THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. DECADE II. VOL. VI. JANUARY—DECEMBER. 1879, THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE: OR, Monthly Journal of Geology: WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE GEOLOGIST.” NOS. CLXXV. TO CLXXXVI. EDITED BY HENRY WOODWARD, LL.D., F.B.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S., VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGISTS’ ASSOCIATION ; MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, PHILADELPHIA 5 HONORARY MEMBER OF THE YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY; OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, AND NORWICH; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BELGIUM; OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL; AND OF THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK. ASSISTED BY PROFESSOR JOHN MORRIS, M.A, F.GS., &., &c., AND ROBERT ETHERIDGE, F.R.S.L. & E., F.G.8S., &c. NEW SERIES. DECADE II, VOL. VI. JANUARY—DECEMBER, 1879. LONDON: TRUBNER & Co., 57 ann 59, LUDGATE HILL. F. SAVY, 77, BOULEVART ST.-GERMAIN, PARIS. ¢ 1879. HERTFORD: PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, PLATES. *XIII. & XIV. XN. LIST OF PLATES. . Bird’s-eye View of Barren Island, Lat. 12° 17’ N. Long, 93° 54’ E. . Map of Land’s End and Scilly Isles cee see cee sees . Map of Geology of Lake District 0.0... cece cece tee ste te . Protophasma Dumasii, Brong., Coal-measures, France ..... ..... . Eurypterus Scoulert, Hibbert 20.0. ce cee ee vee mate ice . Ramipora Hochstetteri, var. carinata, R. Eth., Junr. _ ..... ieee Ba COlandachonisman due01070100 7001, Cage amr ee . Emys lutaria, Merr., Mundesley, Norfolk 2... es > Miley) Git Uriah SIE INGS, | So, deeo | eae Jomo) Gam Vem Ge vee) ec > fiumalneam, Ios! SINC coos cece oan bows comm san comee ed Ges = Sumatran Lertiany shellsyandyCoralsy yes es sane ee > (Sidumenran Cuearineny IOS ex | een eee cece Sumatran ie nti asa Site) laa ieee eae ee ee ee Ditto GUNG RD sey Ne aN aetna ued ais ae leet sedey Ditto CORTON ag meas et crsien emertad every ica per eoeealerest es PAGE Ase ay LIST OF WOODCUTS. PAGE Three sections to illustrate Physical Geology of Lake District... 00 ... 54 Sections showing Breaks in Rocksof “ Old Red Sandstone Formation,’’ Ireland 68 Osmunda bromeliefolia of Philippine Isles ..... cc, cess see cesses cette arene sete 153 Coast towards Rosemullion Head, showing Rock Platforms and Cliffs com- posed of Head upon Raised Beach sae sess sssse cere sees cree ets atte 168 Section, Cape Cornwall) om north side tig) asus) crc cece neeee een cree) ee cess 171 Trigonia Elise, Cornet and Briart, Bracquegnies, Belgium... sae eee oes 196 JRO SHO NEUE, cers ce oe om 197 Seanion mene Cramer, Coranyiilee as ceo deo orm am aon Gm Ge 204 Section, Godrevy, Cornwall .... DAS DN ee N Ae ARR ONE Ee 205 Cotrany edn, Coatiwalle ous cee no ty oc ce ee 205 Section of Head, concealing a Raised Beach, resting upon Slate, above sea- Nene leavers Ak Cos ceieeG ferme htasetiecsssvies vatncel Ausist (Gasca Teteeat P cseetely canane) Al esgechac Tene 211 Syningolates) Lcronensts, ELINGC)) eer | cere este) ccs) erst) cesesy | eeree) errr cere) eae 245 See tonwote Coralaree tems water piece mary iiacsatiesr. Wily oesesiud reset erro ee 297 Diagrammatic section showing relation between Rocks N. and 8. Dingle Bay 391 Relation of Serpentine and Sedimentary Rocks near Figline .. 0... ee 369 Section about a mile N. of Bridlington Harbour 2. wk cece see wee 898 Columnar Sandstone in a quarry at Gorischstein W. Schandau, “Saxon 438 Switzerland”’ ..... Seana pets atten Nonesaes atassyll sens) (oepased! Case che lettlaye Urata yee 438 Single Column of Columnar Sandstone 0, o ceee tees cere cee nee 438 Section at Reedy Creek, also at Two-mile-flat, New South Wales... ... 450 Branchiosaurus salamandroides, Fritsch, dorsal view, Gas-coal, Bohemia ..... 523 Ditto ditto twice natural size ditto ditton nye 524 Ditto ditto upper side of skull _ ditto ditto O20 Ditto ditto under side of skull ditto ditto —..... 525 Dawsonia polydens, Fritsch, under side of skull ditto ditto 527 Diagram-pproilevot Parallel Roads of Glen Royeeny cy) erry enone) eee ee: 530 Spine of Ctenacanthus minor, Davis, Lower Coal-measures, Dudley Hill, near Bradford ..... Geese eeeny = penne sense ane en i MS EAT Pll) jCutl THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. NEW “SERIES; DECADE lly ‘VOLE? VI: No. I—JANUARY, 1879. Om EGAN A, Auk ECGS. —>__ J.—On tHE TRIPARTITE CLASSIFICATION OF THE LOWER Patzozor1c Rooks. By Cuartzes Lapwortn, F.G.S. Y those accustomed to the hopeless confusion of the Greywacké of the earlier geologists, the publication of Murchison’s grand work on the “Silurian System” was hailed with feelings of the most profound relief and satisfaction. His clear and brilliant pre- sentation of the physical and paleontological proofs of an orderly sequence among the Paleozoic Rocks below the Old Red Sandstone, as originally set forth in all their force and harmony in his magni- ficent volumes, naturally astonished and dazzled the majority of his scientific contemporaries, and secured for his nomenclature of these ancient deposits an almost universal acceptance. His subse- quent abuse of this advantage to strengthen and consolidate his own system at the expense of that of his equally-illustrious co-worker— the less fortunate but more cautious Sedgwick—was a gallant but unscrupulous defence of this original nomenclature, which by that time he must have felt himself almost powerless to disturb. His later extension downward of the limits of his System, till it embraced all the rocks between the supposed Azoics and the Old Red Sandstone—though, in a measure, forced upon him from without— ought perhaps to be regarded in part as a very natural return to the ideas of his early teachers, who had always held the practical unity of the rocks of the Transitional period. In this way, however, Murchison unwittingly destroyed many of the most beneficial results of his own labours ; in a sense, spending his old age in the attempted re-erection of the very edifice it had been the pride of his manhood to destroy—the early years of his scientific career being devoted to the worthy task of proving the marvellous variety of the Lower Paleeozoics ; his later years to demonstrating their integrity, unity, and indivisibility. At the present day it would be wholly superfluous to enter upon the discussion of the vexed question of the respective claims of Sedgwick and Murchison to the Middle and Lowest Divisions of the Lower Palzozoic Rocks. We may, however, without fear of contra- diction, concede to Sedgwick the credit of having been the first to DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. I. 1 rs 2 C. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. determine the limits and sequence of their larger subdivisions, and to Murchison and his followers the honour of having been the first to assion them their distinctive fossils. Sedgwick worked out single- handed the true stratigraphical arrangement of the rocks of the Lower Palzeozoics of Wales, from the Bangor Beds to the summit of the Bala Series, and divided them into several successive groups, the propriety and convenience of which subsequent research has served only to make more distinctly apparent. The unavoidable—but none the less vital—defect in his earlier work lay in his not publishing the characteristic fossils of these subdivisions, until after the appearance of the great work of his rival, in which the most conspicuous forms appear as characteristic of the subdivisions of a supposed overlying system. Murchison’s work, on the other hand, depended not only upon mineralogical characters and sequence of formations, but also upon paleontological peculiarities. He failed signally, however, in strictly and correctly defining his lower groups, and in correlating some of his most typical beds, with the result of greatly confusing his lists of characteristic fossils. The rigid conservatism of Murchison in his old age, and his systematic disregard of the facts and arguments adduced in support of the Cambrian System, brought about its inevitable re-action after his death. 'The campaign against the Murchisonian nomenclature, so brilliantly opened by Professor Sterry Hunt, in his masterly paper on the “ History of the Names Cambrian and Silurian in Geology,” has since assumed extraordinary proportions. The Cambridge School, headed by Professor Hughes, the present talented occupant of the Woodwardian Chair, supported by several earnest and industrious adherents, has revived the claims of Sedgwick in all their entirety ; and presses them on the attention of geologists with an energy and persistence that threatens to lead to the formation of a body of workers, determined to force from posterity, in honour of the memory of Sedgwick, the rights he demanded, but of which during his life- time he was so unfairly deprived. But, on the other hand, the Murchisonian nomenclature is embodied in the maps and publications of the National Survey. It is embalmed in the classic memoirs of the illustrious Barrande, and in the numerous works of the best-known geologists of Europe and America. It is still held, almost in its widest sense, by the more influential officers of the Geological Survey, and is taught to their students and sub- ordinates with that complacent pride which has naturally been engen- dered by a quarter of a century of uninterrupted success. Even yet, its advocates have such an unfaltering faith in its intrinsic propriety and consequent impregnability, that the fact of the daily increasing number and ability of their opponents is either contemptuously ignored, or, at most, is deemed unworthy of a more respectful recognition than a passing smile. The utter impossibility of reconciling the antagonistic claims of these opposing schools has led, of late years, to the formation of a third party, in which the best-known names are those of the late Sir Charles Lyell, and of Dr. Henry Hicks. These concede the C. Lapworth— Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. 3 light of Murchison to all the strata between the base of the Arenig and the summit of the Ludlow, but emphatically assign the Lingula Flags and Paradoxides Beds to the Cambrian. This school—if school it may be called—has been greatly aided by the wide publicity given to their views in the numerous memoirs in which they record their steady and cautious advance in working out the natural Succession among the subordinate members of the Lower Palaeozoic Rocks. It is just possible that, owing to the modesty of the claims it makes for Sedgwick, and to its retention of such a large proportion of the prevalent nomenclature, this view might gradually and insensibly have taken possession of much of the field, were it not for the persistent exertions of the Cambridge School, smarting under a sense of injustice, and determined to rest satisfied with nothing less than a complete redress of those historic grievances, which their affection for the honoured name of Sedgwick has led them to regard as little less than personal to themselves. But the partial success that has already attended the earnest con- scientiousness and perseverance of the members of the Sedgwickian party has, in truth, hastened the evil day. The result that their efforts have had in calling the attention of geologists to the salient points of the question at issue, is as fatal in its effects upon their own theory, as it is upon that of their opponents. By their recent adoption of the Lyell-Hicks line of demarcation at the base of the Lower Llandovery, they furnish, indeed, a thorough demonstration of the almost perfect palzeontological) distinctness of the faunas of the so-called Lower Silurian formations, and those of the true or Upper Silurian, and the consequent impossibility of combining them philo- sophically in one and the same system. But, in spite of all that is implied to the contrary, this course is, in effect, a distinct abandon- ment of Sedgwick’s fundamental argument that these systems were necessarily distinct, from the fact that in the typical areas their beds were stratigraphically discordant. Jt amounts, on the other hand, to an implicit adoption of the only safe principle, that we have no reliable chronological scale in geology but such as is afforded by the relative magnitude of zoological change—in other words, that the geological duration and importance of any system is in strict pro- portion to the comparative magnitude and distinctness of its collective fauna. It appears to me that it is impossible for them to rest here, but that their next and inevitable step will be the further admission that the Lyell-Hicks division of Cambrian and Lower Silurian are as rightly entitled to the rank of separate systems as the true or Upper Silurian itself; and that, eventually, their rigid sense of fairness and justice will lead them so to discriminate them. For, amid all the confusion incident to this controversy, one grand fact stands out clear and patent to the most superficial student of Paleozoic geology — namely :—the strata included between the horizon marking the advent of Paradozides, and the provisional line presently drawn at the summit of the Ludlow, imbed three distinct faunas, as broadly marked in their characteristic features as any of those typical of the accepted systems of a later age. 4 C. