portion of this mountainous district was ever beneath the Glacial sea. From the shortness of the time I spent in the Lake-district, I was not able to make out the height to which it reached, but the rocks did not appear to be glaciated above a level of about 1,700 feet above the sea, the glaciation down to about 400 feet above sea level appearing to have been caused rather by land ice than by the grounding of ice-bergs. In the low country of Furness, the same sequence of upper and lower Boulder-clays, divided by a middle sand and gravel, occurs as was described by Mr. Hull, F.R.S., in 1868, as occurring in the Manchester district ;} which classification has been adopted by Mr. ' Additional Observations on the Drift Deposits, etc. Mem. Lit. Phil: Society, vol. ii., 8rd series. Geol. Sur. Mem., on Qr. Sh., 88, 8. W. C. LE. De Rance—Surface Geology of the Lake-district. 493 Mackintosh in his paper on the ‘“‘ North-west Lancashire Drifts,” read before the Geological Society on June 23rd of this year. In the Manchester district, described by Mr. Hull, the upper and lower clays are identical in character; they are both of a reddish colour, contain rounded and sub-angular pebbles and boulders, which appear to have been thrown down from icebergs in a Glacial sea, rather than by an ice sheet. The lower Boulder-clay is stated by Mr. Hull never to make its appearance in the hill country, and the Middle Drift, which rests on the denuded surface of the lower Till, in the low country, is found resting on the bare rock in the upland valleys of south-east Lancashire, and the bordering parts of Cheshire. In one locality near Macclesfield, in an escarpment half-a-mile east of the Little Dog Inn, on the Buxton-road, Mr. Prestwich, F.R.S., discovered marine shells in Middle Drift, at an elevation of between 1,100 and 1,200 feet above the level of the sea,? which nearly cor- responds in elevation with the bed with marine shells on Moel Tryfaen, described by the late Mr. Trimmer. As these are the highest elevations in which marine shells have been found, and as Mr. Hull, in his paper on the Manchester Drift, states, as Sir H. De la Beche had done long before, that no erratic ascend the hills of that district above an elevation of 1,800 feet, and that “not a trace of a foreign rock occurs on the table-land of the Peak, which is about 2,000 feet high,” it would appear that the fact of the absence of all traces of marine action, during the Glacial and Post-glacial periods, above an elevation of 1,700 feet in the Lake-district, is in accord- ance with what has already been observed in East Lancashire, in Derbyshire, Cheshire, and North Wales, and that there is little or no proof that the north-west of England was ever submerged to a greater depth during those periods.* I cannot, therefore, agree with my friend Mr. Mackintosh, further than admitting that the sea, in Pre-glacial times, acting along lines of weakness, caused by faults and anticlinal axes, produced hol- lows of undulation, which determined the way water should flow, and in which rivers and brooks should cut down the step-like gorges of our existing Lake- district. To those who state, with Prof. Sedgwick, that the proof of the limited excavating power of rivers in the lake district is being furnished by the small quantity of detritus they have yet been able to deposit in the lakes which receive their waters; it may be replied, first, that the lakes not only receive their waters, but also deliver them; that the lakes, almost without exception, are nothing but expanded rivers carrying detritus, not into lakes, but into the sea. ‘To take an instance: Codale and Hasedale Tarns flow into Grasmere, the latter into Rydal Water, whose waters, flowing down the Rothay, enter Windermere. Blea Tarn, Langdale Tarn, Stickle Tarn, Elter Water, all flow into Brathay, which, after falling over 1 Hull, Mem. Lit. Phil. Soc., vol. ii., ete., p. 455. 2 Darbishire, Grot. Maa., Vol. II., p. 303. 3 These three Drifts do not occur in the Lake-district, and true Moraine Drift descends as low as 100 feet above sea level. 494 Dr. Nicholson—On Plants in the Skiddaw Slates. Skelwith Force, and receiving the drainage of Loughrigg Tarn, joins the Rothay and falls into Windermere, which also receives Blelham Tarn, Esthwaite Water, Out-Dubs Tarn, and other small lakes ; the Lake Windermere itself flows down the Leven, a con- siderable river, of which the River Crake, which drains Coniston Water, is a tributary. The two rivers unite at Greenodd and flow into Morecambe Bay, between Ulverstone and Cartmell. The Leven, at its mouth, therefore, contains the drainage of at least twenty lakes, of which five are of considerable size, and I think few can doubt that this river has been partly instrumental in the formation of ‘Morecambe Sands.” And, secondly, again considering the immense depth of some of the lakes, the deep chasms in which they lie, it is impossible to say that there are not immense quantities of detritus concealed beneath their placid waters. At the time of my visit last month, from the dryness of the season, the heads of many of the lakes were dry, and I was, therefore, able to examine several of them, and I found the bottom invariably to consist of fine alluvial sand, capped by a thin coating of peat or vegetable growth; a section through one of these deposits would probably exhibit a succession of thick bands of alluvium, and thin seams of peat, the former thrown down in winter, the latter formed in summer; in this way several tracts have been reclaimed at the heads of several of the lakes. I have been induced to publish the above hasty notes, because, with the exception of Mr. Mackintosh’s paper, to which I have so often referred, little has been printed on the Surface-geology of the district. I have abstained from giving any sections of details, leaving them to the more able hands of those officers of the Geo- logical Survey, who are now engaged in the survey of that region. On my way south, I called on Mr. Bolton, of Ulverstone, the author of a most interesting work on the geology of Furness (the result of more than seventy years’ labour), who showed me blocks of limestone bored with holes from the neighbouring mountains, and other blocks from the sea-beach of Walney Island, also composed of Carboniferous limestone, with similar holes, in each of which may be seen the two perfect shell-valves of a Pholas. But none of the holes were quite so large as those described to me by Mr. Mackintosh, as occurring in the block he sent up to the Geological Society. TV.—On THE OccuRRENCE oF PLANTS IN THE SKIDDAW SLATES. By Henry Atueyne Nicuorson, M.D., D.Sc., M.A., F.G.S., Lecturer on Natural History in the Extra-Academical School of Edinburgh. (PLATE XVIIL) i inc occurrence of plant-remains in the Silurian and Cambrian rocks is a subject of great interest, but one which has not hitherto been sufficiently investigated. Many supposed plants have been described by Emmons, Hall, Billings, and Dawson, from the older Paleozoic rocks of North America, and little doubt can be Vol. VI. PL XVIT iy W West anip CUR DeWilde delet ith, « . Y. late a > aw x d Plants from the Slad BY . Dr. Nicholson—On Plants in the Skiddaw Slates. 495 entertained of the vegetable nature of some even of the most ancient of these. Many, however, as believed by Professor H. Forbes and Mr. Salter, are certainly referable to the tracks or burrows of marine animals. More recently the Cambrian rocks of Sweden have yielded to the researches of Torell and Linnarsson some remarkable im- pressions and casts of fossils, which are believed to be of a vege- table nature (Guox. Mac., September, Vol. VI., p. 898, Plates XI., XII., and XIII.). In Britain there is not, as far as I am aware, any instance of the occurrence of plant-remains in deposits of Lower Silurian age, as to the nature of which all authorities are agreed.’ The Oldhamia of the Cambrian rocks is believed by Mr. Salter to be a plant, but good authorities would place it either amongst the Polyzoa or Hydrozoa. The Cruziana semiplicata of the Lingula Flags has often been assigned to the Fucoids, but itis believed by Mr. Salter to be “the filled-up burrow of a marine worm” (Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iii., p. 248). Long ago Professor McCoy described from the Skid- daw slates (lowest Llandeilo) certain fossils which he believed to be fucoids (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. iv., p. 223, and Pal. Foss., pl.i. a). After studying a large number of specimens, however, I have been compelled to come to the conclusion, held by Mr. Salter and Professor Harkness, that these fossils (viz. Paleochorda major, P. minor, and Chondrites acutangulus) are truly referable to the action of marine worms. Within the last few years, however, I have obtained from the Skiddaw Slates several fossils, which certainly do not admit of being explained in this manner, though I would not go so far as to assert that they are unquestionably plants. The age of the deposit in which they occur renders them, at any rate—what- ever their true nature may be—of sufficient interest to merit a short description. Buthotrephis Harknessit, n. sp. (Pl. XVIII., Fig. a). In his Paleon- tology of New York, Professor Hall describes several species of plants under the generic name Buthotrephis, their range in time extending from the Calciferous Sandstone up to the Clinton Group (Upper Silurian). The characters assigned to the genus are as follows :— “Stems sub-cylindric or compressed, branched; branches numerous, divaricating, leaf-like ; structure vesicular’? (See Pal. N. York, vol.i. p.8.) The nature of the fossils described under this head is such as to show clearly that, if not of vegetable origin, they are certainly not referable to the operations of Annelides, Molluscs, or any other animals. This is proved by the fact that they are always more or less regularly branched; and also by their not being simple impressions on the sediment, but by their possessing, on the other hand, a true organic structure, differing in colour and grain from the surrounding matrix, and sometimes even exhibiting a carbona- ceous texture. In the upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, I have found specimens of a fossil apparently belonging to the genus Buthotrephis, and bearing considerable resemblance to B. gracilis, more especially to the variety .1 With the details of Mr. Hicks’s recent discovery of plants in the Cambrian Rocks of St, Dayid’s I am not acquainted. 496 Dr. Nicholson—On Plants in the Skiddaw Slates. crassa, described by Hall from the Clinton Group (Op. cit. vol. ii., pl. v. fig. 8). The characters, however, of these fossils are so little definite, and the above-mentioned species is so variable, that I have not thought it safe to include our specimens under it, more especially as they exhibit some curious points which are not present in the American form. 'The fossil m question shows unequivocal organic structure, consisting of dark, nearly black, cylindrical, regularly branching stems, usually about a line in width, which can not be obtained in relief, as they split right through when the shale is laid open. The best specimen which I have found is broken, and con- sists of a central stem giving off alternately on both sides long secondary branches, which diverge at angles of from 25° to 60°. The terminations of none of these branches are shown, though one attains a length of nearly three inches; nor is any diminution in their diameter observable. The secondary branches in turn bear, at irregular intervals, on both sides, short tertiary offsets, which taper rapidly to a point, and would seem, therefore, to be of the nature of leaves. rather than the bases of fresh branches, though it is not possible to be quite certain of this. This singular fossil is unquestionably the remains of some organism, and cannot be referred to the action of marine animals of any kind. Its regular mode of branching demonstrates this beyond a doubt. The proofs of its being a vegetable, though less strong, are, I think, sufficiently weighty, more especially as it is difficult to see what else it could possibly be. If it were a Sponge, a Polyzoon, or a Ceelen- terate of any kind, it would almost infallibly exhibit some structure by which this could be certainly determined, the nature of the sedi- ment being such that the most delicate details—as shewn by the accompanying Graptolites—would be preserved. Itis not, however, siliceous, chitinous, or calcareous, and it is merely of a much coarser grain than the enveloping matrix. As to its place in the vegetable kingdom, it were premature, in the absence of perfect specimens, to offer any decided conjecture, though the mode of branching would not lead us to refer it to the Alge. Hall, however, thinks that Buthotrephis is “doubtless allied to the recent Fucus,” and it certainly presents some resemblance to the ‘“fucoids” of the lower Ludlow Rock of the neighbourhood of Ludlow. Loc.—Upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Thornship Beck, near Shap. Tania (2?) radiata, n. sp. (Pl. XVIII. Fig. B.).—This fossil occurs only in conjunction with the preceding, and in exactly the same state of preservation, so that there is some reason to think that they are different portions of the same organism. From the contiguity of the two in some specimens—though this, of course, may be accidental —I have been led to think it possible that this form may in reality be the whorled leaves of B. Harknessii, but I have never seen them in direct connection. Its description, however, as a distinct species must be regarded as simply provisional, and I have placed it in the genus Buthotrephis only in view of its probably being a fragment of another form. Dr. Nicholson—On Plants in the Skiddaw Slates. 497 B. radiata consists of detached whorls of tapering leaves (?), meeting in a common centre, narrow at their origin, and gradually widening out to terminate in blunt rounded extremities. The size of the whorls varies a good deal, the shape being circular or somewhat, elliptical. The number of rays in each whorl varies from ten to twenty-five, their length being from a quarter to more than three- quarters of an inch, and their breadth at the extremities being from one-twentieth of an inch to over a line. The colour of the fossil is nearly black, and its texture, like that of the last, is of a much coarser grain than the enveloping matrix. It is even more difficult than in the case of B. Harknessii to imagine what this can be if not a plant, its form not being that ordinarily assumed by phytoid animals. It seems, however, pretty certain that if its vegetable nature be conceded, it can hardly be re- ferred to the Alge. Loc.—Upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Thornship Beck, near Shap. Hophyton (?) palmatum, n. sp. (Pl. XVIII., Fig. c.)—Unlike the two preceding forms, this exhibits no distinct organic structure, but pre- sents itself merely as an impression upon the surface of the stone. The texture of the rock is so coarse that nothing further than the shape of the fossil can be stated. It consists of a central stem, about two lines in width, which gives off alternately on both sides fan-shaped expansions, which are narrow at their origin, but widen out rapidly till a breadth of about three-quarters of an inch may be attained. A similar fan-shaped expansion terminates the stem, and all are marked with numerous sub-parallel or slightly diverging ridges. Having only a single fragmentary specimen, it is not possible to fix accurately the position of this fossil, but it agrees in its longi- tudinal furrowing with Hophyton, and may be placed here in the meanwhile. Its characters are, I think, such that it can hardly be ascribed to the action of marine worms, and it is chiefly for this reason that I have been induced to describe it. It also exhibits a much greater affinity to the Algz than does either of the previously described forms. Loc.—Lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Barff, near Keswick. Chondrites (?) (Pl. XVIIL., Fig. p.) Besides the above I possess a specimen from the Skiddaw Slates which is, probably, referable to the genus Chondrites. I do not describe it, however, as it possibly may belong to the Graptolitide, and its state of preservation is such that this point can not be decided. It consists of a branching and re-branch- ing frond, the branches of which have a uniform width of little less than a line, and terminate in rounded extremities. The branches are flexuous, and are given off alternately in a sub-dichotomous manner. The surface of the specimen is so much discoloured with iron that no details of structure can be made out. Though larger and less branched, this fossil is not unlike the Chondrites verisimilis of the Ludlow Rocks of the Pentland Hills, which Mr. Salter fully admits to be a true fucoid (Mem. Geol. Survey of Scotland, No. 31, p. 184). As many branched Graptolites, however, VOL. VI.—NO. LXY. 32 498 Dr. Mcholson—On Plants in the Skiddaw Slates. occur in the Skiddaw Slates, and as this exhibits no structure, it is safest to leave its position an open question. Loc.—Lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Rake Beck, near Melmerby. In addition to the above-described obscure but interesting fossils, the Skiddaw Slates yield numerous specimens which might be re- ferred to the genus Paleophycus of Hall. I should, however, be cer- tainly disposed to think that most, if not all, the fossils referred by Hall and Billings to this genus are truly of the nature of worm-tracks and Annelide-burrows. Having recently obtained several new forms from the Skiddaw Slates, I may conclude with a list of the fossils known to me as oc- curring in this formation. LIST OF FOSSILS FROM THE SKIDDAW SLATES. CRUSTACEA. Didymograpsus bifidus, Hall. LAiglina binodosa, Salt. ie fasciculatus, Nich. », caliginosa, Salt. 9 geminus, His. Agnostus Moret, Salt. is nitidus, Hall. Caryocaris Wrightit, Salt. mn patulus, Hall. Leperditia (?) . serratulus, Hall. Ogygia (?) 0 seatans, Hall. Phacops Nicholsont, Salt. V-fractus. Salt. Trinucleus Gibbsit, Salt. Diplograpsus armatus, Nich. ANNELIDA. s Hopkinsoni, Nich. Tracks and burrows (Arenicolites, e mucronatus, Hall. Scolites, and Helminthites.) ne pristiniformis, Hall. BracHIOPoDA. pristis, His. Discina (?) Phyllograpsus Anna, Hall. Lingula brevis, Portl. 5 angustifolius, Hall. Hyprozoa (Graptolitide). " typus, Hall. Climacograpsus antennarius, Hall. Pleurograpsus (2) vagans, Nich. i bicornis, Hall. Tetragrapsus bryonoides, Hall. a teretiusculus, His. ” crucifer, Hall. Dendrograpsus Hailianus, Prout. (?) \ Headi, Hall. Dichograpsus annulatus, Nich. ‘ quadribrachiatus, Hall. AM fragilis, Nich. Trigonograpsus lanceolatus, Nich. 6 Logani, Hall. PLANT Zz (?) op multiplex, Nich. Buthotrephis, Harknessi, Nich. is octobrachiatus, Hall. », (P) radiata, Nich. reticulatus, Nich. Eophyton (?) palmatum, Nich. Didymograpsus affinis, Nich. Chondrites (?) EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVIII. Fig. A.— Buthotrephis Harknesst, sp. nov. nat. size. Fig. B.— 90 (?) radiata, sp. nov. Both from the upper beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Thornship Beck, near Shap. Fig. C.—Eophyton (?) palmatum, sp. nov. nat. size. From the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Barff, near Keswick. Fig. D.—Chondrites (?), nat. size, From the lower beds of the Skiddaw Slates, Rake Beck, near Melmerby. W. Whitaker—On Geology and Consumption. 499 V.—On THE CoNNECTION OF THE GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE AND THE PuysicaL Features oF THE SourH-Hast or ENGLAND, WITH THE CONSUMPTION DEATH-RATE. [A paper read before the Geological Society of London, June 23, 1869.] By Witi1am Wurraxer, B.A. (Lond.), F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England. Vinee the subject of this paper has already been discussed in detail, yet, as this has been done from a medical rather than from a geological point of view, it may be well that the chief facts of the case, the method of investigation followed, and the conclusions come to, should be brought before the Geological Society ; for the Society will not fail to have an interest in noting what a practical bearing our science has on the health, as it has long been known to have on the wealth, of mankind. In 1865 my friend, Dr. Buchanan, was appointed by the Privy Council to inquire into the results of sanitary improvements in England. With this object he visited twenty-five large towns in which various works, designed to promote the public health, had been for some years in operation; and studied whether any change for the better, in the general health of the population, had taken place since the establishment of those works, and if so what that change was. The result of this enquiry was published in the Report of the Medical Officer for 1866, and whilst showing, as was expected, that the death-rates from fever, cholera, &c., had been lowered, it also led to the quite unexpected conclusion that consumption had been very materially affected. This disease however had not decreased in all cases, and on examination it turned out that the lowering of the consumption death-rate went along with the decrease of water in the subsoil by improved drainage, but did not steadily go along with any other sort of improvement. The most marked instance of this is Salisbury, where the death- rate from consumption, since the new drainage-works have been in use, is about half what it was before. Taking that death-rate, before the establishment of the sanitary works, at 100, the new rate is 51. The next town on the list is Ely, where, on the same principle, the new rate is 53, whilst at Rugby it is 57, at Banbury 59, at Worthing 64, at Leicester and Newport 68, at Macclesfield 69, at Cheltenham 74, at Bristol 78, at Dover 80, and at other towns there has been an improvement in less degree. These figures, which are calculated from the death-rates over a number of years (as no safe conclusion could be come to from the statistics of a very short time) seem, when it is shown that no other sanitary work had any particular effect, to be conclusive as to the connection between land-drainage and consumption. They suggested to Dr. Buchanan that it might be well to see whether natural causes 1 Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council for 1867, pp. 14-17, and 57-110. Syo. London, 1868. 900 W. Whitaker—On Geology and Consumption. that affect the saturation of the subsoil had not also some connection with consumption; or in other words, whether places on those geological formations that allowed the free drainage of water would not have a lower consumption death-rate than places on less pervious or damper beds. Dr. Buchanan having been commissioned to undertake a further enquiry, with the object of bringing new facts of this kind into evi- dence, application for the needful geological data was made by the Medical Officer of the Privy Council to the Director-General of the Geological Survey, and of course all the information in the posses- sion of the Survey was placed at Dr. Buchanan’s disposal. After a little consideration we saw that it would be useless to take up for examination any district in which the surface-deposits of gravel, etc., had not been mapped, as well as the regular formations ; and also that it would not do to take small areas scattered here and there about the kingdom: one large connected tract was essential for any trustworthy result. This at once limited the range of the enquiry to the South-Hast of England; for only in the counties of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex (or part thereof), had the Geological Survey mapped those surface-deposits (with some exceptions of no great importance here). There are other tracts—as in Lancashire— where the drift has been mapped, but they are of much smaller extent. This limitation having been made, I was instructed to give Dr. Buchanan all the help in my power, and consequently I worked with him for some little time, referring to my colleagues for informa- tion as to districts that were out of my own personal knowledge. Luckily for the enquiry the aforesaid three counties have other recommendations. They are without any great manufacturing industry ; and the conditions of life in factories had been proved, by previous investigations, to have an influence of their own upon the disease in question: they have great variety of soil, and yet their geological formations have, for the most part, a continuous outcrop, and often take up broad tracts; and they have many different conditions of surface, but without the level of the ground being subject to too abrupt changes, such as would be found in mountainous districts. The metropolitan parts of Kent and Surrey had of course to be left out of consideration, as it would be quite hopeless to investigate a place like London, in which there are so many disturbing causes, such as the presence of large hospitals and the exceptional industrial conditions of the population. It is needless for me to enter here into the purely statistical part of the enquiry, or the various allowances that had to be made for the influence of public institutions ; for the influx of visitors to places supposed to be good for consumption; for wrong returns of the causes of death, &c.; enough to say that all these things were care- fully taken into account by Dr. Buchanan. The geological part of the enquiry was two-fold, embracing in the first place the consideration of the composition and character of the W. Whitaker—On Geology and Consumption. 501 formations of the three counties, and the description of the strati- graphical conditions and physical features of the 58 districts which supplied the statistical data; and, in the second place, being directed to an estimation of the number of people living on each formation. In the former of these the knowledge of my colleague, Mr. Topley, was made use of for part of the Wealden area; whilst Mr. Bristow gave some information on the southern edge of Sussex and Hamp- shire, a very small part of which latter county came within the bounds of Dr. Buchanan’s work. The geological formations of the South-East of England range from the Bagshot Beds down to the Hastings Beds, without any gap, the series being perfect. Besides these there are alluvial flats, both as broad marsh-lands and as narrow strips along streams ; fringes of shingle and blown sand along parts of the coast: and a great number of tracts of Drift loam, gravel, and sand on all forma- tions, at many levels, and of various sizes. In working out conclusions from the data that had been got together it is clear that, as saturation of subsoil was the chief thing to be considered, the mere permeability or impermeability of a formation was not the only condition to be examined ; but that the height and slope of the ground and the dip of the beds were im- portant matters, as well as any other fact that bore on the water- holding power of the beds or their capacity for drainage in any district. From the varying character of some of the formations (as for instance the Lower London Tertiaries, the Lower Greensand, and. the Hastings Beds), great care had to be taken to avoid hasty generalisations, and a detailed consideration of each particular dis- trict was made needful, the same formation having different characters, and giving rise to different physical features and conditions in dif- ferent parts. Again, though a formation, as the London Clay, might be of the same character throughout the whole area, yet any generalisation at once founded on that fact might have been false; for it was soon found to be absolutely essential to consider how the country formed by such a homogeneous formation is modified by the occurrence of cappings of gravel, &c., districts of bare clay being practically quite distinct from those where the clay is covered by 10 or 20 feet of pervious gravel. This detailed method of examination sometimes showed that large areas formed of like beds, and which at first sight might have been thought to be of like character, were really far from being so: thus the London Clay and the Weald Clay are both thick masses of im- permeable beds of much the same composition, but the broad tracts over which they crop out are for the most part quite unlike. The differences between the two great clay-countries of the South-East of England are so many that perhaps they may be best shown when thrown into the form of a table, as below, from which it may be seen that, whereas the London Clay is so disposed as for the most part to allow of the flowing off of surface-water, the Weald 002 W. Whitaker—On Geology and Consumption. Clay is favourable for holding back the same, and therefore the districts formed by the two clays are quite different in this important particular. Comparisons of the Districts taken up by the Outcrops of the London Clay and of the Weald Clay. Lonpon Cray. (1). Often covered by gravel, especially in the populous districts. (2). The capping of gravel is mostly of fair thickness. (3). Forms a comparatively high country (except in the gravel-flats bordering the Thames), and is not closely bordered by higher ground of other formations. (4). Has, for the most part, a gently undulating surface (except for the gravel- flats). (5). With comparatively few rivers, and those almost wholly from its own drainage (except where the larger rivers flow directly across it, through valleys). WEALD Cray. (1). Less covered by gravel. (2). The gravel is comparatively thin, and often insignificant. (3). Forms a low country, bordered on both sides by higher ground. (4). Forms a flatter country, less varied by undulations, and those of less height. (5). Is a channel for many rivers, which carry off not only its own drainage, but also that of the higher ground on either side, and which meander over it for long distances, and with slight fall. At first sight, and in a purely geological aspect, the general result of the enquiry might be summed up as follows: that the consumption death-rate varies roughly as the age of the formations (disregarding alluvium, gravel, &c., which are distributed pretty fairly over all) : the districts of the Tertiary beds and the Chalk holding, as a rule, the highest place, that is to say having the lowest death-rate ; those of the Wealden beds taking the lowest place; and those of the inter- mediate Greensand, &c., coming in the middle. But this would give a very illusive view, for there are many exceptions. Two methods of analysis of the obtained facts were used by Dr. Buchanan. Firstly, grouping the registration-districts in their order of consumption death-rate, to see what proportion of the population, in each group, live on pervious or impervious soils. For this purpose fifty of the districts (the remaining eight being left out as having exceptional characters, and needing further examination) were classed in five groups of ten each, with the following result :— Percentage of Population. Groups of Ten Registration Districts. On yeu ious On Impervious oils. Soils. 1. With Lowest Consumption Death-rate ... 90-9 Delt 2. ,, Higher s 5 87-7 12°3 3. ” ” ” ”? 79°5 20°65 4. ” ” ” ” od 79:2 20°8 5. With Highest Consumption Death-rate ... 64:2 35°'8 These gross results, though at first sight more exact than the rough general result first given, are however open to many objections, one of the chief, in a geological point of view, being W. Whitaker—On Geology and Consumption. 