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. The necessity for a tripartite grouping of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks and Fossils, in partial accordance with this fact, has been very generally acknowledged for the last thirty years. The keen- eyed and philosophic Barrande was the first to recognize this truth, and his addition of the “ Primordial” to the First and Second Faunas of Murchison’s original Silurian marked a geologic era equal in importance to the establishment of a new system. How keenly its enthusiastic discoverer watched over, and how zealously he pro- moted and encouraged, the gradual detection and elimination of his «“ Primordial” Fauna in Kurope and America, are matters familiar and delightful to all earnest students of the history of discovery among the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. How the facts obtained by Phillips, Salter, and Hicks in Britain, foreed even Murchison himself to adopt Barrande’s views, and in his later years to become their keenest and most unsparing advocate, is equally well known. The subsequent development of the “ Primordial” Fauna in Britain by Hicks, Salter, Belt, and others; in Sweden by Angelin, Nathorst Linnarsson, and Sjogren; and in America by Billings, Emmons, Hall, and Hartt, has progressed with marvellous rapidity. very system- atic geologist worthy of the name has, in his turn, been compelled to acknowledge the distinctness and first-rate importance of the « Primordial” Fauna. Under one form or another, also, the difference in the facies of the more recent First and Second Faunas of Murchison has been universally admitted from the first, and the rock-groups formed by their including strata have been separated—at least as distinct sub- systems—in all parts of the world. It is indeed true that there have been, perhaps, as many diverse views held with respect to the proper position of the line of demarcation between them, as there have been separate areas of investigation; and it is only of late that geologists have reached something like a concensus of opinion in draw- ing it with Hicks at the base of the Lower Llandovery. Nevertheless, no honest investigator, either British or foreign, has ever dreamt of disputing the grand fact of the distinctness of these two faunas and the consequent need for the separation of their containing rock- groups in any natural and workable plan of classification. Thus, it is hardly possible that any geologist, who is familiar with the rocks and fossils of the Lower Palzeozoics, or who is even fairly versed in the literature of the subject, would at present venture to deny the proposition that between the base of the known fossiliferous series and that of the Old Red Sandstone there lie three successive rock-groups—each of which is characterized by a special fauna of first-rate geologic importance. Further insistence upon this point is probably needless. But if the fact be once admitted, it follows of necessity that the interests of science demand that these three successive rock-systems shall be dis- tinguished by three separate and unmistakable titles. At this stage, however, we plunge into the very midst of the conflict of the schools. Friends, foes, and spectators, seem all fairly agreed as to the advisability of a triple division of the sediments. C. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. 5 The points around which the strife is at its keenest bear upon the question as to whether these three divisions are of equal classificatory value, and if so, which party has the best right to give them their names. The strict Murchisonian of the present day claims for the Silurian all the fossiliferous strata that lie between the Archean and the Devonian, and arranges them in his three sub-systems of the Primordial, Lower, and Upper Silurian. If he is a paleon- tologist, he seizes at once upon the indisputable fact that the general facies of the fossils of these three divisions, when viewed in their collective aspect, has a marked character of its own, wholly distinct from that of the faunas of the overlying rock-groups. Profoundly impressed by this distinction, the less striking differences between the faunas of the three members of the Lower Paleozoic itself dwindle in his eyes into utter insig- nificance, and the slightest party bias is sufficient to lead him to regard them with Barrande as forming “one grand and indivisible triad which is the Silurian System.” As discovery progresses, gradually demonstrating the former presence of organic existences in strata far below the base-line laid down by the founder of his system, departing gradually in facies from his typical fauna (but, nevertheless, connected therewith by almost imperceptible grada- tions), his former admission, and the traditions of his school, compel him to keep pace with it, extending his system and fauna down- wards step by step. The result is, that if he is consistent, he is at last driven to demand also, with Barrande, the inclusion of the beds which Murchison, even in his latest years, acknowledged to be the very basement rocks of a pre-Silurian system. If, on the other hand, he is a stratigraphist, he instances the fact that in Britain and America no general stratigraphical discordance interrupts the vertical succession of formations between the Archean and the Carboniferous. He points to the Llandovery beds of Britain, and shows that the grandest stratigraphical break in the entire series in the typical area occurs in the heart of a group of beds that the founder of his school placed partly in one sub-system and partly in the other ; but which he, in common with all scrupulous geologists, included in a single formation, whose essential unity he fearlessly challenges his opponents to deny. He calls attention to the Colonies of Bohemia to show that even where the paleontological distinction between the sub-systems is most abrupt, yet, according to the greatest of Silurian paleontologists, there is actually an alternation of the two faunas in the beds of passage. Or, he points triumphantly to the succession in Scandinavia, where the Lower Paleozoics are reduced to a collective thickness of a few hundreds of feet, and are occasionally folded up and entangled almost inextricably together in a single section, and asks how is it possible to doubt the unity of a System whose members are individually of such insignificant dimen- sions, and, physically, are so indissolubly united ! The moving principle of the Sedgwickian, on the contrary, is the demand for historic justice. With true British instinct, he recognizes 6 CO. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. the fact that the revered founder of his school was unfairly deprived of the natural fruits of the labours of a lifetime by the overwhelming forces of influence and circumstance; and he chivalrously devotes all his energies to the task of overturning history to the extent of bringing back matters to the point they would have reached, had the relative position of Sedgwick and Murchison been reversed. To this paramount consideration everything else is sacrificed. The Silurian is cut down so as to include the Upper Division only of Murchison’s original System ; while all the fossiliferous beds below are assigned to the Cambrian. That in this way he commits pre- cisely the same scientific error as the Murchisonian, never seems to occur to his imagination. That every fact adduced in support of Sedgwick’s claim to the rocks of the Second fauna can be met by one in Murchison’s favour equally cogent, is forgotten. That every error committed by the latter to the destruction of his claims can be paralleled by one equally fatal to those of his opponent, is similarly ignored. He has long sinve convinced himself of the fact that the Silurian, as he restricts it, is quite large enough to form a system by itself, and that its fauna is grand enough and special enough to characterize one; but we never find him carry out this argument to its legitimate conclusion—that, if so, his own Cambrian is not one, but two systems, whose individuality he is, by his own principles, equally compelled to recognize. He seeks in all kinds of out-of-the- way spots for evidences of local unconformities between the Balas and the Llandoveries to satisfy his stratigraphical conscience that there is sometimes an actual physical break between them; when, without leaving his closet, he could assure himself of the fact that the two systems of the so-called Lower and Upper Silurian are already known to be stratigraphically concordant nearly all over th world. Where this argument fails, we find him insisting upon th presence of conglomerates and upon the sudden change in the cha- racter of the organic remains. But each and all the principles of classification implied in these distinctions are violated in his own procedure. The grandest zoological breaks in the whole Lower Paleozoic Series (those between the Olenus beds and the Arenigs of Britain, and between the Canadian and Trentonian of North America), and the thickest and most persistent conglomerates that antedate those of the Old Red Sandstone (viz. those of the Lower Girvan and Quebee Groups), all occur in the very heart of his own Cambrian System. Yet of these we hear little or nothing, but all the strata between the Archean and the Llandovery are piled up into a single system, for the sole reason that they happen to occur in association in the mountain-area of North Wales, and were very naturally lumped together by the first scientific man who con- scientiously studied them. The Lyellian is certainly more politic than his excited neighbours, but, from a common-sense point of view, his disinterested procedure is equally unfair. To him, the fact that Murchison described the Upper and Lower Silurian Rocks in his original Silurian System in such a way that they can, to a certain extent, be recognized and C. Lapworth— Classification of the Lower Palwozoic Rocks. 7 identified in Europe and America, is all-weighty. He calls special attention to the fact that Sedgwick’s Upper Cambrian was ultimately found to possess the fossils of Murchison’s Lower Silurian, but he forgets to add that it was Sedgwick, and not Murchison, who first _gave the natural divisions of this group, placing them in their proper relations to each other, and defining their true limits above and below. He points out with emphasis the grand distinctions between the Primordial and Second Faunas, and the consequent impossibility of uniting the rocks they characterize in one and the same system ; but the fact of the stratigraphical break at the base of the Mayhill Sandstone is, however, contemptuously dismissed as of no special classificatory value, and the two Llandoveries are joined in a single formation. Thus, in one stroke, Sedgwick is deprived of his grand argument of a physical break between his own and the overlying rocks ; and the Second and Third Faunas are re-united to form what is termed the Silurian System. In effect, Murchison receives the lion’s share, simply on the ground of possession; while Sedgwick is deprived of half his system because he had the misfortune, in the earlier stages of the controversy, not to command so numerous and influential a following as his more socially fortunate opponent. At irregular intervals, also, we catch a momentary glimpse of a stray individual who refuses to identify himself with either of these great parties ; preferring rather to temporize by definitively assigning the rocks of the Middle Fauna to neither claimant in particular. He refers to them under such makeshift titles as the Cambro-Silurian or Siluro-Cambrian, according as his otherwise unexpressed personal bias inclines him to one or other of the contending parties. Occasion- ally, indeed, we do find him possessed of a true estimate of the grand importance of the group, but he often leaves it to be understood that he regards it as forming a transitional series of second-rate geologic significance; and, in effect, belonging properly to both Cambrian and Silurian at once. He is at the same time so fully impressed with the consciousness of his own forlorn and isolated condition, as well as of the hopelessness of stemming the current of vulgar use and wont, that he generally contents himself with simply recording his protest in this manner, and timidly guards himself against possible ambiguity and misconception by prefixing the qualifying term True or Upper when he comes to speak of the undisputed Silurian. But, in addition to the foregoing, there are innumerable outsiders like myself, who care nothing for schools, but everything for the facts. There is that great and ever-increasing body of students who are attracted to the study of geology because of the flood of light it casts upon the mysterious problems of life and its distribution. Above all, there are those foreign geologists, who naturally expect from British investigators an authoritative and unmistakable geologic scale to which to refer the results of their own researches. To all these the erying scandal of this interminable dispute is an annoyance and a positive encumbrance. But whose procedure shall we follow? Shall we adopt the Murchisonian’s convenient plan of carrying down the base-line for 8 C. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. the Silurian System as far as a Trilobite has yet been detected, sinking it deeper and deeper into the earth as the progress of discovery reveals the evidence of the former presence of organisms in strata of yet older and older date, at the same time extending its highest boundary upwards into the supra-Ludlow formations as we detect | the presence of an occasional fossil of a Ludlow type yet higher and higher in the more rapidly accumulated Red Sandstones above the Bone beds, till our unwieldy system includes half the fossiliferous sediments of the globe, and its very subdivisions are almost equal in classificatory importance to the accepted systems of a later date ? Or shall we adopt the methods of the traditional followers of Sedgwick, and, drawing a rigid line of demarcation at the base of the Lower Llandovery, imitate our opponents to the extent of erecting all the anterior fossiliferous strata into a gigantic system, on the ground that they were so combined by its founder, and in the delusive hope that we shall find at its base a universal unconformability, so that the name Pre-Cambrian will ever remain a synonym of the metamorphic and possibly azoic formations ? Or, with Lyell, shall we condone the past, and give a double share to the stronger party; consoling ourselves with the reflection that, after all, the question is merely a question of names, and not of principle; arguing that the injustice we tolerate did not originate with us, and is less the crime of a party than the inevitable result of untoward circumstance ; and justifying our procedure in the eyes of the world by the implication that the general adoption of the larger portion of the Murchisonian nomenclature is already an ac- complished fact, upon which it would be ridiculous to expect that any feeble efforts of ours would ever have the slightest influence ? Or, ought we rather to cast in our lot with the few who employ the term Cambro-Silurian or Siluro-Cambrian for the rocks of the Second Fauna, and try once again the oft-repeated and as oft- defeated experiment of reconciling the claims of both parties by allying the strata in dispute to two systems at once, in the use of titles which their very founders themselves abandoned as incon- venient and absurd ? Or, finally, standing aloof from all parties, shall we, in the name of science, claim the right of fully recognizing the systematic equality of the three Lower Paleozoic Faunas, by regarding the three successive rock-groups which contain them as individually entitled to the rank and denomination of a complete system ? It seems to me that to every unprejudiced mind it will be apparent that the adoption of this last course has now become an absolute necessity. Geologic truth and convenience imperatively demand a separate place and name for each of these systems. It only remains for us so to arrange their titles that no real injustice shall be committed. Dr. Hicks’s definition of the Cambrian system as including the Paradoxides- and Olenus-bearing beds, from the base of the Harlech Grits to the summit of the Lower Tremadoce is by far the best that has hitherto been proposed. Thus restricted, the title is synonymous 0. Lapworth— Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. 9 with that of the Rocks of the First or Primordial Fauna of Barrande, and is certain to be ultimately accepted everywhere among geologists, from its naturalness, geologic distinctness and convenience of appli- cation, not only in Britain and Western Hurope generally, but also among the ancient rocks of the continent of America. In the same way the general restriction of the title Silurian to the strata that are comprehended between the line marking the base of the Lower Llandovery, and that denoting the commencement of the brackish or fresh-water conditions of the typical Old Red Sandstone, appears equally inevitable. It covers the whole of the rocks of Barrande’s Third Fauna, which, as we have seen, must be erected into a separate system as a matter of geologic convenience. It is fortunate that the application of Murchison’s title to them has never been disputed, even by his bitterest opponent. The various titles at present in use for the intermediate system are all certain to be discarded by the geologist of the future. They are all more or less erroneous, ambiguous, or inconvenient. The re- tention of the designation Lower Silurian would be as systematically erroneous as it is historically unjust. To call it Upper Cambrian would be to allow the followers of Sedgwick to commit the very error they so emphatically condemn in the procedure of their oppo- nents. The perpetuation of the Sedgwick-Murchison controversy, by the general adoption of such a title as the Cambro-Silurian or Siluro-Cambrian—even were it possible—would be, to say the least of it, excessively unwise. Neither party is likely to forego its claims when the object of contention is so conspicuously labelled with the names of both. Before, however, we can take a single step to free ourselves from the present difficulty, we must dispose of two formidable objections, which, under the guise of universally accepted scientific principles, have grown grey in the service of prolonging this unfortunate con- troversy, and have, as yet, stubbornly barred the way to anything like a peaceful solution. 5 By those who still retain the Silurian System of the later days of Murchison in allits magnitude, the argument of their founder that there is no universal stratigraphical break to be detected among the Lower Paleozoics, at least as far down as the base of the Lingula Flags, is held to be an overwhelming reply to all objectors. Similarly, it has been the habit for their opponents, in their turn, to point triumphantly to the local breaks in Britain between the Mayhill and Bala beds, as affording in themselves a positive demonstration of the truth of their own view that these formations belong to wholly distinct systems. For a corresponding reason, also, the latter party claims for the Cambrian all the fossiliferous strata that underlie the Llandovery, from the fact that the physical succession among them is uninterrupted by a general physical break. Of such pre-eminent value is this principle considered, even by those who profess to stand aloof from this controversy, that a strong tendency is abroad to sacrifice in its favour the Old Red Sandstone itself. To the field-geologist, pure and simple, who desires, above all 10 C. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Palwozoie Rocks. things, an unmistakable base-line for his system, capable of being rigidly defined upon his maps and sections, the presence of a decided unconformability affords the very thing of which he stands most in need. The grouping founded upon stratigraphical breaks com- mends itself to his mind with a force that is practically irresistible. But it is far otherwise with the cautious systematist, who endeayours to found his systems in accordance with those of Nature herself, upon principles, not of local, but of universal application. Though fully cognizant of the value of an unconformability as affording him a fairly reliable horizon within a limited area, he soon learns that it is of all things most untrustworthy when it extends over regions of large diameter. It is at most a local phenomenon, wholly misleading except in local application. It is surely a work of supererogation in these days to point out how the tendency of the entire course of geological discovery for the last fifty years has been to reduce to a mere shadow the magni- tude of the miraculous and world-wide stratigraphical breaks that bounded the geologic systems of our forefathers. The doctrine of universal convulsion and the simultaneous destruction of all the life upon the earth at the end of each great epoch has so long since passed into the limbo of exploded hypotheses, that it would be highly amusing, were it not so painful, to see its degenerate and impoverished survival—the dogma of the necessity for general stratigraphical and palzontological breaks between our modern systems—drageging out its miserable and ridiculous existence, even in our midst, and claiming allegiance from men of standing in the science. One concession, and one only, appears to be all that is needful to meet the real facts of the case. As a general rule, our British systems have been founded, less upon paleeontological than upon mineralogical considerations, and it is more of the nature of a series of happy accidents, than a geologic necessity, that they happen to possess such distinctive faunas. In all cases, however, it is clear, both here and elsewhere, that the faunas that characterize our accepted rock-systems owe their distinctness—such as it is—to the fact that in the more typical areas there happened to be an absence of fossiliferous strata to unite them. Whether the time thus zoo- logically unrepresented was occupied in the upheaval and partial denudation of the rocks of the preceding system (as locally between the so-called Lower and Upper Silurians of Britain), or whether, on the other hand, it was filled by the deposition of barren strata (as between the corresponding systems of the United States), the result is precisely the same. The faunas of the consecutive systems differ to the extent of the progress made in the locally unrepresented interval ; and the group of rocks holding each fauna forms for the geologist a convenient Procrustean bed to which to fit the tolerably synchronous deposits of other lands. The unconformability argu- ment is worthless except from the point of view that the faunas of our typical British systems are likely to be the more distinct the longer these separating interregenums lasted. It is best, that is, simply as a matter of convenience and clearness of definition, to C. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. 11 choose, if possible, the longest non-fossiliferous periods to divide them, and these are almost certain to occur where there is the greatest appearance of unconformability. Nevertheless, the same effect may be owing to acause in its nature diametrically opposite—the required paleontological break being due to a more than ordinary depression of the sea-bed, and the conse- quent cessation of almost all deposition in that area—a circumstance to my mind of equal importance from a classificatory point of view with an unconformability itself. An extraordinary regional depres- sion of this character seems to have been the actual cause of the appa- rently sudden change in the facies of the Paleozoic fauna at the commencement of the Arenig period, both in Britain and Scandinavia, and when fully worked out will, in all probability, enable us to lay down a paleontological line of demarcation far more strictly syn- chronous throughout its geographical range than that which we shall be compelled to adopt at the base of the Lower Llandovery. Nor is the venerable objection—that, owing to the established laws of scientific nomenclature, a moral obligation is binding upon us to adhere rigidly to the limits of each system as originally laid down by its founder—worthy of a whit more respect. This is a claim whose absurdity verges upon the ridiculous when it is advanced by the Murchisonian in support of his contention that the Paradoxides and Olenus beds appertain to the Silurian, for they actually antedate all the strata of Murchison’s original Silurian System. It is, therefore, only occasionally employed by him in a restricted sense in defence of his retention of the strata of the Second Fauna. It crops up continually, however, in the writings and arguments of those belonging to the opposite party. It is urged again and again with a wearisome iteration, as if this conservative rule in geologic nomenclature were necessarily to over-ride every other scientific canon whatsoever. But even if we grant that Sedgwick, and not Murchison, first correctly defined and characterized the rock- group which yields the Second Fauna, this rule is equally inoperative in the face of our present recognition of the grand geological impor- tance and distinctness of this Fauna. Of this fact Sedgwick was originally wholly unaware; nor does he ever appear to have estimated it at its true value. To us, however, who have watched the gradual elimination of the Primordial Fauna, the grand distinct- ness of the Second Fauna is so glaringly apparent, that it is impossible for us to conceive of the rock-group which it characterizes as a mere subdivision of the Cambrian. It is all very well to plead for historic justice, and to demand, out of respect to the memory of a genius, the adoption of the nomenclature which the general geological world was, in a sense, deprived of the opportunity of accepting during his lifetime. But time and geolo- gical convenience will soon make short work of any scheme of nomenclature, however historically just, if it be not in all its parts the natural expression of the inter-relationships and mutual subor- dination of the facts it is its special aim to associate and systematize. 12 OC. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. No amount of enthusiastic regard for the memory of a martyr will bolster up an unwieldy system for ever. The giant size upon which its weaker advocates pride themselves must in the end be the main cause of its inevitable dismemberment. We shall best promote the interest of the man whose memory we venerate, by modestly claiming for him as much, and no more, than truth and geological convenience will allow. Thus, however reluctant we may be to interfere with the schemes of classification propounded by our great masters in the science, it appears to me that the time has now arrived when we can no longer be accused of disrespect or disloyalty in endeavouring to emancipate ourselves from the inconveniences due to our superstitious adherence to an effete and unworkable nomenclature. The present needs of our science demand, with a unanimous voice that partizanship can no longer silence, a distinct title for the rocks of the Second Fauna. The experiment of naming them in such a way as to recognize the claims of both Murchison and Sedgwick has been tried again and again with the same result. It has invariably ended in prolonging and greatly intensifying the original controversy. But one course remains to us. We must give it a new title, which, though it might have been originally suggested by either party, shall contain no element of future discussion. So long as present systems of nomenclature survive, nothing can disturb the application of the title of Cambrian to the rocks of the Primordial Series, and that of Silurian to the strata of the Third Fauna. In these systems, as thus restricted, the most perversely Ingenious partisan could scarcely find room for controversy. Within these limits the labours of their respective founders were compa- ratively perfect and complete, and the propriety and harmony of their original classifications, though slightly modified in detail by subsequent research, has never been impugned, either by friend or foe. It is vastly. different, however, as we have seen, with the intermediate system. From the day it was recognized until now, it has been the object of incessant disputes. Its co-discoverers both committed the gravest of errors regarding either its proper limits, its relationships, or the sequence and fossils of its component formations. It has been the subject of almost as much passionate argument as the Wernerian theory itself; and the whole subject is a disgrace to modern science, and an obstacle to its progress that must be got rid of—whatever the sacrifice. Time has already done justice to the value of the discoveries of both Murchison and Sedgwick, by assigning them each a system in which their labours were accurate and complete. We shall do their memories the greatest service by giving the system in which their work appears to our eyes—in the light of later discovery—to have been more or less inaccurate or deficient, a title which shall bear no personal reference to either. Sedgwick, with his well-balanced and philosophic mind, named his system after the entire Principality in which his rocks were typically developed. His title of Cambrian is thus comprehensive CO. Lapworth—Classification of the Lower Paleozoie Rocks. 13 enough to embrace the whole of the Lower Paleozoics. It not only calls up before the imagination the majestic mountains where they may be studied under their most typical aspect, but it reminds us that they formed the fortress-homes of the early Britons—those proud old savages, who, like the Greywackés upon which they trod, were the last to succumb to the irresistible march of conquest. Murchison, on the other hand, with his military proclivities, and a keener instinct for locality, had already made choice of the term Silurian; associating the rocks of his system with that classic Cambrian tribe, the Silures, whose indomitable struggles for liberty had hallowed the very hills upon which he sought his types; and thus, in a measure, he may be said to have erected an everlasting monument to British valour and love of freedom. But, as has been more than once pointed out elsewhere, the Silures were a nation inhabiting the southern parts of Wales, and Murchison distinctly availed himself of the privileges of genius in thus extend- ing their rule into Shropshire and the regions to the north. North Wales itself—at all events the whole of the great Bala district where Sedgwick first worked out the physical succession among the rocks of the intermediate or so-called Upper Cambrian or Lower Silurian system; and in all probability much of the Shelve and the Caradoc area, whence Murchison first published its distinctive fossils—lay within the territory of the Ordovices; a tribe as undaunted in its resistance to the Romans as the Silures. It was indeed the lasé of the old British tribes to yield to their invincible legions; and it is consequently quite as well worthy of scientific commemoration as the Silures themselves. Camden thus refers to the Ordovices:' ‘‘'Those countries of the Silures and Dimete, which we have last surveyed, were in after- times, when Wales came to be divided into three Principalities, called by the natives Deheubarth (or the Right-hand part), and in English, as we have already observed, South Wales. ‘The other two Princi- palities (which they call Gwynedh and Powys, and we North Wales and Powisland) were inhabited by the Ordovices, called also Ordevices, and Ordovice, and in some authors, though corruptly, Orduluce. A courageous and puissant Nation these were, as being inhabitants of a mountainous country; and receiving vigour from native soil; and who continued, the longest of any, unconquered either by Romans or English. For they were not subdued by the Romans till the time of the Emperor Domitian ; when Julius Agricola subdued almost the whole nation. Nor were they sub- jected by the English, before the reign of Edward the First. Fora long time they enjoyed their liberty, confiding as well in their own strength and courage, as in the roughness and difficult situation of their country, which seems to be laid out by Nature for ambuscades and the prolongation of war. ‘To determine the limits of these Ordevices is no hard task, but to give a true reason of the name seems very difficult. However, I have entertained a notion, that, seeing they were seated upon the two rivers of Devi, which springing 1 Camden’s Britannia, Dr. Gibson’s Translation, second edition, p. 778. 14 ©. Lapworth—Olassification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. not far asunder, take their course different ways, and that Oardewi (Read Ar-dhyvi—tTransl.) in the British language signifies—Upon the rivers of Devi—they have been thence called Ordevices. To the Ordovices belonged those countries which are now called in English by new names—Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire, Caer- narvonshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire.” Here, then, have we the hint for the appropriate title for the central system of the Lower Paleozoics. It should be called the Orpovicran System, after the name of this old British tribe. Whatever arguments may be adduced in support of the term Silurian will apply equally well, or even with greater force, to this new title. Like the term Silurian, it is classic in origin, but at the same time thoroughly British. It is equally euphonious, and far more strictly significant of the geographical area where its strata are typically developed. Indeed, the employment of the one title almost of itself necessitates the adoption of the other; for only in this way is it possible to recognize the systematic equality of the two systems in their very designations—the one receiving its name from the ruling tribe in the south of Wales, the other from the dominant tribe in the north. If there is anything specially becoming in com- memorating the warlike tribe of the Silures in the name of a geologic system, how strikingly appropriate is the title of Ordovician in erecting a similar scientific monument to the last and most valiant of the old Cambrian tribes. On this arrangement the Lower Paleozoic Rocks of Britain stand as follows :— (c) Srturtan System :—Strata comprehended between the base of the Old Red Sandstone and that of the Lower Llandovery. (b) Orpovicran System :—Strata included between the base of the Lower Llandovery formation and that of the Lower Arenig. (a) Camprian System :—Strata included between the base of the Lower Arenig formation and that of the Harlech Grits. That our attempt to cut in this way the knot which all the schools have already convinced both themselves and others of the utter impossibility of untying, will do much more than draw the attention of geologists in general to what we believe to be the more striking aspects of the question, can hardly be expected. It is almost certain that any suggestion that might have been made by either of the schools with the object of freeing this section of the science from the present dead-lock, would, as a matter of course, be opposed to the utmost by the others. How much worse is it when the hint is given from without. The great mass of the most influential of our living geologists have so long since given in their adhesion to one or other of the contending parties, that it is not improbable that our well- meant interference will be stigmatized by all as a most unwarranted and impertinent intrusion. By those, however, who are weary of the interminable discussion, and who feel the necessity for some scheme of classification which, while it systematizes the known facts, holds the balance true with reference to the opposing claims of the two great pioneers in the CO. Lapworth—COlassification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks. 15 study of the Lower Paleozoics, our suggestion may be tolerated now, and adopted later on, when the necessity for this course has become more strikingly apparent. To those who interest themselves in the attempted correlation of the Lower Paleeozoic Rocks of the Northern Hemisphere, and who are continually hampered by the want of some clear and unmistakable generic terms expressive of the general parallelism among these widely-separated deposits, the ease and comfort of a classification which imitates Nature herself in placing the three grand members of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks upon an equal footing, is an advantage of which they are certain in time to avail themselves to the full. Those again, who feel how vain is the endeavour to parallel the special formations and minor stages of our British Lower Paleeozoics with those of other areas, will hail with some approach to satisfaction the release of such convenient sub-generic terms as Lower and Upper Cambrian, and Lower, Middle, and Upper Silurian, with the list completed by the addition of Lower and Upper Ordovician ;—terms all of easy and immediate application, and all expressive of epochs, which, so far as our present knowledge enables us to judge, embrace tolerably equal periods of geological time. No earnest student of the history of discovery among the Lower Paleeozoic Rocks, whose opinions are the natural outcome of his own careful generalization of presently known facts, and not the petrified remains of the views he so enthusiastically adopted a quarter of a century ago, can fail to perceive that the ideas of the extreme party which claims all the Lower Palzozoics for the Silurian are fated soon to become wholly extinct. The wave of backward opinion which led this party to revert in substance to the ideas of their predecessors was inevitable. We are now witnessing the as-inevitable return of the tide. Here and there this application of the term may linger on for a time, as in Bohemia, and possibly in Scandinavia, kept alive by the very principle that must in the end prove fatal to it, when local conveniences become superseded by cosmopolitan necessities. A single glance at the magnificent development of the Lower Paleeozoics on the continent of North America is enough to convince every unbiassed investigator how much we have yet to learn regarding their British prototypes, and how ridiculously inadequate is our present estimate of their grand importance in the geological series. As this knowledge dawns upon us as the result of our discoveries in the future, some such classification as is here pro- posed will perforce be adopted by all; and the systematist will then be left free to work out his generalizations untrammelled by the defects of a cramped and unnatural nomenclature. Our British strata can in the end return but one answer to the most extended appeal. Every geologist will at last be driven to the same con- clusion that Nature has distributed our Lower Paleozoic Rocks in three sub-equal systems, and that history, circumstance, and geologic convenience, have so arranged matters that the title here proposed for the central system is the only one possible. 16 V. Ball—Volcanos of the Bay of Bengal. T].—On tHE VoLcanos OF THE Bay or BENGAL. By V. Batt, M.A., F.G.S. ; of the Geological Survey of India. (PLATE I.) URING the year 1873, it was my good fortune to be one of a party who, in the course of an exploration of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, were enabled to spend a few hours on the detached volcanic islands of the Bay of Bengal, which are known respectively as Barren Island and Narkondam. The time at our disposal did not admit of our making as thorough an examination as we should have wished, but there was sufficient opportunity for testing the accuracy of the statements regarding the islands which had been previously published, and also for making a few original observations. The information upon which the accounts of Barren Island, given in geological manuals and other works, have been founded, is exceedingly faulty. Dr. Liebig’s paper, which contains the fullest and most accurate description of the island, does not appear to have reached the hands of several authors, who have since its publication tenaciously clung to old statements which should have been long since expunged. In presenting this account to the readers of the GroLocicaL MaGazing, it is necessary for me to premise that in substance it has already been published in the Records of the Geological Survey of India.!. The present edition differs from the original in being illustrated by the accompanying sketches of the islands, and in sundry small alterations and additions to the text. The wide circulation of the Groxtocican MacGazinE among geologists throughout the world affords an unequalled opportunity for stamping out errors like those which are exposed in the follow- ing pages. It is hoped that in future works and editions of works on Geology or Volcanos there will be no repetition of the old statements or old illustrations which have served to give such incorrect ideas as to the physical features of these remarkable islands. Barren Island and Narkondam are two volcanic islands situated in the Bay of Bengal at a distance of seventy miles from one another on a north-by-east, south-by-west line. They constitute links which connect what is known as the Molucca band with the volcanic region of Arracan and Chittagong. This has been pointed out by several physical geographers, one of whom? has written :— ‘One of the most terribly active groups of volcanos in the world begins with the Banda groups of islands, and extends through the Sunda groups of Timor, Sumbawa, Bali, Java, and Sumatra, separated only by narrow channels, and altogether forming a gently curved line 2,000 miles long; but as the volcanic zone is continued through Barren Island and Narkondam in the Bay of Bengal, and 1 Calcutta, No. 4, 1873. 