503 that the physical features of the districts are not taken into account, and therefore the classification of the soils as pervious and imper- vious is in some cases delusive; for a very low-lying tract of pervious beds may, from its position, be saturated with water that cannot escape, and would therefore be in no better case, as regards the draining away of water, than a tract of impervious beds; indeed not so well off perhaps as a high-lying sloping tract of the latter kind. The second method of numerical analysis adopted by Dr. Buchanan was calculated to lead to more exact and valuable results. Its plan was, to quote his own words, “to select out of the fifty- eight districts such as are most comparable with each other in regard of their position and geological structure, and to see how their phthisis is affected by the perviousness or imperviousness, elevation or lowness, slope or flatness, in the members of such more limited series,” a method which involved various comparisons of districts and formations. Firstly, as regards the amount of consumption on pervious soils from which water can drain away, compared with that on more impervious or retentive soils. The great tract known as “the Weald,” contains within itself good materials for such a comparison, the districts that are chiefly on the more sandy and more sloping Hastings Beds contrasting with those on the flatter Weald Clay. In no case indeed is a district wholly sand or wholly clay, but the proportion of the population living on clay or on sand varies greatly ; moreover many of the districts are partly on other formations. Parts where the Weald Clay is covered by gravel, being of an inter- mediate character, were treated as half pervious and half retentive. There were found to be fifteen registration-districts in which the greater part of the population lived on the various divisions of the Wealden series, and an examination of these showed that the districts with the higher consumption death-rates have the larger proportion of their population on retentive beds, and that those with the lower rates have the larger proportion on the more pervious beds ; the numbers varying from 95 per cent. of the population on pervious, and 5 per cent. on retentive soils in the case of Hastings (which, after proper correction has been made for the influx of invalids, seems to be the second best district on the Consumptive Bill of Health), to 30 per cent. and 70 per cent. respectively in the case of Petworth, which is the worst district but two out of the whole fifty- eight. Like results were got by the comparison amongst themselves of the ten districts in which the greater part of the population live on the Lower Greensand. Secondly, a comparison was made between districts composed mostly of pervious soils at a fair height and with a good slope, in short in which there were good facilities for the draining away of water : and other districts of like beds, but which from their position and character were more liable to saturation. In this case the slope of underlying impervious beds is sometimes important, as a shallow 504 W. Whitaker—On Geology and Consumption. basin of sand or gravel on clay is favourable for the holding rather than for the flowing off of water. From this comparison, it was found that districts mainly on a set of pervious beds (whether of gravel over London Clay, of the sandy and pebbly Lower London Tertiaries, of Chalk, or of Lower Greensand) and which have a fair general height, and a fair slope of surface, have a lower consumption death-rate than other districts on the same formations, but at lower levels, and with flatter surfaces. There is one remarkable kind of exception to this rule. It is that the low-lying tracts of shingle bordering the shore, and saturated more or less by sea-water, seem to be not badly off in respect of consumption,—Dover, where a large part of the population live on shingle, being a notable case in point. Thirdly, districts chiefly of impervious formations were examined with regard to their physical features ; the higher and more sloping, which allow of the flowing off of surface-water, being compared with those that are lower and flatter, and on which therefore water rests longer. This of course was little more than a comparison of the two great clay-tracts, those of the London Clay and of the Weald Clay, the physical differences of which have been noticed before (p. 502). The gravel-covered London Clay ranges itself amongst the per- vious formations, but a comparison of the two clays when bare shows a great difference in their consumption death-rate. Many districts have a goodly proportion of their population on the sloping London Clay without their consumption being much affected, whereas in those that have much population on the flat Weald Clay the death-rate is high ; so that here again wetness and consumption go together. The few exceptions are perhaps one of the best proofs of the rule. On those parts of the South Coast where a large population lives on London Clay the consumption is very high,—Chichester indeed standing worst of the fifty-eight districts. Now in that country the London Clay has not its usual features, but forms a more or less gravel-covered, low-lying, water-logged flat, being (exceptionally) much in the usual condition of the Weald Clay. As the shingle-tracts bordering the sea seem to be an exception to the rule that low-lying pervious beds are much worse off than those at higher levels ; so the alluvial flats bordering the sea seem to form an exception to the rule amongst impervious beds, the striking case being Sheppey, which stands at the head of the whole fifty-eight districts, although the greater part of its population live on alluvium, close to the sea, and at about the sea-level. One is ied to think therefore that saturation by sea-water and saturation by fresh- water are quite different matters, and that whereas the latter increases the consumption death-rate, the former is comparatively harmless, or perhaps even beneficial. Sea air too may be good for consumptive patients. The conclusions that result from the geological and statistical W. Whitaker—On Geology and Consumption. 505 examination of the counties of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, of which an outline has been given above, are as follows :— : (1). That on pervious soils there is less consumption than on vm- pervious soils. (2). That on high-lying pervious soils there is less consumption than on low-lying pervious soils. (3). That on sloping impervious soils there is less consumption than on flat impervious soils. (4). These inferences must be put along with the other fact, that artificial removal of subsoil-water, alone, of various sanitary works, has largely decreased consumption. From which follows the general inference, that WETNESS OF SOIL IS A GREAT CAUSE OF CONSUMPTION, no other condition having been found, in the course of these inquiries, to go along with the con- sumption death-rate to any great extent. The value of such a conclusion, should it stand the test of further examination, cannot I think be over-estimated. It would introduce a new principle and object into the carrying out of those drainage- works that have been so much called for of late; it would aid consumptive people in choosing healthy living-places, and in avoid- ing those that may be hurtful; it would lead to the lessening of a disease that is the special curse of our country; and, by bringing men of science something nearer to the knowledge of the first cause of consumption, it might lead to the discovery of that cause, and of ee treatment and remedies as would successfully grapple with the isease. Confirmatory and independent evidence of the truth cf the above conclusion comes to us from America, Dr. Bowditch having drawn attention, in 1862, to the fact that “medical opinion in Massa- chusetts . .. . tends strongly to prove... . the existence of a law in the development of consumption in Massachusetts . . . . that dampness of the soil . . . . is intimately connected, and probably as cause and effect, with the prevalence of consumption.”? The Regis- trar-General for Scotland, quoting the above (in his Seventh Annual Report), and applying it to eight large towns in Scotland, accepts the theory. It is right to add however that no such detailed exami- nation, as in our case, seems to have been made in either America or Scotland. NOTICHS OF MEMOTRS. —— L—ExprErIMEeNts on Contortion or Mountain Limestone.* By Louis C. Mratt, Esq. T has been well established by numerous experiments that no rigid body is either quite inflexible or perfectly elastic. All 1 “ Qonsumption in New England and elsewhere, or Soil-moisture one of its chief causes.’ Ed. 2. Boston, 1868. I should state that Dr. Buchanan did not know of this pamphlet until the completion of his own researches. 2 Read before the British Association (Section C.) at Exeter, August, 1869. 506 Notices of Memoirs. bodies are altered in form by pressure, and every change of form produces some permanent alteration, however slight, either in shape or texture. When any substance is bent, the total deflection is made up of two elements, which may be termed elasticity and set, or tem- porary and permanent deflection. The practical importance of this distinction in iron-work has led to valuable investigations respecting the changes produced in that metal by strains. Mr. Hodgkinson and Mr. Fairbairn have prepared tables which give the results of many experiments of this kind. More recently, M. Tresca has investigated the subject, and his paper on the “ Flow of Solids,” read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at Paris in 1867, contains an account of various experi- ments instituted to prove that the behaviour of liquids under pres- sure is only one case of a general law, which may be extended to solids also, being of course particularly conspicuous in those solids which, like iron and lead, possess a marked ductility. The geologist is aware that rocks also are capable of both tem- porary and permanent deflection. Contorted rocks, of which a vast number of examples are known, shew that in many cases compact and solid strata have been crumpled up like folds of cloth, while the contained fossils have been occasionally curiously distorted, yet with- out fracture. It is quite unnecessary to cite instances of what is well-known to all students of geology. From the earliest days of the science these phenomena have been referred, and no doubt justly, to slow and long continued pressure. But J am not aware that the matter has ever been investigated with quantitative pre- cision, and the experiments which I am about to quote were accord- ingly directed to this issue—an exact comparison of sudden and continuous strains with reference to the deflection which they can respectively produce. The apparatus which has been contrived to prosecute this inquiry is of asimple kind. The machine here exhibited is adapted for pro- ducing visible deflection in thin slabs of stone. The lamina is clamped at one end of a block, the length to be bent is regulated by sliding the block along a groove, and a known weight descends upon the free end. Provision is made that the weight shall act upon a knife-edge, which is always perpendicular to the surface of the slab and always applied to the same line. By means of an index, the deflection can be read accurately to hundredths of an inch. With this apparatus I have made experiments for some months past, but the process is so slow, several weeks being required for one operation, that the results hitherto arrived at are very limited. J have as yet tested carefully no material except mountain limestone, and there is still much to be done in studying the effect of small but long continued strains upon that substance. The annexed table gives the results of one series of contortion ex- periments. A number of observed facts have been neglected in order to give prominence to the chief point, viz. the difference in the de- flections which may be produced by the sudden application of a con- siderable weight and the prolonged action of slight pressure. The L. C. Miall—On Contortion of Rocks. 507 angles have been deduced from the amount of perpendicular de- flection, and they are consequently all taken as rectilinear. Experiments on Contortion of Mountain Limestone. Moye) 72am 2lbs. 702. 70z. Recovered in Immediately 3 weeks 2 months 3 weeks (broke at) 2°2° 74° 11°5° 27° ae INosp eee in 2lbs. 702. 70Z. Broke after Immediately 3 weeks 2 months 6 days (broke at) 2°5° 815° 10°15° No. 3. ~7, (bituminous). 2lbs. 70Z. 70z. Recovered in Immediately 3 weeks 2 months 3 weeks (broke at) 2°75° 755° 11:2° 31° No. 4. +2, (bituminous). 2lbs. 502. 50z. Broke after Immediately 3 weeks 3 weeks 11 days (broke at) 2°15° ols 12°5° Another circumstance connected with these experiments has some interest in connection with geological phenomena. I have found re- peatedly that the slabs, when bent to any considerable angle, have exhibited a great tendency to break transversely. This has generally appeared some days after the strain was removed. In those cases where sharp, unbroken bends occur in rocks, the tendency to fracture has been probably overcome by the pressure of superincumbent mass. As yet I have not been able to imitate the natural conditions so as to verify this explanation experimentally, but I have no doubt of its correctness. In one well-marked instance in the Mountain limestone district of Yorkshire an anticlinal flexure passes eastwards into an anticlinal fault with gradually increasing displacement. The geological evidence in this case shews unmistakably that the lime- stone was covered at the time of disturbance by a considerable thick- ness of upper Carboniferous strata, which are also known to have materially diminished eastwards,—that is, In correspondence with the alteration in the character of the anticlinal. Some interesting facts have been observed by the microscopic ex- amination of the deflected substances, but these results require more complete investigation. In order to operate upon thicker slabs, I am preparing a micrometer screw which will read deflection to 1-1500 inch. At some future time I hope to bring a fuller collection of observations under the notice of geologists. 508 Notices of Memoirs. II.—On Certain PHENOMENA IN THE Drirrt NEAR NorwicH.: By Joun E. Taytor, Esq. i i has been well observed that in Norfolk we possess the best graduated series of later deposits from the Pliocene age upwards, to be found in Great Britain. With the exception of the ‘“ Purple Clay,” found by Messrs. Wood and Rome in Lincolnshire, and believed by them to be of later date than the upper Boulder-clay of Norfolk, we have all the Pleistocene series complete. Notwith- standing this, there are few “ debateable lands” more open to dif- ference of opinion than those of Norfolk. Every now and then, the geologist who believes he has made out a complete case, and imagines he can rest on his oars, is suddenly disturbed by some out-of-the- way and apparently trivial discovery which upsets all his previous calculations, and forces him to his Sisyphus task again. I believe, however, that ultimately all these discrepancies will be found more fully to bear out the glacial hypothesis. I have the honour to bring before the notice of this Section several phenomena which apparently disturb the succession of the drift-beds, but which in my opinion only confirm the theory of their origin. About three years ago, my friend Mr. Harmer, of Norwich, contributed a paper which was read before the Geological Society of London, on a “third, or Valley Boulder-clay.” This deposit was found at Thorpe, near Norwich, and Mr. Harmer, who I believe has since altered his hypothesis, gave to it its name of ‘“ Valley Boulder- Clay,” from finding it on the shoulder of the high grounds bounding the valley of the Yare towards the east. Subsequently I conducted Mr. Harmer to a similar deposit at Swainsthorpe, about five miles from Norwich, where the Boulder-clay is seen resting on the re- constructed Chalk, to the absence of the intervening series, which, however, are found to the north and south of this patch, at the dis- tance of less than a quarter of a mile. All these beds occur on a plateau, away from any river valley. Again, at Harford Bridges, two miles from Norwich, a similar bed of Boulder-clay is seen lying at a lower level than the middle drift sands which occur about a quarter of a mile off. Last year, in company with Professor Liveing and the Rev. Osmond Fisher, I visited this bed, in order to point out the seeming anomaly, when Mr. Fisher suggested what I believe to be the true explanation in every case where the upper Boulder-clay lies out of its true position—that it had been thrown down in a deep furrow or groove formed by the stranding of an ice- berg. Some of the localities where the phenomena I am about to mention occur, may have been in a continuous line of such iceberg action, and the intervening area may have been denuded into its present form, so as to cut off the connection. In the cutting of a deep railway gulley, close by the well-known Crag-pit of Thorpe, near Norwich, there was laid open, about a couple of years ago, a section showing a north-easterly groove scooped out of the sand and pebble-beds, and having the Upper 1 Read before the British Association (Section C.), Exeter, August, 1869. J. EB. Taylor—On the Drift near Norwich. 509 Boulder-clay dropped into it. The diameter of the furrow was about a hundred yards. On each side the sands were twisted and contorted, as though they had been acted upon by some moving mass, and thrown out of their original position. ‘The Boulder-clay at Harford Bridges evidently rests on the disturbed Chalk, which comes up a little nearer Norwich, on the same side of the river. This bed cannot be more than two or three hundred yards in breadth, ~ and it also has a north-easterly extension. On the higher grounds of 'Trowse and Bixley, the Upper Boulder-clay may again be seen resting on the disturbed Chalk, although less than a quarter of a mile away, in the same line of high ground, there is a pit where the Crag is developed, with the pebble-beds and clays overlying it, the whole resting on the hard and undisturbed Chalk. Mr. Searles Wood, in a paper read before the British Association at Norwich, last year, stated what he called an ‘anomalous structure in the Upper Glacial beds.” This was that the true Boulder-clay in the centre of Norfolk has been deposited in a great trough more than twenty miles in breadth. It is evident that this has no connection with the minor phenomena I have endeavoured to describe, although this great sheet also is let down on the Chalk. Such an extensive result may, how- ever, be directly connected with the general glaciation of the Norfolk Chalk-beds. At Drayton, about three miles from Norwich, and again at Attle- bridge, about four miles further, the same phenomenon of the grooving of the Lower Drift-beds and the deposition of the Boulder- clay in the hollow, may also be seen, although here the surface of the country must have suffered considerable denudation since it oc- curred. In none of these instances is the width of the Boulder-clay deposit more than a few hundred yards. Another phenomenon seems to have more or less of a connection with those I have de- scribed. Close by the patch of Boulder-clay at Swainsthorpe, and on the same general level, the re-deposited Chalk crops up, and the flint bands may be seen contorted and dragged up into an angle of nearly sixty degrees. At Whitlingham, between the patches of Boulder- clay, lying out of their true places at Thorpe and Trowse, there is a fine section showing the flint bands in the disturbed Chalk thrown into quite an anticlinal axis, although a few hundred yards to the right and left of the same bed, they are in almost their original hori- zontality. It would seem as if the agent which had furrowed and displaced the Lower Drift-beds, and caused the Upper to be de- posited in the hollow, had also dragged up and twisted the flint- bands in the Chalk along its course, just as I have mentioned its having contorted the sand-beds in the railway cutting. The occur- rence of the two phenomena so near together is certainly suggestive. If the Upper Boulder-clay was formed under glacial-marine condi- tions, the stranding of icebergs must have been of frequent occur- rence, so that phenomena like those I have mentioned only prove the general fact. Thus viewed, these seeming anomalies fall into their proper places, and complete the evidence of the semi-arctic circum- stances under which some of the Drift-beds of Norfolk were accu- mulated. 510 Reviews—Richthofen’s System of Volcanic Rocks. REVIEWS. l.—Tue Narurat System or Voncanic Rocks. By F. Baron Ricutuoren, Dr. Phil. Printed by the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, 1868. N anotice of the work of two French geologists on Central America in the last number of this Magazine, regret was ex- pressed that imperfect ideas upon volcanic action had prevented their just appreciation and clear description of the geology of that district ; especially of the great development of Trachytic rocks observable there. ‘The same remark applies to the work named at the head of this paper by a German geologist, who, possessing the advantage of a previous acquaintance with the volcanic regions of Germany and Hungary, recently visited the North-west coast of America, and has dealt with the subject of volcanic rocks in an elaborate memoir presented to the California Academy of Sciences, and printed by them at San Francisco in 1868. The value of M. Richthofen’s “Natural System of Volcanic Rocks,” as a contribution to the science of geology, may be estimated from the fact that he denies the occurrence of any volcanic rocks in the series of geological formations preceding the commencement of the Tertiary Era. (What will Sir Roderick Murchison, Professor Ramsay, or Mr. A. Geikie say to this?) And his “System of Volcanic Rocks” is divided into two great classes; the first and earliest that of “‘ Massive Eruptions,” which, though “ volcanic,” were ‘not produced by volcanos” ; the second, and latest in time, the products of “ Voleanos proper.” M. Richthofen goes on to divide each of these two classes of rocks into five “orders,” determined by their mineral characters, called by him respectively, 1. ‘‘ Propylite” (Greenstone—Trachyte, or Greystone—i.e., a Trachyte in which Hornblende or Augite occurs in noticeable quantity) ; 2. Andesite (a mere variety of the latter rock) ; 3. Trachyte proper; 4. Rhyolite (Siliceous Trachyte, Pearlstone, and Obsidian) ; 5th. Basalt. These different kinds of volcanic rock succeed one another, according to M. Richthofen, ‘invariably over all the globe,” in the sequence here given, not once only, but twice over, that is, in each “class ;’—1in the earlier period of ‘“‘massive eruptions,” and in the later period of «volcanos proper.” It is needless to say that these arbitrary classifications and as- sertions as to the relative age of particular varieties of volcanic rocks are wholly at variance with known facts, and the authority of the most reliable observers of such formations. The epithet “massive,” applied by M. Richthofen to his class of earlier volcanic rocks, would seem to indicate some distinction founded on the vastness of the scale on which they occur, as com- pared with the ‘volcanic rocks proper.” But see the following de- scription by him of an admitted “volcano,” Lassen’s Peak, in Northern California (p. 33). «The enormous bulk of this ancient volcano is totally built up of Reviews—Richthofen’s System of Volcanic Rocks. 11 stratified layers of Andesitic tufa and lapilli, which, in the steep gorge issuing from its lower crater, are exposed in a thickness of nearly four thousand feet... .. Besides these stupendous accumula- tions of loose matter, currents of Andesitic lava appear to have been emitted from the crater, extending at least twenty miles from the place of ejection. Ata later epoch, the activity of the same volcano has been distinguished by the emission of trachytic lava from the north-eastern part of the wall of the crater; its currents have expanded to elongated and sloping tables, bounded by abrupt descents. A third epoch is marked by the outbreak of rhyolite, at the same place whence the trachytic rocks had issued. Rhyolite composes the present summit of Lassen’s Peak, on which it is accumulated in a thickness of more than fifteen hundred feet; also some other summits of less altitude, and at least one prominent current of lava of great volume.” If these ‘volcanic rocks,” are not worthy of the epithet “massive,” we may, at least, inquire how they are distinguishable from those massive rocks, of which M. Richthofen contrasts the “Grandeur” (p. 90) with the “insignificant processes of volcanic activity,’ and the same question may be asked in reference to all those hundreds of volcanic peaks and cones with which the Andes of both continents are studded, and which rise from 5,000 to 25,000 feet above their bases—all the acknowledged products of this “insignificant volcanic activity.” The following is the only passage we can find in the memoir, in which any attempt is made to justify the two-fold division of ‘volcanic rocks.” After admitting that “no distinct line of demarcation can be drawn between the two modes of manifestation of subterranean energy,” he goes on to say, “But in numerous instances . . . conspicuous differences may be noted between them. Volcanos are provided with a channel connecting the seat of volcanic action with the surface. The matter which they eject consists either of stratified layers of ashes and scoriz, or of currents of lava in the shape of flat sheets, or of alternating layers of both kinds of material, &c.” ‘Similar rocks when they come to the surface by ‘massive eruptions,’ do not present these distinguishing features. They usually compose ranges of small width in pro- portion to their length, and in place of one or more distinct centres, an elongated axis may be detected.” They present “ a certain massive character.” ‘ ‘Masses’ are frequently found thousands of feet in height, which do not vary perceptibly in character, and show no horizontal structure.” The “breccias,” which sometimes accompany them in very large masses, “ do not often occur in stratified layers.” “The ranges show no signs of craters—yet they are frequently the foundations of Volcanos. Oftener still do Volcanos occur on the lower portions of their slopes, or in a series parallel to the axis of the main range, and even greatly exceed it in elevation. Notwithstanding these points of difference, it is often difficult to decide what was the mode of origin of an accumulation of volcanic rocks” (p. 61). Well may this be, since the points of difference are certainly quite undistinguishable. It is evident that we have here the old error of 012 Reviews—Richthofen’s System of Volcanic Rocks. the school of Humboldt, which refuses to acknowledge any mountain mass to have been a volcano, though composed wholly of volcanic rocks, which has not an evident “opening” or crater at its summit, or at least a conical form, or small radiating streams of lava; nay, even in the case of these, attributes the formation of the cone and crater to ‘upheaval,’ not to successive eruptions from the same vent. Thus, among other passages in his Cosmos, Humboldt, says (p. 224 Sabine’s Translation, Ed. 1858) :— “We may ascribe to a first fissuring of the deeply disturbed earth- crust, the oldest formation of erupted rocks (often perfectly similar in mineral composition to recent lavas) ; then these fissures, as well as the ‘craters of elevation’ of later origin, must be looked upon only as volcanic openings through which erupted masses have flowed, and not as ‘volcanos proper.’ ‘The principal characteristic of these latter consists in a permanent, or at least from time to time renewed, con- nection between the deep-seated focus, or source of igneous action, and the atmosphere.” ‘The Volcano requires for this purpose a particular kind of framework. Therefore its form-giving or shaping activity is exerted in the upheaval of the ground ; not (as was for- merly believed) in the building up by successive accumulation of scorie and strata of Java deposited one above another.” In a sub- sequent passage, referring to the great volcanic development of Western America, he suggests how much remains to be done there by ‘“‘a competent Geologist who should devote himself to the mineralogical determination of its trachytes, dolerites, and me- laphyres, and to the discrimination of the originally upheaved mass from the part that has been covered by subsequent eruptions.” “Conical or dome or bell-shaped mountains which have never been opened, are to be most carefully distinguished from volcanos, which either now emit, or have at any former period emitted, scorize and lava, like Vesuvius and Htna, or scoriz and ashes only, like Pichinea and Cotopaxi” (p. 267, id.). It is evident that M. Richthofen has acted on this hint ; and hence his grand two-fold division of volcanic rocks, into “massive erup- tions,” and the products of ‘‘ volcanos proper.” It is really time, however, that all these fanciful ideas should be renounced. It is utterly impossible, whether in the writings of these and other Geologists of this school, or in nature, to find any intelligible distinction between volcanic rocks that have issued from fissures, so as to form ‘‘massive,” or ‘“‘elongated,” or ‘‘dome-shaped” mountains, and rocks produced by eruptions from ‘‘volcanos proper.” It is a miserable thing that such untenable distinctions, couched as they are in vague and confused language indicative of a correspond- ing confusion of ideas, should be taught generally in Mining-schools on the Continent, and, we fear, some of this country also, where Humboldt’s Cosmos is still a classical school-book. If these remarks should be considered too strong, let it be remembered that this confusion of ideas as to the origin of volcanic rocks, is not con- fined to a single passage or two of the Cosmos, but pervades the whole of the 350 pages of that work, which treat of ‘“ volcanos” Reviews—Richthofen's System of Volcanic Rocks. 513 (three-fourths of the whole), and that the same unfortunate mis- conception has gone far to destroy the benefit that might have accrued to science from the researches of an entire generation of both German and French Geologists in volcanic regions, had not their interpretation of the facts before their eyes been blinded by the influence of so great a name. I cannot hesitate to express the opinion that until these vague and contradictory views of the character of volcanic action are universally renounced, no progress can be made towards a sound theory of the mode of production of the class of Hypogene formations, from Obsidian and Pumice to Granite itself. That the vast accumulations of Trachytic porphyry, and also of basalt, which accompany and envelop the now or recently active volcanic cones of Western America (as of Hungary and many other localities) have sometimes issued from prolonged fissures, or from sO many points upon such fissures, as to combine to form vast elongated ‘masses,’ while on other points where the eruptive action has been more concentrated, or lasted longer, the lava has accumulated over the vent in domes or cones, sometimes of enormous magnitude, is in entire accordance with the normal action of volcanic energy. Why then are the volcanic rocks that have assumed these “massive” forms not to be called “the product of volcanos?” Such a distinction cannot rest (as some might imagine) on the absence among them of fragmentary ejecta, thrown up by ex- plosive outbursts of vapour from a volcanic vent, for M. Richthofen himself, no less than Humboldt, declares that in America the amount of pumice, ash, tuffs, and breccias, that form part of his ‘‘ massive eruptions,” probably equals that of the more solid rocks. The emission of these “massive eruptions” must then have been accompanied generally by explosive aeriform discharges from some neighbouring vent or vents. Where then, again I ask, is the dis- tinction of such phenomena from those of ‘‘volcanos proper?” This is not a mere dispute about words. The school in question maintains that the vast accumulations of trachyte greystone and basalt met with in countries admittedly volcanic, were ‘‘not produced by volcanos,” but in some non-descript manner; and that “ volcanos proper” are merely portions of these previously existing rocks which, at some comparatively recent period, have been upheaved bladder-fashion, and in some cases pierced with a hole which has allowed the escape of vapour from beneath, throwing up and sprink- ling around ashes and some minor dribblings of lava. Such a theory of volcanic action I maintain to be demonstrably false; and that, on the contrary, all volcanic formations were produced by volcanic action such as we see it in the present day, fracturing the surface of the earth by earthquake shocks ; extruding through the fissures so formed, on one or more points of them, lavas more or less liquid, which accumulate round the vent; expelling, in explosive jets of vapour, fragmentary lava or broken pieces of the rocks through which they have forced their way, and sometimes blowing up into the air, by a series of such explosions, the whole mountain which VOL. VI.