2 Mrs. Somerville. (nt ey EE EE EP IO tA ‘Guay Ni LlLoth VOT “PuMopsy welumg fo mer ahd - Steyr roe PEOOMGG ie ‘buoT! Tatty id WW TOA T Xayourd “6£8T_ )VIN_TOHO ses V. Ball— Volcanos of the Bay of Bengal. 17 northward along the Coast of Arracan,’ the entire length of the volcanic range is a great deal more.” Dr. Hochstetter carries the line of elevations which accompanies the zone of volcanic action still further, in an oblique S form, through New Guinea to the north of the Australian continent. “It forms in New Ireland, the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, and New Zealand, a curve, concave towards the west, the small group of the Macquarie Islands being possibly considered as the extreme southern end of this curve.” So far as is known, there are no volcanos in either the Nicobar or Andaman Islands. It has been by some supposed that the hill on Bompoka in the Nicobars, and some of the high ground in the Great Nicobar, might be volcanic, but the evidence is rather against than in favour of this view. Igneous rocks (diorite and gabbro) not unfrequently occur, however, in both groups of islands. A statement made in an old account of the Cocos, that the little Coco is formed of volcanic rocks, is, I believe, quite without foundation. The only rocks I observed there were Tertiary sandstones and shales. Barren Istanp, Lat. 12°17’ N.; Long. 93° 54’ E. History of the Island derived from Previous Notices.—In the table appended I have given a précis of all that has been published on the subject of Barren Island; but a few additional remarks, tracing out the way in which certain inaccuracies have arisen, seem to be desirable. The first published account was by Captain Blair, in his report on the Andaman Islands, dated 1789. I have not seen the original document, but the account was extracted and reprinted by Lieutenant Colebrooke in the Asiatic Researches. Captain Blair gave the height of the central cone at “nearly 1,800 feet.” Were it not also stated, however, that the cone was equal in height to the outer walls of the surrounding part of the island, we might, in consequence of Blair’s oft-proved accuracy as an observer, be disposed to believe that at the time of his observa- tion the cone was nearly double its present height. That there has not been a general subsidence of the island to the extent of 800 feet is proved by the fact that the base of the cone was then, as it is now, but little raised above the sea-level. Blair himself states that the island may be seen at a distance of twelve leagues in clear weather, which would only require an elevation of about 920 feet. I can only suppose, as an explanation of the difficulty, that Blair took several heights which varied between 800 and 1,000 feet, and that these, by some error, came to be written together as 1,800. The angle of inclination of the sides of the cone is stated by Blair to be 82° 17’. The sketch by Lieutenant Wales given in Lieutenant Colebrooke’s paper, save that it represents an inclination of about 60° for the sides of the cone, conveys the best idea of the island of any of the _/ A very full account of the mud volcanos on this coast has recently been pub- lished by Mr. F. R. Mallet, F.G.S., Rec. Geol. Survey of India, vol. xi. part ii. p. 188. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. I. 2 18 V. Balli—Volcanos of the Bay of Bengal. numerous figures which have been published. It was reproduced by Von Buch, and copied from him by Sir Charles Lyell, Dr. Daubeny, Dr. Buist, Von Cotta, ete. Von Buch, in his “ Memoir on the Canary Islands,” gives the height of the cone at 1,690 Paris feet. His account, though apparently derived from Lieutenant Cole- brooke’s paper alone, contains the statement that the sea penetrates into the circle at the base of the cone. This can only have been due to some misapprehension of the meaning of Blair’s words, which were as follow :—‘ The base of the cone is the lowest part of the island, and very little higher than the level of the sea.” Sir Charles Lyell, in the earlier editions of the ‘ Principles,” framed his account from Von Buch’s. In the changes from English into French, and back again into English, the elevation of the cone became increased by 48 feet, standing in the seventh edition of the “Principles” (1847) at 1,848 feet. It is also there stated that the circular basin inside is filled with the waters of the sea. In the ninth edition (1853), Captain Miller’s estimated elevation of 500 feet is adopted instead of the former one; but the statement regard- ing the sea inside still remains. In the tenth edition (1868) Captain Miller’s estimate of 500 feet, as the height in 1834, is retained; but it is stated that according to Von Liebig in 1857, both the cone and outer crater were about 1,000 feet high, and in reference to the sea we find the following :—“ In some of the older accounts the sea is described as entering the inner basin, but Von Liebig says it was excluded at the time of his visit.” I believe this statement regard- ing the sea to have arisen solely in the way I have pointed out. It is important that there should be a clear representation of the case, as otherwise it might be concluded that we have direct evidence of the rising of the island within the historical period. The next account to that by Blair is by Horsburgh, about which there is nothing particular to remark here, save that he asserts that in 18038 the volcano was very active (see table). Dr. J. Adam’s account is derived from information and specimens received from a friend who had landed on the island in 1832. He speaks of the stones on shore hissing and smoking, and the water bubbling all round them. ‘The statement has apparently been understood by one writer to indicate that the lava at the surface had not then cooled down. But the hot spring was probably quite sufficient to account for the phenomena observed. ‘This is the first mention made of the hot spring. The author supposes that the volcano is only active in the south-west monsoon,’ i.e. requires water to bring it into a state of activity. Apart from other considera- tions, it is only necessary to say that the only authentic account of it in a really violent state of eruption is by Blair, who saw it on the 21st of March, and therefore not during the south-west monsoon. Captain Miller’s account is very inaccurate in several respects. He has given the height at 500 feet, and the angle at which the cone 1 Curiously enough Mr. Mallet (/.c.) mentions that a similar belief is held by the islanders with regard to the activity of the mud voleanos of Ramri and Cheduba, but he points out that the recorded dates of eruption do not support this view. V. Ball—Volcanos of the Bay of Bengal. 19 rises at 45° or even more. If the elevation of the cone in his time were only so much, then, since he states that this was also the elevation of the outer walls or amphitheatre, both must have in- creased pari passu. ‘This view is of course untenable, and we are forced to believe that Captain Miller only gave a rough guess. His remarks on the vegetation are quite inconsistent with one another, for he says,—‘“There is no vegetation of any kind within the amphitheatre, but a few small trees are found on other parts of the island, which, however barren it may have been at one time, is now well wooded.” Dr. Daubeny, in his description of Barren Island, though quoting from Lieutenant Colebrooke, gives the elevation of the cone at 4,000 feet, which must, I think, have been due to a clerical error. A somewhat modified reproduction of the original sketch is given. Mr. Scrope, in his work on Volcanos (2nd edition, Lond., 1862), writes regarding Barren Island: ‘This permanently active volcano is a eone about 4,000 feet high, rising in the centre of a circular cliff range, which entirely surrounds it except at one point where the sea has broken in.” Though the authority is not given, it seems probable that this account is derived from Dr. Daubeney’s, as the elevation is not given at 4,000 feet in any other work. In 1846 the island appears to have been visited by the Danish corvette Galathea, but the only record of the fact is said to be an inscription on a rock on the island—‘“‘ GALATHEA, 1846.” This we failed to observe. In the Bombay Times for July, 1852, on the authority of Dr. Buist, it is stated that the volcano was then very active, but I have not been able to refer to the original account. The chief points in the “accounts subsequent to the ‘above will be found incorporated below (see the table on pp. 20,21). Dr. Playfair, Von Liebig, and the Andaman Committee agree in es- timating the angle of the cone at 40° to 45°, and the elevation at from 975 to 980 feet. From the preceding records we may gather the following. The volcano has probably not been in violent eruption since the years which closed the last and commenced the present century.' The lava-flow which stretches from the entrance open to the sea to the base of the cone was probably poured out during this period, and raised the level of the encircling valley some 40 feet above its elevation in 1789, when Blair saw it. He makes no mention of a lava-stream in his time. If it did not exist then, it cannot—as has been supposed by some—have been instrumental in the formation of the entrance. That this fissure was probably due to other causes we shall presently see. From Lieutenant Wales’ figure it is apparent that no material change has taken place in the general configuration, and as it has been shown that 1,800 feet cannot have been the true height, and about 920 probably was, no great alteration in the elevation is likely to have taken place. 1 The statement ‘“‘ very active”’ from the Bombay Times is too vague for reliance. V. 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Ball—Velcanos of the Bay of Bengal. General Description of Barren Island.—Seen from any side but the north-west, Barren Island appears as a nearly flat-topped hill with numerous spurs running down into the sea. From some aspects, however, the top of a central cone with a column of smoke rising from it is discernible. As the north-west side opens up to view, it is first realized that the island consists of a circular ridge forming a huge amphitheatre, which is broken down at one side for a distance of perhaps 150 yards to the level of the sea. The view obtainable through this entrance discloses a bare cone which rises from the centre of the island. Except at a sort of shoulder not far from the top, and at two peaks close to the summit, no rocks are seen on this cone, its smooth sides being covered with grey ash and occasional strings of shingle. ‘Towards the top some whitish patches are seen, these are due to the presence of gypsum mixed with the ash. The accompanying illustration, it will be observed, is somewhat diagrammatic in its character, being rather of the nature of a bird’s- eye view, than a representation taken from an actual point of view. The total diameter of the island is, on the authority of Lieutenant Heathcote, 2,970 yards. The circuit of the island, from the time it took us to row round, I estimated at about six miles. The high encircling ridge is formed of somewhat irregularly de- posited layers of lava, ash, and conglomerate, which dip away from the centre. A section of these may be seen on the left hand of the gap or entrance, and others at various points on the sea-face, no two of them corresponding exactly in character. These beds or layers generally dip at angles of 35° to 40°, which inclination appears to be continued steadily under the sea, as bottom, except at one place, has not been found with a line of 150 fathoms at one-quarter of a mile from the shore. This steepness has been unfavourable to the formation of a fringing reef of coral of any magnitude, such as we find surrounding some of the islands of the Andaman and Nicobar groups. The elevation of this outer ridge varies somewhat in places, but it probably nowhere is much in excess of 1,000 feet. Its highest points are towards the south and west. The appearance presented by the inner scarped face of this amphi- theatre is very peculiar. In several places cornice lines mark the position of particular beds, but a purplish grey, or in places brownish, ash spreads over the steep slopes, except towards the south-west and west, where there are some trees and shrubby vegetation. To the north, south, and east a few tufts of grass—generally arranged in long vertical lines, the first being a sort of protection to those below it—are the only plants which have managed to establish a footing in the loose ash. The outer slopes facing the sea are for the most part covered with a luxuriant vegetation, in which large forest trees may be discerned. These latter attract considerable numbers of fruit- eating pigeons (Carpophaga bicolor). From its composition and character, it is evident that this ring of cliffs is the remnant of the original cone which gradually rises from V. Ball— Volcanos of the Bay of Bengal. 23 below the sea. Its top and a portion of the side were, no doubt, blown off by a violent eruption, and the present cone was sub- sequently formed inside. The gap or fissure in the surrounding walls bears about north-west-by-west from the centre of the island. It is the only place where an entrance can be obtained to the central valley. For a long time Barren Island was considered by Von Buch and others of his school as a most favourable example of his elevation theory of craters. Since, however, the island is in reality only formed of volcanic materials elevated above the sea without a trace of any pre-existing rocks, it is evident that its peculiar form gives no support to that now exploded hypothesis. Hot Spring.—Close to the landing-place, there is a hot spring which has been mentioned in several of the accounts of the island. Dr. Playfair found the temperature to exceed 140°,—the limit of his thermometer. Dr. Liebig’s thermometer was only ¢ eraduated up to 104°, but judging from the feel to the hands, he egcmatied it to be near the boiling-point. The Andaman Committee record it at from 158° to 163°. At the time of our visit the highest temperature of the water where it bubbled out of the rocks, close to high-water mark, was 130° F. We therefore failed to boil some eggs in it which we had brought with us for the purpose. The water is perfectly clear and sweet,’ and there was no trace of sulphurous vapours. Strange to say, where, though mingled with the sea, it was still too hot for the hand to be retained in it with comfort, there were a number of brilliantly-coloured fish swimming about. Facing the landing-place is the termination of a flow of lava which extends backwards for about a mile to the base of the cone, round which it laps for perhaps # of the circumference. The height or thickness of this flow of lava is about 10 feet at first, gradually rising to about 50 feet where it emerges from the base of the cone. The upper surface is deeply cleft and covered over with blocks of black cellular lava which rest upon one another in confused piles. Sometimes they are poised so insecurely one upon another that it is a matter of no little risk to attempt scrambling over them. Towards the base of the flow the rock from its slower cooling is more compact and less cellular. In places it contains white crystals of a mineral resembling leucite. In others it is a true basalt with numerous crystals of olivine. As pointed out by Dr. Liebig, the older lava seen in the section of the ridge differs from this; ‘it consists of a reddish matrix with crystals of felspar (probably sanidine), olivine, and augite. A somewhat similar rock occurs on Narkondam. On our way to the central cone from the landing-place, we at first endeavoured to avoid the rough surface of the lava-flow by keeping on the slope of the gap; but after a short distance the bushes and unevenness of the ground compelled us to strike down on the lava, when we found, to our astonishment, a sort of path which must have 1 The Andaman Committee do not appear to have realized this fact, as they spent no little time and trouble in excavating a well without finding a trace of water. 24 V. Ball— Volcanos of the Bay of Bengal. been made by the committee sent from Port Blair to report upon the supply of grass. Arrived at the foot of the cone, we commenced the ascent from the west. The loose ashes and shingle rendered it somewhat toilsome work; and those in front found it difficult to avoid loosening fragments of lava which bounded down the hill in a most unpleasant way for those who were following. Dr. Liebig appears to have ascended from the north side, where it seems to have been equally difficult. About 1 of the way from the top there is a shoulder of rock which shows very well in the photo- graph. This probably marks the position of an old vent. There is a good deal of firm ‘ground about it. The summit of the cone is truncated, and contains an oval-shaped depression, one-half of which is partly filled with débris, and the other, some 20 yards in diameter and 50 feet deep, has a circular bottom, which is filled with sand. This appears to have been the last crater formed on the island. The two principal edges of the depression strike to north-west, south-east; they consist of ash permeated with fibrous gypsum (selenite) ; numerous cracks and fissures occur in this part of the hill, and the ground is hot. On turning over the surface, the sides of these cracks are found to be encrusted with sulphur, resting upon the rugosities of which small detached crystals of the same mineral were not uncommon. From the highest point on the northern edge a thin column of white vapour and sulphurous fumes is slowly poured forth. Even when standing in its midst, the fumes did not prove so irritating as might have been expected. On the southern side of the crater solid lava is seen in siti, and on the west there is a peculiarly-shaped mass which forms a conspicuous object from below. Portions of the lava here have a reddish matrix and are somewhat vesicular. I also found some basalt, the outer surface of which was weathered into a white crust. It seems probable that the nucleus of the cone is solid rock to a considerable extent, the ashes seen at the surface being only superficial. By following water channels when they were to be found, and glissading over the ashes, the return to the base of the cone was effected speedily and without much difficulty. By a small watch-aneroid supplied with a Vernier scale for feet, the height of the cone appeared to be 950 feet; but as one heavy storm of rain had passed, and clouds portended another, I am willing to believe that owing to the atmospheric disturbance the observation was not trustworthy, and that from 975 to 980 feet, given by Lieu- tenant Heathcote, Dr. Liebig and others, is the true elevation. The temperature on the top was 83°. The diameter of the base of the cone is 2,170 feet according to Lieutenant Heathcote. The slopes of the cone incline, according to my observation, at angles varying between 30° and 35°. Blair, as already stated, gave it at 32° 17’, or about the mean of these two. Other observers say 40° to 45°, but a photograph of the cone, which I possess, shows that the former are correct. Dr. Liebig has discussed the question of the amount of sulphur obtainable on the island. Heé seems to think the chances of finding V. Ball—Voleanos of the Bay of Bengal. 25 a permanent supply very doubtful, but recommends a preliminary trial. Jonsidering the great expense which keeping up constant commu- nication with the Andamans and the superintendence of convict labour would involve, I cannot see that there is any prospect of the collection and refining of the sulphur being made to pay. So far as is known, the substance occurs only at the summit of the cone, though doubtless, if the right places could be found, it does also occur lower down. But in such places, it could only be as an old deposit which, on being worked out, would not be replaced again. On the summit, deposition, so far as I could see, proceeds very slowly, certainly not with sufficient rapidity to keep labourers con- stantly employed. Narxonpam, Lat. 138° 24’ N.; Long. 94° 12’ E. History and Previous Notices.—So little has been published regard- ing this island that a few lines will suffice to dispose of all that has ever been recorded regarding it. In 1795 it was passed by Colonel Symes! when on his voyage to Rangoon, whence he started on his embassy to Ava. He speaks of it as “a barren rock rising abruptly out of the sea and seemingly destitute of vegetation.” Dr. McClelland, writing in 1838,? says:—‘It is a volcanic cone raised to the height of from 700 to 800 feet.” He gives a sketch showing the figure of the cone, “the upper part of which is quite naked, presenting lines such as were doubtless formed by lava currents descending from the crater to the base, which last is covered with vegetation.” No soundings are to be found at the distance of half a mile from the shore. This account is reproduced by Mrs. Somerville, Dr. Daubeny, Dr. Buist, and Mr. Scrope. Horsburgh*® says:—“ Narkondam may be seen about fourteen or fifteen leagues from the deck, and appears in the form of a cone or pyramid with its summit broken off; it is bold and safe to approach all round.” Mr. §. Kurz, in his report on the vegetation of the Andaman Islands, writes :—‘‘ Narkondam Island has an extinct volcano remarkable for the great height of its cone, being twice as high as its outer wall. Owing to the great height of the cone (perhaps 2,000 feet) in proportion to the surrounding wall, this island must have sunk very much, or the volcano must have been formed from a considerable depth in the sea.” Mr. Kurz gives an outline sketch of the island as it appeared to him from a distance of twenty miles. In a paper on the geology of the neighbourhood of Port Blair,* I made a few remarks on the appearance of Narkondam as seen from a few miles distance. I then accepted the height of the cone, 2,150 1 Embassy to Ava, vol. i. 1827, p. 167. 2 On the Difference of Level in Indian Coal-fields, J. A. S. B. vol. vii. Also in the Coal Committee’s Report, and in Corbyn’s Indian Review. 3 Indian Directory, fifth edition, vol. ii. 1843, p. 5d. 4 J. A. S. B. vol. xxxix. part 1. 1870, p. 231. 26 V. Ball—Volcanos of the Bay of Bengal. feet, given on the chart, as authentic. This, it will be seen by the sequel, I do not now adopt as correct. In the Jndian Observer for the 10th of May, 1873, a short account of the present visit will be found. General Description of Narkondam.—Viewed from the north-west at a distance of about four or five miles, the island of Narkondam appears to consist of a tolerably regular cone which rises from an interrupted ring of irregularly piled masses. The apex is some- what truncated, but has three distinct peaks. On the occasion in 1869 when I first saw the island, a dense mass of cloud rested on the top, as is indicated in the accompanying illustration. I was then unable to make out the character of the summit. But when subsequently seen, it was observed that there were three peaks as represented in the rough sketches published by Mr. Kurz and Dr. McClelland. The upper parts of the cone, and the sides for more than half-way down, are deeply furrowed by ravines, and what appears to be a low scrub jungle spreads uniformly over the island Save upon some vertical scarped faces. With the observers above mentioned, who did not land, the conical form alone seems to have been accepted as sufficient proof of the volcanic character of the island. Dr. McClelland, as noted above, speaks of the lined appearance being “doubtless formed by lava- currents descending from the crater to the base.” These lines are, however, simply the result of erosion, and mark the position of the watercourses. The elevation of the summit of the cone has been variously estimated at from 700 to 2,150 feet. Since, however, according to Horsburgh, the island first becomes visible from the deck of a steamer at a distance of from fourteen to fifteen leagues, it is probable that about 1,800 feet would be nearer the true altitude, and such indeed, judging by the eye, appears to be a very fair estimate. Those who have seen Stromboli from the north-east, can scarcely fail to be struck with the extraordinary resemblance between it and Narkondam as represented in the accompanying illustration. On the occasion of our visit in March, 1873, we landed in a small bay on the north-west side of the island. At about 100 yards distance from the beach the water became so shoal, owing to a coral reef, that we were compelled to land on a raft. We soon found that the jungle, which in the distant view appeared to consist mainly of low scrub, was really composed of large forest trees with a thick undergrowth. So dense was this, just above high-water mark, that at first it seemed probable that it would be impossible to penetrate it. Added to the natural density of the jungle, another obstacle was presented by the prostrate condition of many of the trees, which in their fall had carried down tangled masses of creepers and the lower vegetation. It soon became apparent that at no very distant period a violent hurricane or cyclone must have swept across the island. An entrance was at last found, and for three hours, cutting our way and making constant detours to avoid fallen trees, we endeavoured to force onwards to the summit, but were at length W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 26 compelled to give up all hope of succeeding, and returned to the beach. Further evidence of the hurricane was there afforded by numerous fragments of a wreck which had been thrown up on the sand. Subsequently this storm was identified with one which took place on the 26th of October, 1872, and did much damage in the Cocos Islands and other parts of the Bay. The only rock seen where we landed was a conglomerate, or boulder-bed, some 50 feet thick. The boulders consisted of a trachytic porphyry which contained sanidine, augite, and mica, in grey or pinkish matrices. We discovered no evidence whatever of recent lava or basalt occurring, though either or both may exist, as our observations were confined to one small bay. There is no historical record, so far as I am aware, of smoke ever having been observed to issue from Narkondam. It has, therefore, long been dormant, if not absolutely extinct. Notwithstanding the luxuriance of the jungle, which included species of Ficus, Palms (Caryota), Acacia, Calosanthes, etc., no fresh water was discovered. Much remains to be done in the exploration of this most interest- ing volcanic island. It is particularly desirable to ascertain whether there is really a crater at the summit, and whether there are any traces of recent lavas. Future visitors would do well to provide themselves with some wood-cutters. They should land near the northern spur, and getting then on the steady rise, they will probably find no insuperable obstacle on their way up. Owing to the fact of the physical geology of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands being, as yet, imperfectly known, I have not here discussed the connexion which in all probability exists between their elevation and this adjacent line of volcanic activity. III.