—NO, LXV. 33 514 .Reviews—Richthofen’s System of Volcanic Rocks. had resulted from preceding eruptions, and scattering its substance in layers of ash or breccia over vast areas of sea and land around. Though it has been over and over again demonstrated, and is admitted by Humboldt, that rocks, the volcanic origin of which is unquestion- able, exhibiting great varieties of mineral character from the most highly felspathic Trachyte to the densest Augitic Basalt, are occasion- ally found alternating with one another without any definite order,} it is true that in the greater number of volcanic groups the more felspathic rocks are found chiefly in the vicinity of the central points of eruption, and in the form of bulky, often dome-shaped, masses; while the basaltic currents have extended to greater distances, and affect the form rather of comparatively shallow and spreading sheets:—this difference being ro doubt due to the generally superior fluidity and greater specific gravity of the latter, at the time of their emission as lava from the volcano. Circumference.—EpIT. 524. Correspondence—Col. George Greenwood. us of a raised beach on Portland “thirty or forty feet above the sea.” Is not this proof positive of the correctness of my theory? Did Portland rise thirty or forty feet and the isthmus remain stationary ? This junction with the land made Portland a groin protruding at right angles with the line of coast; and I have headed a passage (page 119 ‘‘Rain and Rivers”) “ Portland is a natural groin which catches the Chesil beach.” I have also said that to any one con- versant with the laws of the groin the mysteries of the Chesil beach vanish. Mr. Whitaker adopts the term “natural groyne” as his own. He also adopts the theory as his own, and says of it ‘“ that of course all must agree” to it. I have never happened to see Portland called a “natural groin;” nor have I seen the phenomena of the Chesil beach explained as those of a beach collected and formed by a groin. If Mr. Whitaker has, perhaps he will tell us where and by whom this has been published. Be this as it may, I would wish to say a word as to the heaping of the beach which is formed by the “natural groin.” Mr. Whitaker avoids the question; but he mentions “the set of the current” from west to east three times. The shingle he thinks is carried by this current, since, page 485, the shingle is “‘ stopped in its easterly course,” and in page 436 he seems to form the shingle beach by “the general set of the current.” Lyell, as quoted by Mr. Whitaker, attributes the heaping to “‘ meet- ing of tides,” “a great eddy,” “the tidal wave,” and “the set of the tide in the narrow channel.” While Herschel (Physical Geography, second edition, page 91) makes ‘tide currents” deposit “the great shingle drift of Dungeness Point and the Chesil Bank.” Let us, for argument, grant Mr. Whitaker’s assumed current from west to east along our south coast, and let this current be of force sufficient to drive pebbles of the size of those at the Portland end of the Chesil beach, they would at least travel along the bottom of the current. But even if they floated on the top of the current how could they get to the top of the beach which is forty-two feet above the level of the water? So if Lyell’s and Herschel’s tide had “‘eddied” here, it must have flowed as high as the top of the beach, and even then it must have carried the pebbles on its surface to have placed them where they are. These philosophers would be the first to remind us of the rule that water can only find one level, and that it cannot rise above its source; and this rule entirely precludes the possibility of the beach being heaped by tides or currents. But tules are apt to have exceptions, and the exception here is that when impact is given to water it will rise itself, and it will raise other substances very much higher than its source. In art we see this in the ram which sends water to the top of the house, though the ram and the source of the water may be much lower than the foundation of the house. In nature we see the exception in the effects of the impact given to the wave by the wind. It is then not tides or currents of water, but currents of air giving impact to the waves which have driven the drift to the top of the beach. Drayton gives this vera causa in 1613, “by the south wind raysd.” One great law of the sea-shore is, as the wind blows the wave flows, and as Correspondence—Mr. R. Craig. 526 the wave flows the beach goes. It is the prevalence of south-west winds in the northern hemisphere which runs beaches across the mouths of so many of our south-coast streams, great and small; and it is a law on the south-coast (quoted in a note by Mr. Whitaker himself) that where a travelling beach comes across an estuary the water escapes by soaking through the beach (the frequent cause of the so-called submerged forest) or by forcing a passage to the east. Notwithstanding this Jaw Mr. Whitaker starts his theory of the escape of the Fleet-water eastward as new, and he considers the shingle of the Chesil beach to be in an “anomalous position,’ his reason for calling it “anomalous” being that the beach is Jonger than other beaches, and that on the land side ‘there is no river emptying into the sea, but only a succession of very small streams.” But is not a succession of small streams, flowing by one channel into the sea, “a river emptying into the sea?” If Smallmouth sands were raised to the height of the Chesil beach, both being impervious, the Fleet would be a freshwater lake at that height. It would, however, quickly cut an outlet, and form an estuary at the present depth, and the land side of the estuary would of course be denuded as now by rain and rivers like the sides of every other estuary. I must not ask for your valuable space to enter farther into the laws of the sea-shore, to describe the cause of the so-called “sub- merged forest,” the principles of that most ingenious device the groin, or to explain the cause of the sorting and sizing of the materials of the Chesil beach. These materials decrease most gradually for twenty miles, that is, from the large pebbles at Port- land to the pure blown sand at Bridport. These things are detailed in the eighth chapter of “Rain and Rivers,” which is headed “Travelling of Sea-beach,” a subject on which profound ignorance prevails. Grorce GREENWOOD, Colonel. Brookwoop Park, ALRESFORD, 4th of October, 1869. DISCOVERY OF ARCTIC SHELLS BELOW BOULDER-CLAY, AT WOODHILL, KILMAURS. S1r,—In making some observations on the Boulder-clay, in the Kilmarnock district, in the end of Autumn, 1868, I was fortunate in finding a few Arctic shells from a bed of sand lying below the Boulder-clay at Woodhill, Kilmaurs. The shells are now in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, and, as recognized by Mr. John Young, the Curator, are Leda oblonga, Tellina calcarea, Pecten Tslandica, Cyprina Islandica, Astarte sulcata, A. compressa, Natica Grenlandica, and fragments of a large species of Natica, and a Littorina. They were got in sinking a pit scarcely half-a-mile from the old quarry, where so many elephants’ tusks and deer horns were found. ‘The section stands thus—Boulder-clay, fifty-one feet ; sand, with marine shells (the above), one foot three inches; peaty clay, mixed with sand, one foot six inches (this is the bed in which the tusks and horns were found) ; run, or cemented, gravelly sand, one district, and went to considerable expense in getting them properly 526 Obituary—Dr. R. N. Rubidge. foot six inches, lying upon the Carboniferous strata. Farther re- searches this summer have fully confirmed my first impression, that the shell-bed lies below the lower Boulder-clay. The country around Kilmarnock is largely perforated with pits, and good opportunity is afforded for observing the surface-beds. In none of these pits has Boulder-clay been found underlying the sand and peaty beds. The sand bed is very irregularly developed, being as thick as thirty feet in one pit, and in others ten feet, twenty feet, and so on. The peaty bed is apparently the remains of an older bed, most likely of estuarine (7) formation, being found in patches, often at considerable distances apart, remnants no doubt of a larger bed that has suffered by denu- dation. The discovery of these shells throws light upon the former discoveries at Kilmaurs, and gives the true horizon of the bed where the elephants’ tusks and horns of the reindeer were found. R. Craig. LanesipE BetItH, October 7th, 1869. Str,—Will you kindly give publicity to a work which is now in progress, viz. Murray’s Handbook to the Geology of England and Wales; and allow me to appeal, through the medium of the Gxotxo- cicat Macazing, to all brothers of the hammer for assistance and contributions, particularly in local geology, which will be most gratefully acknowledged. Purturs Bevan, F.G.8., Editor. 4, SurroLK Square, CHELTENHAM, Oct. 21, 1869. @S2 WU eAtie ys. Dr. R. N. Rusmez.—We receive from Port Hlizabeth the pain- ful intelligence of the sudden death (on the 8th August), of R. N. Rubidge, Esq., M.B. Lond., F.G.8., etc., who was well-known as an enthusiastic labourer in the geology of South Africa. Beginning his medical studies under Dr. John Atherstone, of Port Elizabeth, his habit of accurate observation was acquired and fostered in com- pany with his fellow pupil and friend, Dr. W. G. Atherstone, of that town, also known as an ardent and successful geological explorer of South Africa, sometime in company with the late Mr. A. G. Bain, who first worked out and mapped the geology of that region. In 1854 Dr. Rubidge was requested by the merchants of Port Elizabeth to visit and report upon the newly discovered gold-dig- gings near Smithfield, in the Orange River Sovereignty. In com- pany with Mr. Paterson he made a careful examination of the spot, and found that gold in small quantities was associated with quartz in the meridional set of trap-dykes there intersecting the Dicynodon or Karoo beds. In his clear and concise communication of these results to the Geological Society of London (Quart. Journ., vol. xi., p- 1, ete.), Dr. Rubidge mentions a fact that may be of interest in connection with the possible origin of the diamonds that have of late Obituary—Dr. R. N. Rubidge. 527 been so profusely found in Orange River territories, namely, that in the eastern ranges of the Stormberg, beyond Aliwal, the anthracitic coal of the Karoo beds has been converted into plumbago by the volcanic dykes. Hence it is possible that, by further change, purer carbon has been elicited from the carbonaceous matter by volcanic or metamorphic agency in the Natal ranges, and has been brought down in the form of diamond by the rivers, together with their com- mon agate gravel, derived from the same igneous and often amygda- loidal rocks (see also his letter in the Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xii., . 237). : In fe same year (1854), at the instance of a Mining Company, Dr. Rubidge went to Namaqualand, to report upon its metal pro- ducing capabilities. The results are given by him in the Geological Society’s Journ., vol. xili., a short notice only appearing in the pre- vious volume. The gneissic and schistose rocks of this part of Western Africa being quite new to him, and so full of interesting mineralogical characters, afforded a rich field of observation; and he was particularly struck with the probable metamorphic origin of some granite, and with the apparent silification of some bands of schist, covered unconformably by sandstone, through which water had carried silica to replace the original felspar and mica of the gneissic bands below. This view of the metamorphic condition of some quartzite Dr. Rubidge regarded as a key to the elucidation of certain sections seen in different parts of South Africa, and con- sidered by him to be of a very difficult nature, if left to be explained according to the usual view of geologists. Thus in 1858 (Geol. Soc. Journ., vol. xv., p. 196) he explained the section of Mitchell’s Pass, at the village of Ceres, otherwise than Mr. Bain had interpreted it ; and regarded the great sandstone formation of Table Mountain as occurring again and again in great patches of horizontal and uncom- formable beds, over the highly inclined schists and gneiss, both of the Cape and of Namaqualand, instead of dipping, at Ceres, down below the Devonian rocks of the Bokkeveld; and thus he made the schistose rocks of Cape Town, of the Bokkeveld, George, and southern Uitenhage (whence he got Devonian fossils) to be all of the same date: certainly a great advance was gained in proving the continuation of the Bokkeveld schists into the last-named district ; but whether the schists and slates of the Cape come into the same category still requires careful inquiry. Examining the neighbourhood of the Zuerberg, in occasional journeys, Dr. Rubidge endeavoured to throw light on the stratifica- tion and structure of that country, shewing that the Lower Ecca beds are probably of Devonian age. For the illustration of his views on this matter he sent several series of rocks and fossils to the Geological Society of London, and he communicated papers on the subject to that Society, to the ‘‘ Geologist,” to the British Association, and to the periodicals of Port Elizabeth. In 1864 he visited England and travelled to the north with the special view of studying similar schistose and quartzose rocks to those of the Zuerberg. He brought with him many new fossils, of Secondary age, from the Uitenhage 528 ; Miscellaneous. examined and determined, intending ultimately to produce a general work on the geology of the colony. The fossils constituted a valu- able addition to the South-African collection in the Geological Society’s Museum, and were fully described, with illustrations, in the Society’s Journal, by Mr. R. Tate, in 1867. So long ago as 1854, Dr. Rubidge wrote to his geological corres- pondents in London on the subject of aérial denudation, which had not then received as much attention from European geologists as it deserved. In 1866 he reproduced the chief points of his letters in the Gzotocicat Macazinz, No. 20, bringing forward evidence of the enormously extensive and long-continued denudation of the interior of South Africa subsequent to its leaving the sea, and since the lacustrine deposits of the Karoo formations were drained dry. As an observer and as a generalizer, then, Dr. Rubidge was energetic and bold, adding much to the store of geological facts and thought, though working hard throughout in his professional practice, and often suffering from ill-health. Heart-disease has taken him off suddenly (at the age of about forty-eight) from amongst his friends, before his well-loved work was finished as he wished ; but he had always given his best attention to the advance- ment of Science in general, and of Geology in particular, among the community around him; and having always identified himself with the Literary and Scientific Institutions of Port Elizabeth, and shewed the greatest personal interest in its Public Library, Museum, and Public Hospital, his townsmen, who in large numbers of all grades of society attended his funeral, regret him as a kind warm- hearted friend,—a loss which will not be readily replaced. His fellow colonists too in South Africa, and his geological friends in England, are all truly grieved to hear of his death, fully recognizing his amiable qualities, scientific attainments, and devotion to good works.—T. R. J. MIiSCHUiTaAN HOUS. Mr. Marspatt Hatri’s Screntiric Exprprrion.—The schooner yacht Norna, Mr. Marshall Hall owner and master, is being laid up at Brightlingsea for the winter, having returned from a Norwegian cruise. She experienced several gales, but has suffered no injury whatever. On passage out, at the same date, one of our largest and finest schooners lost boats and everything above deck. The Norna succeeded in penetrating to the furthest extremities of several fjords, where never yacht had been before, and her owner, who is a member of the Alpine Club, has partially explored, and even laid the foundation for a rough survey of, several portions of the large tracts of ice, of which at present but little is known. He proposes to continue his efforts next summer. Mr. Marshall Hall has also made geological investigations of the remarkable terraces very common in the inland valleys of Norway, more especially as regards the time occupied in their formation. Prof. Kjerulf, of Christiania, i also been occupied with this subject. —Scientific Opinion, Oct. 6, 69. Vol. VW FLXEX. Mea lEO9 a Geol «ORIN, Wem. A aa ( by da = iol al ma TT é ave = weak 1 NGS IMBC Re AUe THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. No. LXVI._DECEMBER, 1869. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. ee I.—Banprep anp Brecciatep Concrettons.! By Joun Ruskin, LL.D., F.G.S. [PLATE XIX.] HEN we find at the sides of veins, the veinstone rent into lamine, as I tried to represent in Plate XX. of Vol. IV. it is easy to think of the fracture as violent, and of the disruption of the vein as sudden. That, at least, this disruption must have been exceedingly slow, and that as is took place the rent must have been filled by contem- porary crystallization, is I think evident in the instances figured, and in the great number of cases which they represent. And as J continue my inquiry, it becomes more and more ques- tionable to me whether there has in such cases been disruption at all. For the more I endeavour to read Nature patiently, the more I find that she is always trying to deceive us while we are impatient, by pretending to do things in ways in which they never were done, and making things look like one another, which have no connection with each other. Fier t For instance, in Fig. 1, which Da rudely sketches a piece of Cornish hornstone, it would seem at first sight that the detached black and white bands were pieces of a band once continuous, but which had been broken up, and re-cemented in disorder. And if, on a large | scale, we had met with the fault | in almost exactly coincident beds, [c to which the arrow points, we |S should have had little doubt of = their former continuity. But in this stone they have never been in any other than their existing position, any more than the two upper beds on the left, of which one is an entirely undisturbed branch 1 For former papers see Grou. Maa., 1867, Vol. lV. pp 337 and 481; also 1868, Vol. V. pp. 12, 156, and 208. VOL. VI.—NO, LXVI. 34 530) J. Ruskin—On Banded and Brecciated Agates. of the other, as much as any branch of stalactitic chalcedony is of the rest of the mass Nor have any of these beds ever been broken at all. The whole is a tranquil determination of variously crystal- lizing substances, like that of the component minerals in granite. The white portions are hornstone; the black band in each is ferru- ginous, and the enclosing paste rudely crystalline quartz. There is, however, one grave structural difference between this stone and common granite. The crystals in granite run in all directions. These zones of hornstone have a more or less parallel direction ; and the black band, with another narrow one succeeding it, is always at the same side of them. I have placed the woodcut (Fig. 1) with the black beds upper- most, so that the resemblance may be seen between them, and the always uppermost grey beds in the highest division of Plate XV. Vol. IV. But in neither case can I say that their position has been influenced by gravity. For in Plate XV. it will be observed that the elliptical bar of central calcite crystallizes in every direction, and in this piece of hornstone, very near the portion above figured, is a cavity, in which while the bands whose separation forms it, retain their relation unchanged, the quartz, having now room to crystallize, does so indifferently up and down, and from both sides, as in Fig. 2. I do not know the position of the stone in situ. But though common granites show only arbitrary positions of crystals, in graphic granites we have a definitely parallel arrange- ment of them, somewhat resembling this of the hornstone, only more regular; and in massive felspathic rock we get the same deceptive resemblance of faults exquisitely defined. Fig. 3 repre- Ine, & sents (of the real size: as are also Figs. 1 and 2) a portion of fels- pathic rock in which two crystals of labradorite are separated by apparent breccia, but really, crystalline mass, of mixed labradorite and hyperstein. The oblique lines stand for this gangue (merely for a symbol — there are no lines nor cleavage in the gangue itself). The white spaces are pale blue labradorite, the horizontal lines indicate in each crystal a sharp, exquisitely defined, zone of vivid J. Ruskin—On Banded and Brecciated Agates. 531 orange, and the vertical lines a zone of intense blue. There has evidently been no fracture in this case, any more than between the felspar crystals of common granite. And the—in this instance absolutely accurate—coincidence of direction in the zones of the detached pieces, with their fault-like variation in breadth and relative position, are both of them entirely crystalline phenomena. Now we must always remember that in chalcedony and quartz we have two entirely distinct groups of crystalline forces; one radiant, endeavouring to throw the mass into spherical concretions ; the other rectilinear, endeavouring to reduce it to hexagonal crystals: and that both of these are capable of producing phenomena of relative distortion. Also, the group of the spheric forces associates itself delightedly with the spheric forces of hydrous oxide of iron, thus producing endlessly fantastic groups of mixed iron and chalcedony, while the rectilinear forces ally themselves in like manner to those of micaceous iron, bournonite, heavy spar, and calcite, producing tabular groups of crystals which present close analogies to the flat leaves of chalcedonies which, have metallic or earthy laminz for their support; while the iron-oxide, when it has no longer the power of modifying the shapes of the crystals, sets itself to imitate two other minerals frequently found in them. It mimics the globes of brown mica so exactly with its own bossy groups of clustered lamine, that only a strong lens, or the knife, will distinguish them, and, in the interior of crystals, throws itself into golden-coloured radiant or circular sheaves which, when within amethyst, are the most beautiful things I know among minerals; but which it is a matter of great difficulty to distinguish in common quartz from minor forms of rutile. Finally, to crown the complexity of this iron and flint group, the sulphide of iron, varied beyond all minerals in the phantasies and grotesques which it can build out of its plastic and innumerable cubes, shoots its stellate crystals through the mass of the hydrous oxide, and disputes with it the central position in stalactites of chalcedony. But, through all this confusion, one generalization presents itself which is of great value. Whenever iron, whether oxide or sulphide, is associated with stalactitic chalcedony, it is always in the centre of the mass; but when iron, whether oxide or sulphide, is associated with quartz crystals, it is always (if determinately placed at all), either on the outside, or at a slight depth below the surface, under an external coat of clearer crystal. It may be imdeterminately placed, in dispersed stars or cubes; but, if ordered at all it is ordered so. Briefly, a crystal of quartz never has a centre of iron, and a crystal of chalcedony never & coat of it.' And an important result seems to follow from this. If stalactites 1 Of course I do not vouch for any so wide generalization as this absolutely. If ever one ventures to do such a thing, the next stone one takes up on a dealer’s counter is sure to be an exception to the announced law; but I am confident that any mineralogist can fortify the statement from his own experience quite enough to justify our reasoning upon it. D092 J. Ruskin—On Banded and Brecciated Agates. of chalcedony were formed by superfluent coats, some of these coats would have iron in solution at the outside as well as the interior, and would secrete it in successive films; whereas, on the contrary, the entire bulk of the iron, being always central, must surely have been secreted out of the entire mass; and, therefore, I believe that the true chalcedonic stalactite is indeed a long botryoidal crystal, like some of the forms of sulphide of iron, found in chalk, and not at all a drooping succession of fluent coats, except in cases of rapid deposit, which, as far as I remember, show no central iron. Again, when iron is systematically associated with quartz, it is never in the centre of the crystal, but either on the surface or under an externally imposed glaze. Hence it follows that the crystalline forces at work in forming quartz act nearly in the reverse of those that form chalcedony, as regards the direction of ferruginous ele- ments, and that they have quite a peculiar power in finishing crystals, which determines, at a given time, either a purer, or an amethystine, silica to the surface, often throwing down crystals of iron between the two. I have already noticed the clear coat forming the exterior of many nested agates in basaltic cells. and the deposit of iron succeeding it, to which I gave the name of medial oxide. My impression is that the exterior of such agates, as relating to the crystalline power, may be considered identical with the centre of a stalactite, and J think it will be found that the iron in such stalactitic centres, however deli- cate the fibre of it, is not solid, but tubular, leaving the absolute centre of clear silica correspondent to the surface of clear silica in a quartz crystal. It is very strange that among these complicated forces certain conditions of chalcedony and quartz should be so constant, and the intermediate states, giving evidence of formation, so rare; but though the interior of almost every quartz crystal shows the forces of agatescence and straight crystallization in confused contest, I have only seven or eight specimens, out of a collection of some thousands, which clearly show the balance of the two powers in accomplished structure. The uppermost figure in Plate XIX. represents a portion of one of these, which is a stellar agate, formed of grey chalcedony, with white bands collected in a knot within radiant quartz. The precision of its lines is beyond all imitation, but Mr. Allen has succeeded in draw- ing and engraving it for us quite well enough to show the repeated efforts of the chalcedony to throw itself into straight crystalline planes, successful, tremulously, here and there for a quarter of an inch, and then thrust again into curvature by the lateral spheric force. The second example, engraved in the lower figure in Plate XIX., shows the two forces reconciled in their reign: the crystalline or mural form is completely taken by the agatescent bands in one part of the stone and the spheric in another, while the bands themselves are arranged in double folds, turned at the extremities, like the back of a book. Finally, the wood-cut, Figure 4, gives the rude outline of a stone J. Ruskin—On Banded and Brecciated Agates. 500 in which the central nucleus of confused quartz has made vigorous, repeated, and, as far as I know quartz, 1 may even say super-quartz- ine efforts to gather itself into a single crystal, dragging the circum- fluent agatescent lines one after another violently aside, to expire in the planes of its successive pyramids. Fia. 4. ALIA VON ue MOWAT In all these instances the crystalline action is unmistakable, being at relative angles, of which only agatescent warping deranges the magnitude, but here (Fig. 5) is an example in which we have an Fic. 5. apparently pendant stalactite (which is, however, the section of a 534 Henry Hicks—Fossil Plant-remains of St. David’s. vertical wall) without evidence of any relative planes, except the very short and secondary one on the left. Yet, between conditions of this kind and true stalactitic agates, there is a gap which at present I cannot bridge. The mural agate consists of concretions in flat planes, formed irrespectively of gravity ; the stalactitic agate, of concretions on central rods, formed with reference to gravity. I have, indeed, one example in which these central rods are incipient in formation ;—are as fine as hairs, and are connected, as in Fig. 6, by drooping branches concurrent with the successive outlines of the falling mass ; and another, Fig. 7, in which the tubes of a folded agate IPG Fic. 6. have become crystalline, and are clearly minded to determine them- selves into straight lines. But these are both small, and of structures too unusual to found reasoning upon. I shall engrave them, however, hereafter, but before examining these and the other structures illus- trating the connection between mural and stalactitic agates, it will be better to trace the closer connection on the other side between mural and conchoidal agates. The states intermediate between these two will be the subject of my next paper. II].—Nortzs on a Spxcrus or Hopuyron (?) From THE LowEeR ARENIG Rocks oF Sr. Davip’s. By Henry Hicks, Esq. (PLATE XX.) S none of the figures hitherto given of the genus Hophyton show either its internal structure, or articulations of its stems, and as I am in possession of a specimen from the Lower Arenig Rocks, of Ramsey Island, near St. David’s, which resembles in some respects the Hophyton Linneanum Torell, but which shows both articulations of the stem, and an internal vascular structure, a de- scription of the species may probably be useful, and may tend to elucidate the true nature of Hophyton, concerning which so much doubt seems to exist at present. Geol.Mag.1869. Vol Vi PL Xx ee : G.R.De Wilde del. et ith. W.West imp Hophyton 2 explanatum. H. Hicks — lower Areni§ Rocks, St David's G. Poulett Scrope—On Pretended Raised Beaches. 585 There can be no reasonable doubt of the vegetable nature of this fossil, and I think its affinity to the vascular Cryptogams is most clearly shewn. These Lower Arenig Rocks, from whence the specimen was ob- tained, rest apparently quite conformable on Upper Lingula-flags,' and underlie the true Arenig or Skiddaw rocks. Nearly all the species ob- tained from these beds are new, and they indicate a fauna intermediate between Tremadoc Rocks, and the true Arenig Rocks. Indeed, in the report to the British Association, by Mr. Salter and myself, in 1866, they were classed as Tremadoc Rocks; but I have since thought it advisable to separate them and to place them in an inter- mediate position. The Brachiopoda from these rocks have been de- scribed by Mr. Davidson (Guot. Mac., Vol. V. p. 303), but all the other species are yet undescribed. Hophyton (?) explanatum, n.sp., Fig. 1. Pl. XX.—A raised, mode- rately convex stem, about 4 lines in breadth; widening, however, and becoming somewhat compressed at the joits. The surface is ribbed, and furrowed along its whole length. At the lower joint (a) the ribs bend outwards, evidently to form a branch. The joint is obliquely placed, widened out, and its course distinctly marked by a deep sulcus. The cortical substance is very thin, and can be removed to shew the internal structure. The internal structure is made up of compressed columns, running the whole length from joint to joint, evidently of a tubular nature, and bound together by very thin tissue. These are well shewn at b. At c, being the base of the stem, the broken ends are visible. Figs. d and e are these parts magnified. Fig. 2 most likely belongs also to this plant, but the characters are not well marked. Unless Hophyton Linneanum is proved to have a jointed stem, and an internal structure similar to our specimen; it will probably be necessary to make a generic distinction, but at present it is better to retain this under Dr. Torell’s generic name. II].—On roe Prerenpep ‘‘Rartsep Sea-BracHes” oF THE INLAND Stopes oF ENGLAND AND WALES. By G. Povnetr Scroprz, F.R.S., F.G.S., ete. fi the number of this Magazine for July, 1866, p. 293, I ventured to characterize as ‘‘ preposterous,” the opinion advanced by Mr. D. Mackintosh in two preceding papers (Guo. Maa., Vol. II. p. 69, and p. 1685) that the very numerous terraces that occur on the sides of the Chalk and Oolitic hills of the southern and western counties were, “without doubt, raised Sea-beaches,” affording, therefore, evidence of the very recent elevation of these hills from beneath the sea-level, since the complete excavation of the existing valleys. 1 So marked in the Geological Survey Maps. I am inclined, however, to think that they are representatives of the Tremadoce rocks, for Zing. Davisii, which is the only fossil present, is equally characteristic of Tremadoc rocks, and reaches here also into these Lower Arenig rocks. 5386 = G. Poulett Scrope—On Pretended Raised Beaches. Mr. Mackintosh replied in a brief paper, in which he refused to accept my correction of his theory (Vol. III. p. 381), declaring that, ‘so far as his observations have extended, the plough” (to the action of which I had attributed the formation of these terraces) “ would appear to obliterate rather than form regular systems of terraces such as he had described.” In his recently issued volume, ‘The Scenery of England and Wales ; its Character and Origin,” which was reviewed in the October number of this Magazine, Mr. Mackintosh repeats and enforces his views as to the marine origin of these terraces, with a contemptuous allusion to my “ Agricultural theory” (p. 92). Now, since the causes which have modelled the existing surface- forms of this island have a real geological interest of no little moment—especially as the same causes, if of a geological character, were no doubt at work very generally throughout the world during the same period,—and as those to which Mr. Mackintosh assigns the terraces in dispute indicate a very recent emergence from the sea, and elevation of the entire island by at least a thousand feet ; and also that this process took place through a series of slight steps or jumps locally of a few feet at a time, corresponding to the intervals of height between the numerously repeated terraces,—the question becomes one not of mere controversy between individual geologists, but of some importance in its bearing on general geological history. This consideration will, I hope, be my sufficient excuse for once more calling attention to the matter in dispute between Mr. M. and myself. I must refer the readers of the Magazine to my paper already mentioned (July 1866, p. 293) for the arguments employed by me in support of the agricultural origin of these terraces, popularly called Lynchets, or Balks, being un- willing to repeat them here. But as Mr. Mackintosh reproduces his theory of their marine origin in his present volume, with some additional illustrations and examples, I will quote some passages from that work in order to show the extent to which, if adopted, it would carry us, appending as we go on a few brief comments. In p. 85, he instances “the successive levels of the Brent knoll and its connected platform” as “terraces of marine erosion, which could never have answered any human purpose,” but which may be explained by “the action of a not very powerful sea, at different tidal levels, during a gradual rise of the land.”’ How or why these levels could not have answered the purpose of facilitating the culture of the steep slope—especially to the population which at one period encamped for safety on the summit of the knoll, Mr. M. does not explain. He proceeds to say, ‘In the adjoining district traversed by the Glastonbury and Temple Combe Junction, a geologist becomes bewildered among the thickly crowded variety of these denudational phenomena. Among them he can here and there discover single terraces and sets of terraces, nearly all corresponding to the outcrop of the strata, and therefore not artificial.” Why so? If the outcrop of a stratum or series of strata of rock harder than the rest, on the slope of a hill, be tolerably horizontal, G. Poulett Scrope—On Pretended Raised Beaches. 537 it would follow as a matter of course that the softer surfaces of the slope, above and below it, will have been preferably subjected to aration, and in time the ordinary result would appear in the accumu- lation of a considerable depth of silt and gravel—the washing of the plough-disturbed surface above—on the brow of the harder stratum, while its base would be eaten away through the action of the plough, and the loss by descent to a lower level of the matter so disturbed ; thus by degrees a small cliff or bank (balk) would be formed, chiefly consisting of hard rock, between the upper and under arable terraces. And this surely must be called an “artificial terrace,” though the occurrence of a hard stratum of “natural” rock directed the operations of the plough. Indeed, it is obvious that in all cases of the alternation of harder and softer groups of horizontal strata in a hill-side, the agriculturist would follow the direction of the softer portions in ploughing the slope, leaving the harder as banks to support his arable terraces, just as the vine- growers of the sunny slopes of France, Germany, and Italy, avail themselves of the outcrop of harder strata to assist the formation of the walls which support the “artificial” terraces, built up by them to check the descent of soil from above. Mr. Mackintosh tells us in his preface that he has never been out of this island. It is therefore probable he is not aware of the extent to which the cultivation of hill-slopes by the system of arti- ficial terraces is practised throughout the continent, nor of the general character of such terraced slopes. Otherwise, I think, he would hardly have presented his readers with the example of “Terraces of Marine Erosion,” of which the accompanying woodcut is a copy (p. 88). Fie. 1.—PRoFILE oF TERRACES ON THE SIDE OF A CHALK HILL NEAR TWYFORD, On this he remarks—‘“ Unless we can conceive of our ancestors having been endowed with so great a taste for the picturesque as to dig out chalk for burning in a series of ornamental steps or shelves, I can see no agency likely to have formed these terraces excepting oceanic currents, at different levels, with or without floating ice” (!). As a “pendant” to this example of a steep-terraced hill, I copy one other of Mr. Mackintosh’s cuts representing ‘“‘ the most regular series of terraces I have yet seen in the Chalk district, which occurs on the side of a hill to the south-west of Stockbridge, the slope being so 5388 G. Poulett Scrope—On Pretended Raised Beaches. very gentle that there could have been no inducement to break it up into terraces as a means of facilitating cultivation.” Fic. 2.—TERRACES NEAR STOCKBRIDGE. TELE 7 LILLE a TS a. i =“ N= AS UO SSS SS SE MAAK nn Ss : DG Wv ee a OOM _ AMT he ae, SSAA WW MS _——e ——— eS a —__ No one, of course, disputes the existence of true sea-cliffs and escarpments, or of raised sea-beaches on some of the coast-lines of our island, or that some of the latter may penetrate its estuaries, and be found at considerable heights above the present tidal level. Where sufficient evidence of these latter facts is produced, they are, and will be, readily accepted by all geologists. It is to the innu- merable minor banks and terraces (popularly called balks and lynchets) which Mr. Mackintosh truly describes as scoring the sides and reaching to the summits of many inland hills in the Cretaceous and Oolitic, and other formations of our island, that my remarks refer. These, I believe, to be of artificial origin,—to be owing to the disturbing action of the plough and the mattock on the surface- slopes, aided by downward rain-carriage of the loosened soil—a pro- cess which is visibly going on wherever a hill-side is under cultiva- tion. And I look on Mr. Mackintosh’s notion of their being “raised sea-beaches”’ as a preposterous theory without a shadow of foundation. On the whole, it is evident that before Mr. Mackintosh can be ac- cepted as a reliable authority by his readers on the ‘‘ Causes of Denu- dation, and the origin of Natural Scenery throughout England and the World,” he must unlearn many of his present notions upon the “ very limited power of atmospheric,” and the almost exclusive agency of “marine denudation,” in shaping the surface of our continents, which compose the substance of his recent volume. If as a lecturer he repeats this theory of denudation to an agricultural audience in the southern 542 Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. counties, he will be liable to some such muttered interruption from an incredulous old farmer, as that of Edie Ochiltree to the Antiquary’s far-fetched assertions—‘‘ Sea-beach here, sea-beach there ; I mind the bigging of ’em.” ITV.—On tHe Mipvpir Prieistocens Derpostts. By Professor Harkness, F.R.S., F.G.S. HE superficial deposits of the Co. of Wexford, containing a rich marine fauna, have been referred to in Professor H. Forbes’s Memoir on “The Geological Relations of the existing Fauna and Flora of the British Isles.” ! In an appendix to this memoir the several shells which have been obtained from the superficial deposits of this portion of Ireland are mentioned. A list of the fossil contents of these deposits had been previously given by Sir Henry James, who first pointed out the occurrence of these shell-bearing strata in the Journal of the Dublin Geological Society, Vol. III. The fossils mentioned in this list have been also determined by Professor H. Forbes. The strata affording these fossil shells are described by Sir Henry James as very extensively developed in the Co. of Wexford, and occu- pying an area forty miles in length, by from eight to nine miles in breadth. They consist of sands and gravel and drift, and repose upon rounded pebbles.” On the sides of the Firth Mountain they attain an elevation of 400 feet above the level of the sea. Their thickness near Blackwater is said to be 174 feet, and their base is nowhere seen. On four of the sheets of the Geological Survey Maps of this part of Ireland (sheets 47 8.H., 47 N.E., 41 §.E., and 41 N.H.), these strata are referred to as follows :—“ The low lands of this coast and the interior up toa height of between two and three hundred feet are covered by lleistocene deposits, consisting of marls interstratified with sand and gravel, containing Arctic and other shells, chalk-flints, pebbles of Antrim chalk, jasper, coal, etc., and magnetic iron sand.” Many of the species of shells which occur in these beds are in the Museum of the Geological Survey of Ireland, and the several localities from whence the specimens have been obtained are recorded on the underside of the slabs upon which they are mounted. By the kind assistance of Mr. Baily, Paleeontologist to the Irish Survey, I have been able to give the following as localities from whence these specimens have been derived :—Ballyteige, Killiley, Rathaspick, Castle Ellis, Killisk, Bailyhuskard, Artramon, Bally- valdon, Ballyknockan, Killmackridge, St. Margaret’s, Killinkorley Clonmure. The portion of the Co. of Wexford where these superficial deposits occur is marked by a circumstance which at once recalls, to the minds of those who have seen them, the Boulder-clays of Lancashire and Cheshire, and their associated strata. Great numbers of pits are seen scattered over the parts of Wexford where the superficial 1 Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Vol. I. Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. 543 deposits are formed; but by far the greater portion of these have been abandoned for many years, and are now full of water. From these pits have been derived materials used in the improvement of the land, and in every respect they are analogous to the marl pits in the English counties above alluded to. There are now very few dry pits in the northern portion of the area occupied by the super- ficial deposits in the Co. .of Wexford; and those in the southern portion of the county afford very little evidence concerning the relative position of the strata which they exhibit. Sir Henry James has stated that the base of the superficial deposits in this part of Ireland is not seen; and to this might be added, that for the most part we have little information as to the strata which are newer than the shell-bearing sands and gravels of the Co. of Wexford. There are, however, a few localities where strata of a different nature, and with well-pronounced features, are seen rest- ing upon the shell-bearing deposits. One of these localities is in Castle Ellis, about a quarter-of-a-mile north of the Post Office, in a field on the east side of the high road. Here there are two dry pits, one of which has recently been worked for material for the land. The sides of this pit exhibit a mass of reddish-brown Boulder-clay, about forty feet in thickness. This clay rests upon sandy and gravelly strata in some instances, almost consolidated by the infiltration of carbonate of lime. These sands and gravels forming the lower beds of the pit, are only exposed to the depth of about twelve feet. The Boulder-clay above them abounds in angular, subangular, and rounded blocks of rocks, derived principally from the Cambrian and Silurian formations ; and, in many instances, these blocks are beauti- fully striated. Some of the sandy layers are very strongly impregnated with small particles of shells; aud it is from these layers that the mate- rials which are used for the improvement of land are obtained. In Castle Ellis, on the same side of the road, a short distance south of the Post-office, there is another large dry pit, the upper portion of which also consists of Boulder-clay. Here, however, the Boulder-clay is not more than twelve feet in thickness, and the rest of the pit, which is of considerable depth, is made up of sands and gravels. A little further to the south, on the opposite side of the road, another dry pit occurs. The latter consists of sands and gravels exclusively, the Boulder-clay having thinned off before reaching this spot. The sands and gravels in the last mentioned pit are now largely worked, and, in common with the same deposits in other parts of the Co. of Wexford, they are known as ‘“ Manure gravels.” It is to the abundance of fragments of shells, which occur in these deposits, that they owe their value for agricultural purposes. Some other spots on the road from Castle Ellis to Wexford afford also “‘ Manure gravels.” One of these is at Pulregan, near Castle- bridge. Here, and in several other localities, the ‘‘ Manure gravel” deposits exhibit a rounded outline, having much of the contour of Eskers. At Pulregan, besides numerous fragments of bivalve shells, 544 Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. univalves are also found in the gravels, some of which are in a perfect state. In the neighbourhood of the town of Wexford, and to the south thereof, the same deposits make their appearance ; but here, as else- where, the strata on which they repose are not seen, and here they have no Boulder-clay above them. Of the species of shells determined by the late Prof. E. Forbes from the ‘‘Manure gravels” of the Co. of Wexford, forty-three are common British forms, amongst which is Fusus antiquus, the variety contra- rius being abundant among the specimens in the collection of the Irish Geological Survey. The specimens of this form, collected by myself from Castle Ellis, were of the ordinary variety and of small size. Nine of the species from the ‘Manure gravels” are forms which now occur in the northern British Seas; seven appertain to Boreal America, or to the coast of Greenland; and four are now found in seas south of the British Isles. Taking the whole of the shells, they appear to indicate a temperature somewhat colder than that which prevails in the present sea of the Wexford coast, but by no means such a rigorous climate as is represented by the shells which have been obtained from the deposits of Scotland and else- where reposing upon the Boulder-clays. The occurrence of Boulder-clays above the shell-bearing sands and gravels of the Co. of Wexford, would, at first sight, induce the con- clusion that these strata appertain to a horizon nearly allied to that of the Norwich Crag ; and this inference is, to some extent, prevalent concerning them. It is, however, necessary to look for their equivalents elsewhere, and to see the conditions under which those equivalents present themselves, before arriving at any conclusion as to the age and position of the ‘‘ Manure gravels.” There are two features in con- nection with these ‘‘ Manure gravels” of the Co. of Wexford which are highly characteristic of them : one is, the presence of shells, and fragments of shells, which distinguishes them from Hskers, to which they are nearly allied in arrangement and in the general nature of their contents; the other feature which marks them is the constant occurrence in them of flint pebbles, which are almost altogether absent from the Hskers. There are several localities in Ireland where beds, having the same nature and affording precisely the same contents as the “ Manure gravels” of the Co. Wexford, are to be found. One of these localities is the north side of the headland of Howth, the northern boundary of Dublin Bay. The strata, which are here well seen near the village of Howth, have been described many years ago by Dr. Scouler.1. They consist of sands and gravels, the latter being limestone fragments, with which are associated flint pebbles. The section is about 200 feet in thickness ; and Dr. Scouler states that the beds afford Turritella terebra, Turbo littoreus, Nerita littoralis, Buccinum undatum, Cardium edule, Cyprina Islandica, Pecten varius, and Dentalium entale, generally in a fragmentary con- 1 Dublin Geological Journal, Vol. I., p. 270. Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. 545 dition. These shell-bearing beds, with flint pebbles, rest upon a mass of Boulder-clay containing abundance of striated blocks, well seen at Balscaddan Bay; and this Boulder-clay reposes immediately upon the Carboniferous limestone. The position of the shell-bearing beds, with flint pebbles, at Howth, resting on Boulder-clay, would at first sight appear to indicate a different and a higher horizon for these strata than fur beds having the same nature in the Co. of Wexford, since the latter have Boulder- clay above them. It must, however, be remembered that, in the Wexford area, the strata upon which the “‘ Manure gravels” rest are not seen. On following the gravels and sands of Howth, eastwards, they are found to be covered by Boulder-clay, which does not exceed more than three feet in thickness; and this Boulder-clay most probably represents the lower portion of the similar deposits which, in Castle Ellis, in the Co. of Wexford, covers the “‘ Manure gravels.” Subsequently to the observations of Dr. Scouler on the shelly gravels and sands of Howth, Dr. Oldham has described beds of the same nature which occur in other parts of Ireland.’ He also notices the appearance of flint pebbles in these strata; and he adds to Dr. Scouler’s list of shells the following species :—Ostrea edulis, from Killiney and Bray; Tellina solidula, not uncommon; Pecten opercu- laris, from Killiney; Pullastra decussata, from Killiney and Bray ; Nucula oblonga, Astarte Gairensis, from Killiney, Bray, and Sugarloaf; Nucula nucleus? and Sazicava rugosa, rare. Further observations in these beds also induced him to add to his previous list the fol- lowing forms as occurring near Dublin:—Rostellaria pespelicant, Fusus antiquus, Buccinum undatum, Nassa incrassata, Natica Aldert, Litiorina neritoides, Trochus wmbilicatus, T. ziziphinus, Triquetra species of Spirobis sp., Balanus (impressions of ).? Since the observations of Dr. Oldham were made on these deposits, as they are seen in the districts around Dublin, they have attracted the notice of the Rev. Maxwell Close, who has paid special attention to the Glacial phenomena of Ireland. The Rev. Mr. Close has re- cognized the occurrence of the shell-bearing sands and gravels in the high ground to the south of Carrickmine’s station, on the Dublin and Bray railway. Here flint pebbles also make their appearance, and shelly frag- ments, the most abundant being portions of Cyprina Jslandica. The Rev. Mr. Close has also detected these shelly sands and gravels on the south side of the Three Rock Mountain, at an eleva- tion of about 1,200 feet above the sea level. The several species of mollusca, which have been obtained from the sands and gravels in the neighbourhood of Dublin, are such as are most common in the “‘ Manure gravels” of the Co. of Wexford ; and, like them, they do not indicate Arctic conditions in the seas in which they lived. Sands and gravels of a nature similar to those of the neighbour- hood of Dublin and the Co. of Wexford, have been found in other 1 Op. Cit., supra, Vol. III., p. 61. » 2 Op. Cit. supra, Vol. 1II., p. 131, VOL. VI.—NO. LXVI, 35 546 Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. parts of Ireland; and where they occur they are also marked by flint-pebbles and contain shelly fragments. A locality where they are well seen is at the south-eastern extremity of the Co. of Cork, near Youghal. Here they form on the coast a headland, called Clay Castle, having a height of ninety-one feet, consisting of sands and gravels and sandy clays, which make up the whole face of the cliff, the strata on which they repose not being visible. These deposits and their shelly contents have been described by Mr. A. B. Wynne.! I have not noticed these sands and gravels with flints west of Youghal; but I learn from Mr. G. H. Kinahan, of the Irish Geological Survey, that they are to be seen as far westward as Crookhaven, the extreme southwest portion of Ireland. Strata of the same character as those of Ireland, which possess flint-pebbles and afford marine remains, have also been met with in several parts of Britain. Across the Irish Sea, and almost imme- diately opposite the sands and gravels of the high ground forming the sides of Dublin Bay, are the shell-bearing strata which lie on the eastern side of Moel Tryfaen. These strata of Moel Tryfaen have no Boulder-clay below them like those of Howth, for they repose directly on the Cambrian slates. In nature and arrangement these Welsh strata are almost identical with the “Manure gravels” of the Co. of Wexford, and they, too, contain the characteristic flint pebbles. As regards the shelly contents of the Moel Tryfaen beds, these greatly resemble such as are afforded by the Irish sands and gravels, but on the whole they have somewhat more of an Arctic character. There are also in the valley of the Severn, between Bridgenorth and Shrewsbury, deposits which seem to accord with the shell- bearing beds of Ireland. These have been described by Mr. Maw.? They consist of sands, gravels, and clays, which sometimes assume a rounded contour, as at Strethill ; and in this respect they agree with the outline of many of the deposits of “Manure gravel” in the Co. of Wexford. These strata of the valley of the Severn also contain flint-pebbles and afford marine remains. I am indebted to Mr. Maw for a col- lection of these remains; and they, together with others men- tioned in Mr. Gwyn Jeffrey’s list appended to Mr. Maw’s paper, have a great analogy to the shelly contents of the Irish sands and gravels. Many localities in Cheshire and also in Lancashire, have yielded a series of shells very nearly identical with the collections obtained from the several localities above named. The shelly deposits in these countries have been reached, in many cases by passing through a deposit of Boulder-clay, with well striated blocks identical with that which overlies the ‘“ Manure gravels” at Castle Ellis; and these shelly deposits, which effervesce freely in acids, are used for the same objects as their equivalents in the County Wexford, namely for 1 Quart. Journal of the Geol. Soc., Vol. xxiv. p. 6. 2 Quart. Journal of the Geol. Soc., vol. xx. p. 130. Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. 547 agricultural purposes. Beds of sand are often found associated with the shelly marls; and in the neighbourhood of Preston in Lan- cashire where the shell-bearing strata are seen, they are described by Sir Roderick Murchison as consisting of porous loose gravel.’ Mr. Binney has also described the shell-bearing strata associated with Boulder-clays, as these occur on the Lancashire coast, in the neighbourhood of Blackpool.? He mentions the association of flint- pebbles with these strata, and he gives a list of the shells, there being eleven forms of univalves, and eight forms of bivalves apper- taining to species, all of which are found in the adjoining sea. In the north-east of Scotland there are, in many spots, strata which seem to have a great affinity to the shell-bearing sands and gravels of Ireland, and to those of opposite districts of England and Wales. Before, however, we can determine the exact position of these Scottish beds, it will be necessary to know somewhat more about them. On the southern side of the Moray Firth, some of these deposits occur, and they have been described by Mr. Jamieson.’ In some cases the Aberdeenshire sands and gravels appear to be very nearly allied to the ‘ Manure gravels” of the County of Wex- ford in their contour, for they occur in the parishes of Cruden and Slains in the form of mounds. They consist of water-worn pebbles, gravels, and sands, with broken shells, among which are fragments of Cyprina Islandica, the form most common in the sands and gravels near Carrick-mines, on the south side of Dublin Bay. These sands and gravels of Aberdeenshire have in some instances large erratic blocks resting on them, and sometimes a red clay hides them from view. Strata of the same character as those of Aberdeenshire have been described by Mr. Prestwich as occurring on the south side of the Moray Firth, near Gamrie.t A section of these strata is seen on the coast; and Mr. Prestwich observes that flint-pebbles are found abundantly on the beach, which seem to have been derived probably from the upper beds of sand and gravel which here also afford shells; the species of Molluscs which occur in these sands and gravels, like those from the deposits of Lancashire and Cheshire, are not of a peculiarly Arctic type. The county of Caithness, in the neighbourhood of Wick, appears likewise to furnish beds having the same position as those on the south side of the Moray Firth. Shells have also been collected from these strata by Mr. Peach. Among the pebbles which enter into the composition of the shell-bearing deposits of Caithness, Mr. Peach mentions the occurrence of chalk flints as not uncommon. The shells from these Caithness beds have been determined by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys; and although they contain a few Arctic types, they are, on the whole, forms which have a wide geographical distribution. 1 Silurian System, page 534. 2 Mem. of the Lit. and Phil. Society of Manchester. Vol. x. page 121, et seg. 3 Quart. Journal of the Geological Society 1858, page 523. * Trans. of the Geol. Soc. Vol v., p. 147. New series. 5 Brit. Association Reports, 1862, 1864, and 1566. 548 Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. Mr. Jamieson has also described the beds which yield shells in Caithness. These beds, he states, consist of dark pebbly silt, or stratified pebbly clay, or gritty mud, and they are generally suc- ceeded by reddish brown stony clay, possessing the ordinary characters of Boulder-clay. The strata in which the shelly frag- ments are most abundant are sometimes seen resting on the Old Red Sandstones, and the surfaces on which they repose frequently exhibit well marked glacial striation. A list of shells, by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, is appended to Mr. Jamieson’s memoir, and this list contains seventy-five species. Few of these shells are purely Arctic forms ; and, taking the molluscs col- lectively from the Caithness beds, they exhibit a much less Arctic facies than those from some other localities in Scotland, among which is Gamrie. With reference to the strata in the west of Scotland which have been so prolific in shells, and to which the attention of geologists was first directed by the researches of the late Mr. Smith, of Jordan Hill, these seem to possess very marked features which serve to distinguish them from the shelly sands and gravels above alluded to; and these west of Scotland strata also appear to occur in a different horizon. They are seen in the form of stratified beds which overlie the Boulder-clay, and they never appear with Boulder-clay above them. They bear about them, much more decidedly than the ‘‘ Manure gravels,” or their British equivalents, the impress of an Arctic climate. The west of Scotland shell-bearing strata belong to a more recent portion of the Pleistocene period than the beds of England, Wales, or Ireland, which contain shells and flint pebbles; for a well developed mass of Boulder-clay separates the two series from one another. In England, the district which probably exhibits these shelly sands and gravels, with flint pebbles, in the greatest perfection, is the county of Norfolk; and the relations of these strata to the deposits above and below them in this county, have been well described by Messrs. Prestwich, Searles Wood, jun., F. W. Harmer, and J. H. Taylor. In some portions of this area, reposing upon the Norwich Crags, are grey sands with quartzose and flint gravels, from which Mr. Harmer has obtained, at Belaugh and. Weybourne, a large number of shells, amongst which Tellina solidula is specially abundant.’ These grey sands and gravels are succeeded by the lower Boulder-clay (Brick-earth) containing travelled and striated blocks. The fauna of this Boulder-clay is marked by an absence of all the mollusca of the Crags, except such forms as are of an Arctic or Boreal type. In position, this deposit seems to correspond with the Boulder-clay underlying the shell-bearing beds at Howth. At Howth, however, and elsewhere in Ireland, there have as yet been discovered no de- posits which can be correlated with the grey sands and gravels that in Norfolk underlie the lower Boulder-clay. The lower Boulder- 1 Quart. Journal of the Geol. Soc., Vol. xxii., p. 261, e¢ seg. * GzoLogicaL Macazine, Vol. VI., page 282. Prof. Harkness—On the Middle Pleistocene Deposits. 549 clays of Norfolk are succeeded by the “middle sands and gravels,” which frequently attain a thickness of from 50 to 60 feet. These middle sands and gravels have yielded twenty-three species of shells. Amongst them is Pectunculus glycimeris, a form which Mr. Harmer says dies out in the newer part of the Red Crag, which is exceedingly rare in the Norwich Crags, but which is abundant in the middle sands and gravels. Pectunculus glycimeris, in a fragmentary state, is one of the most abundant of the bivalves at Pulregan, in the “Manure gravels” of the Co. of Wexford. Mr. Harmer also states that Ostrea edulis occurs in the “middle sands and gravels.” This form disappears from the newer Crag beds, is not known to live within the Arctic circle; and the character of the fauna of the “middle sands and gravels” is decidedly less Arctic than that of the lower Boulder-clays. The middle sands and gravels of Norfolk, like the shell-bearing beds in some portions of Ireland, are succeeded by an upper Boulder-clay, which possesses features showing that it originated, like the lower Boulder-clay, from Arctic conditions. Judging from the fauna afforded by the three deposits, the lower Boulder-clay, the middle sands and gravels, or their representatives elsewhere in Britain or in Ireland, and the upper Boulder-clay, we arrive at the conclusion, that while, on the whole, there are distinct indications of the prevalence of Arctic conditions, there was, during the deposition of the middle portion of the Pleistocene deposits, a less rigorous climate. There is another interesting circumstance in connection with the middle Pleistocene strata. ‘This is the almost constant presence of chalk flints among the gravels which belong to this series. In the case of these deposits, as they are seen in the south-west of Ireland, there are at present no Cretaceous rocks nearer than the Co. of Antrim, which is at least 200 miles distant in a direct line from some of the spots where the middle Pleistocene strata are found.