—Historitcat Grotocy or CoRNWALL.* By W. A. E. Ussuer, F.G.S. O ascertain the most recent movement to which a country has been subjected, and by careful comparison with the past to discover what insensible changes are now progressing, is of the utmost importance in approaching its Quaternary History. By a recourse to such occasional observations as have been re- corded by historians or monkish chroniclers, gleaned perhaps in few cases from actual investigation, and exaggerated, no doubt, in an age delighting in the marvellous. some information may be gained; but when we consider that these notes were made rather for the gratification of the curious than with a view to ascertain their causes or to forecast their effects, and that the facts of one century may become the legends of the next, it behoves us to sift the evidence, retaining only such bare and unvarnished state- ments as by incidental mention and simple relation appear most 1 The Chart to accompany this paper, of the soundings around the coast of Cornwall, not being executed in time, will appear in next month’s number with the concluding historical part of this article —Eprr. Grou. Mac. 28 W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Corneeall. worthy of credence, especially when the accounts are corroborated by independent writers. It has ever been the characteristic of the ignorant and unin- quiring peasantry to ascribe the occurrence of great boulders of rock dissimilar to any in the neighbourhood, the fantastic shape, so frequently effected by weathering in rocks of unequal durability and such-like remarkable objects, to the agency of fabulous beings endowed with enormous strength and gigantic proportions; and so names are given to phenomena of unusual occurrence, and are retained by a less credulous posterity even when the legends which suggested them have almost entirely passed away. Many such names are to be met with in Cornwall. Again, traditions of a more extensive coast-line, of lands now Swept away, have been handed down, doubtless magnifying the extent of the ancient land, as the account passed through succeeding generations. Our familiarity with the causes producing such phenomena as earthquakes, comets, eclipses, and the like, however seldom some of them have been experienced in a lifetime, renders the obser- vations of the present age more accurate and less liable to exaggera- tion than those of preceding centuries, when anything of infrequent . occurrence in the experienced operations of nature was regarded as cataclysmal, resulting from direct interposition in an unvarying state of things. The rapid advance and more general cultivation of scientific research, no longer fettered by ignorance and superstition, embraces in an ever-extending chain of cause and effect phenomena which our ancestors regarded as supernatural. It is however curious to note how some amongst the ancients, by the acuteness of their perceptions, grasped an occasional scientific truth which has been corroborated in the present day. Thus, it is remarkable that Ovid, Pythagoras, Pliny, and Aristotle should have believed the sea to be less changeable than the land.! Strabo, in opposing the opinions of Eratosthenes and Xanthus as to the cause of shells being found at great elevations and distances from the sea, says: “It is not because the lands covered by the seas were originally at different altitudes that the waters have arisen or subsided or receded from some parts and inundated others. But the reason is that the same land is sometimes raised up or depressed, so that it either overflows or returns to its own place again. We must therefore ascribe the cause to the ground, either to that ground which is under the sea or to that which becomes flooded by it, but rather to that which lies beneath the sea, for this is more movable.” The historical evidence may be classified under three heads :— Firstly, accounts of unusual disturbances of the sea by contem- porary observers. Secondly, records of disastrous inundations preserved in old chronicles. Thirdly, traditions of the Lyonesse and probable references of the ancient geographers and historians to the Scilly Isles. 1 Stoddart, Proc. Brist. Nat. Soc. for 1870, vol. v. p. 48. W. A. EH. Ossher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 29 Fourthly, the insulation of St. Michael’s Mount and the identifi- cation of Ictis. Part 1.—Contemporary Observations. These have been taken exclusively from papers by Mr. Edmonds. In Edin. New Phil. Journ. he mentions an influx and reflux of the sea, varying from three to above five feet, in Mounts Bay, at five p.m., on March 25rd, 1847; the double movement taking from fifteen to twenty minutes. During the most part of the day the water, from the mouth of the Catwater to within Sutton Pool, at Plymouth, was constantly agitated by flux and reflux. In Falmouth Harbour, and on the shores of the Scilly Isles, similar oscillations took place, whilst in St. Ives Bay nothing un- usual was remarked. At Newlyn four fluxes and refluxes of the sea occurred in an hour and a half. In the shallow water between Marazion and Penzance no agitation was perceptible. The limits of the disturbance, so far as observed, were from Mousehole on the west to Porthleven on the east, a distance of ten miles. On October 30th of the same year, at five p.m., a rise of the sea, coming from the south-west, and reaching five feet, took place at Penzance. Three similar fluxes and refluxes occurred at Plymouth in forty minutes. Four whirlwinds, accompanied by shocks, passed through the parish of St. Just, on December 12th, 1846. The same writer’ mentions an earthquake felt over 100 miles, from the Scilly Isles through Cornwall as far as Plymouth, in July, 1757. . A disturbance of the sea took place in Mounts Bay at four hours and a quarter after the great earthquake at Lisbon in 1755, when the sea suddenly rose to the height of six feet at St. Michael’s Mount, coming in from the §.H.; and to eight feet at Penzance Pier, coming in from the 8.H. and §.S.H. At Newlyn Pier-and Mousehole the sea coming in from the south rose and fell ten feet. Toward the decline of the commotion, the sea was found to be running at seven miles an hour in Guavas Lake. If the observation recorded in the following extract be not mag- nified in transmission from the original observer, it shows the care necessary in ascribing the occurrence of some isolated pebbles and boulders above the reach of the highest spring tides to changes in the relation of sea and land: “I have been informed by two descendants of an eye-witness that at Lamorna Cove, which is on the south-east part of Mounts Bay, the sea on this occasion rushed suddenly towards the shore in vast waves with such impetuosity that large rounded blocks of granite from below low-water mark were swept along like pebbles, and many were deposited far above high-water mark. One of seven or eight tons weight was rolled to and fro several feet above high-tide level.” IT R. Ges. Corn: 30 W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. Whether the size of the boulders be exaggerated or not, it is evident that the disturbance described was sufficiently powerful to shift large stones from the existing beach to a point about the average height of the Cornish raised beaches above high-water mark, even allowing for an exaggeration of five feet in the height to which the large boulder was said to be moved. At Polkerris, near the Par estuary, “ Raised Beach” has been engraved on the map, apparently on the strength of the occurrence of isolated quartz pebbles amid sandy debris on a small promontory some twenty feet above the adjacent beach, which is composed of exactly similar quartz pebbles. This phenomenon is much more likely to have been produced by exceptional gales, or such disturbances as have been described, than to be the relics of a raised beach, the lighter materials of which had been dissipated by spray and rain, for the raised beaches are usually too much consolidated to allow of such facile dissipation. In February, 1759, Mr. Edmonds records a slight shock felt at Liskeard for fifteen minutes, accompanied by blood-red rays. In March, 1761, on the day of the second earthquake at Lisbon, the sea advanced and retreated five times four hours and a quarter after ebb-tide, at five p.m., in Mounts Bay, rising six feet at Penzance and Newlyn, and four feet at St. Michael’s Mount. At the Scilly Isles the agitation continued for more than two hours. In July, 1761, fluxes and refluxes occurred in Mounts Bay, and at Falmouth, Fowey, and Plymouth. In 1789 fluxes and refluxes of the sea were observed at Penzance and St. Michael’s Mount. Tarth shocks were felt on December 30th, 1852. In 1886 a slight disturbance of the earth was felt in the parishes of Budock and Stithians. On October 20th, 1837, a slight shock is said to have been felt in the Scilly Isles. On February 17th, 1842, an earthquake was felt between the hours of eight and nine a.m., from Manaccan on the south to St. -Cubert on the north, a distance of twenty-five miles; and from Falmouth on the east to St. Hilary on the west, a distance of eighteen miles. On July 5th, 1848, the sea was much agitated within Porthleven Harbour. Three hundred yards from the north shore of the harbour nothing unusual was observed. At one p.m. the sea rushed in for fifty yards, reaching a height of four or five feet at Marazion. At Penzance an agitation accompanied by strange currents was observed. The effects of the disturbances above cited are eminently tran- sient, except in abnormal shifting of detritus to higher levels, but when we find that within the short space of a century Cornwall has felt the spent force of earthquakes propagated from distant centres of internal or eruptive motion, the probability of similar disturbances emanating from much nearer sources, and productive of considerable if not permanent effects, is at once suggested. Whilst W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 3l the record of such cataclysms in early historic or medieval times would refer to their disastrous effects, want of knowledge and observation leaving the causes unknown, the recent prehistoric geological period conceals them in an impenetrable veil. Part 2.—Records of Disastrous Inundations. I quote the following from Mr. Peacock’s book (On Vast Sinkings of Land, etc.) :— p- 116. “Dr. Barham quotes from the Saxon Chronicle, par- ticulars of the inundation of Nov. 11th, 1099; and of another on the same authority in 1014. This year (1014) on Michaelmas Eve, Sept. 28th, came the great sea-flood which spread over this land, and ran up as far as it never did before, overwhelming many towns and an innumerable multitude of people.” p- 115. An account of a destructive inundation 13 years after the Domesday Survey, by Fiorence of Worcester; “On the 3rd day of the Nones of November 1099, the sea came out upon the shore, and buried towns and men very many, and oxen and _ sheep innumerable.” From the Saxon Chronicle for that year, “On St. Martin’s mass day, the 11th Nov., sprung up so much of the sea- flood, and so myckle harm did, as no man minded that it ever afore did, and there was the ilk day anew moon.” “Whence,” says Mr. Peacock, ‘“‘the catastrophes cannot be referred to the great height of the tide, for the highest spring-tides do not occur until several tides after the new moon, and the llth of November is several weeks after the equinox.” p- 188. Mr. Peacock accounts for Geoffery of Monmouth’s omission of the mention of the inundations of 1014 and 1099, on the ground that the chroniclers very often omitted to record the actual disappearances of lands. In p. 140 he quotes from Mr. Pengelly’s paper on the Antiquity of Man in the South-West of England: ‘Leland (1533-1540) says, ‘Ther hath been much land devourid betwixt Pensandes and Mouse- hole. Ther is an old legend..... a Tounlet in this Part (now defaced and) lying under the water.’ ”’ In p. 141 he gives a reference to Mounts Bay from Magna Britannia published anonymously in 1722 (vol. i. p. 808): “’Tis a tradition among the people here, that the ocean breaking in violently, drowned that part of the country which now is the Bay.” Mr. Peacock disposes of the idea that the catastrophes of 1014 and 1099 might have been the result of similar movements to those “which occurred on the South Coast of England in 1817, 1824, and 1859, at a considerable distance of time from either equinox,” on account of the unprecedented harm done by them, and the in- adequacy of such high tides as those mentioned to produce com- mensurate effects. Notwithstanding, I am inclined to differ from Mr. Peacock in this conclusion for the following reasons :— Firstly. Such traditional accounts as those of Leland and the Magna Britannia, and the statement of Vice-Admiral Thevenard in 32 W. A. HE. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cormeall. Mem. relatifs 4 la Marine (a.p. 1800), “La submersion du terrain . .. et de la pointe ouest de PAngleterre. rx.” (commencement of ninth century), quoted by Mr. Peacock in p. 88 of his book, must be laid out of the question. Secondly. All statements made by writers who lived long after the occurrences they describe must be accepted with reservation, as they may have been derived from the contemporary record of the occurrence, and cannot, therefore, be said to furnish additional evidence. Thus with Florence of Worcester, who wrote in the thirteenth century. Thirdly. Taking the Saxon Chronicle as the only direct con- temporary account of the inundations of the eleventh century, one would like to know whether the descriptions there given were penned by an eye-witness of the catastrophe, or inserted from rumours which would doubtless have magnified the disaster ere they reached the chronicler. Fourthly. Admitting Mr. Peacock’s reason for the omission of remarkable events here and there by the chroniclers generally, I cannot see their particular application to Geoffery of Monmouth, who flourished in the twelfth century, and would therefore have less excuse for omitting to mention events, which had been witnessed by the generations immediately preceding him, than Florence of Worcester, who lived more than three centuries after they had occurred. For these reasons I am disinclined to believe in sudden elevations or depressions of land, and to consider that, owing to some such dis- turbances as I have quoted from Mr. Edmonds, though perhaps of greater magnitude, lives may have been lost and lands devastated by the influx of waves propagated by earthquake shocks, and by seasons of unprecedented flood. That the effects produced would be partial or transient, whilst the story of the disaster for which men could assign no cause would be magnified as it passed from the eye- witnesses of the catastrophe to their descendants, and finally, with many interpolations and distortions, live as a local tradition with perhaps very little of its original significance remaining. Part 3.—Traditions of the Lyonesse, éc. The following information is chiefly extracted from Mr. Peacock’s book :— “Tt is said that in Camden’s time the inhabitants of Cornwall were of opinion that the Land’s End did once extend further to the west, which the seamen positively conclude from the rubbish they draw up, and that the land there drowned by the incursions of the sea was called Lionesse. That a place within the Seven Stones is called by the Cornish people Trevga (i.e. a dwelling), and that windows and other such stuff have been brought up from the bottom there with fish-hooks, for it is the best place for fishing. That at the time of inundation supposed Trevelyan swam from thence (at least 15 nautical miles to the nearest part of the mainland) and in memory thereof bears Gules, an horse Argent issuing out of the sea proper.” (Vide Note A.) W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 33 “Tf the Lyonesse country really existed in Ptolemy’s time (a.p. 117 to 161), it cannot have extended as far westwards as is shown on the map in the Churchman’s Magazine (for July, 1863, p- 89), from Land’s End and Lizard Point to and comprising the Scilly Isles. Because Strabo, who flourished at least a century before Ptolemy, quoting Posidonius, who was still older, mentions those islands as then existing under the name of Cassiterides (book iii. cap. li. § 9), and that they were ten in number (Ibid. cap. v. § 11).” “Dr. Paris, in his ‘Guide to Mounts Bay and the Land’s End,’ p- 91, mentions Camden’s tradition of the Lyonesse (the Silurian Lyonois), said to have contained 140 parish churches, all of which were swept away by the ocean.” He says further that the Scilly Isles are now 140 in number, though only six are inhabited. Camden (Britannia, edit. 1722) says, “ The Scilly Isles are called by Antoninus, Sigdeles; by Sulpitius Severus (died a.p. 420), Sillinz ; by Solinus, Silures; by Dionysius Alexandrinus, Hesperides ; by Festus Avienus (latter part of fourth century), Ostrymnides; by several Greek writers, including Diodorus, and by Pliny the Elder, Cassiterides.”’ ? Dr. Borlase,” in a letter to the Rev. J. Birch on the Scilly Isles, says that the present inhabitants are new comers, having no connexion with the old race, as all the antiquities found in the islands belong to the rudest Druidic times. In isles now uninhabited and not used for pasturage, rude stone pillars, erect circles of stone, kistvaens, innumerable rock basins, and tolmens,® are found, whilst the small islands, tenements, and creeks, are called by British names. Within the three years previous to 1753, he states that the ad- vance of the sea in the Scilly Isles has been very considerable; this advance being, in his opinion, due to subsidence for the following reasons: Strabo’s opinion as to their number (vide supra) and as to one only being desert and uninhabited; the fact that the Isle of Scilly, which gives its name to the group, is now a high barren rock, a furlong across, with cliffs to which only sea-birds can obtain access. The flats which stretch from one island to another are plain evidences of a former union between many now distinct islands. The flats between the islands of Trescan, Brehar, and Sampson, are left quite dry at a spring-tide low-water, when walls and ruins have frequently been seen through the shifting sands, covered by 10 to 20 feet of water at high tide. As these foundations were probably at one time six feet at least above high-water mark, the advance of the sea by denuding action alone would be insufficient to account for their present position, “ten feet below high-water.” Whence he considers that ‘a subsidence amounting to 16 feet at least has taken 1 Peacock, p. 109. 2 Phil. Trans. for 1753, vol. 48, p. 326. 3 Tolmens.—Oval or spheroidal rocks, when resting on two others, with a cavity between, are called by Dr. Borlase tolmens (stones with holes), and are supposed by him to have been rock deities (Carne on the Scilly Isles).—T.R G.S. Corn. vol. vil. p. 144. DECADE II,— VOL. VI.—NO. I. 3 34 W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. place, which caused the desertion of the islands by their terrified aboriginal inhabitants. These original inhabitants carried on a trade in tin with the Phcenicians, Greeks, and Romans” (for this opinion he cites Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. cap. 1. and Strabo, Geog. lib. iii.). “Whilst only one inconsiderable vein of tin occurs in Tresco Island, and that betrays no sign of ancient working, nor are any old workings now visible sufficient to have maintained a trade in tin.” He says further, ‘‘ But though there are no evidences to be depended on of any ancient connexion of the Land’s End and Scilly, yet that the cause of that inundation which destroyed much of these islands might reach also to the Cornish shores, is extremely probable, there being several evidences of a like subsidence of the lands in Mounts Bay.” Dr. Borlase, in his Natural History of Cornwall, says, ‘The supply of tin from Gades and Spain being too small to supply the vast trade as far as India, they must have got it to the east of the Damnonii.” The Chaldeans and Arabians call tin by a name similar to the Greek kacovtepov. The Scilly Isles were called Cassiterides long before the Greeks knew of their position, for Herodotus (BC. 400) says, Ovte vncas oda Kacoutepibas exoas ex Tov oO KATGITEPOS HuLy Porta. Solinus calls them Insule Silurum or Insula Silura, perhaps in mistake for islands off the Welsh coast. Tacitus? says the Silures were opposite to Spain, which would point to the Scilly Isles. It is probable that the Phcenicians re- garded West Cornwall as an island, and one of the Cassiterides, as the Scilly Isles alone would have been totally insufficient to afford the supply. “ Ortelius,’ therefore, not without reason, makes the Cassiterides to include, not only the Scilly Isles, but also Devonshire and Cornwall.” ‘“‘Tin was also anciently found in Lusitania and Gallicia. Mr. H. Boase® quotes Carew ® as follows :—“ The encroaching sea hath ravined from it the whole country of Lionnesse, together with divers other parcels of no little circuit, and that such a Lionnesse there was, these proofs are yet remaining. The space between the Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly, being about 30 miles, to this day retaineth that name, in Cornish, Lethowsow, and carrieth an equal depth of 40 or 60 fathoms, save that about midway there leth a rock which at low water discovereth its head. They term it the Gulf, suiting thereby the other name of Scilla. Fishermen also casting their hooks thereabouts, have drawn up pieces of doors and windows.” After touching on Dr. Borlase’s views, Mr. Boase’ pro- ceeds to say, “The arguments adduced by our old historians in proof of the tradition, refute themselves. In the first place, the sea is no shallower between the Land’s End and Scilly, than at equal distances from land, on other parts of the coast; and the midway 294 1 p. 29. 2 Ib. p. 3 3 1527-1593. 4 Ib. p. 29. > T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. ii. pp. i30, 181. 6 Carew, p. 3. 7 Op. cit. p. 132, W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 30 gulf or Wolf-rock, happens not to be in that channel at all. but con- siderably to the south of it; and as to the stories of fishing up pieces of doors and windows, and seeing tops of buildings, etc., had all the buildings, doors, and windows of Cornwall, been placed there, the first tempest would have swept them all away, as pebbles before a torrent. The truth is, that no such relics were ever dis- covered, or could have remained for discovery, in that boisterous channel of the Atlantic Ocean.” With the above opinion I entirely agree, for the very mention of windows dredged up is sufficient to refute any testimony of an historical connexion of the Land’s End with the Scilly Isles based upon it. Except as fragments of wreck, it is impossible to conceive the occurrence of such material in the places specified. (Peacock p. 140.) The tradition of the loss of area on the West of Land’s End is thus mentioned by Harrison (An Historical Description of the Island of Britaine, by W. Harrison, prefixed to Hollingshed’s Chronicles, 1586, vol. i. lib. ii. ch. 10, p. 897): “A remarkable corroboration of Ptolemy’s positions of the promontories Belerium and Ocrinum,”! as Mr. Peacock thinks, “It doth apeere yet by good record, that whereas now there is a great distance betweene the Syllan Isles and point of the Land’s End, there was of late years, to speke of scarslie a brooke or drain of one fadam water betweene them, if so much, as these evidences appeereth and are yet to be seene in the hands of the lord and chiefe owner of those Isles.” Dr. Paris and Mr. Carne? considered that St. Just in the Land’s End district might have been meant by the word Cassiterides, owing to the traces of tin in the Scilly Isles being insufficient to justify that appellation. Mr. Carne,’ speaking of Piper’s Hole, in Tresco Island, as a supposed adit of the ancient tin works, objected that as it 1s above high-water, it is just such a site as would be selected now. He further considers that, if any mines had ever been productive in the Scilly Isles, some traces of diluvial tin ore would even now be found from time to time in the low-lying tracts in St. Mary’s, and on the south-eastern side of Tresco. Mr. Peacock* quotes Diodorus Siculus as follows :—“ Far beyond Lusitania (Portugal) very much tin is dug out of the islands in the ocean nearest to Iberia (Spain), which from the tin are named Cassiterides.” D. P. Alexandrinus, who flourished in the time of Augustus, says in his Geography, line 599, etc. : “« But beyond the Sacred Promontory (Cape St. Vincent), which they affirm is the extremity of Hurope, in the islands Hesperides, where the source of tin is, the rich children of the illustrious Iberi dwell.” Mr. Peacock thinks that the Scilly Isles are here alluded to under the name Hesperides. Strabo has told us that Publius Crassus saw that the metals were 1 Peacock, p. 109. , 2 Mr. Carne (T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. ii. p. 354) says, “It is exceedingly probable that the western extremity of England, of which St. Just forms a prominent part, constituted the principal portion of what was formerly known under the name of the Cassiterides.”” 3 T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. vii. p. 158. * Peacock, p. 106. 36 Notices of Memoirs—F’. Toula, The West Balkan. dug out at a little depth in the Cassiterides (book ii. cap. v. § 15) ; this was about 57 B.c. Strabo further describes the Cassiterides as ‘“‘islandsin the high seas just under the same latitude as Britain, northward and opposite to the Artabri.” } (To be continued in our next Number.) INA @MRAROAES) Olgy IM mae wes —_»>——_ On THE Grotocy oF THE West Barkan.’ By Fr. Touna. (Proceed. Imper. Acad. Vienna, March 14, 1878.) HE southern margin of the Berkowiza-Balkan is composed of Tithonian coral-limestones. Beneath these lie Middle-Liassic strata, with Belemnites paxillosus, Spiriferina verrucosa, Rhynchonella (near curviceps), and Gryphea (near cymbium). Beneath these are dark- tinted limestones with Crinoids, small Gasteropods, Lima radiata, and Retzia trigonella (Recoaro Limestones), resting on red sandstones of the Werfen Schists, which in their turn rest on argillaceous schists of the Carboniferous (Culm) Formation. The Lower Triassic Limestones stretch out wide above Pecenoberols, and upwards to the summit of the defile, where they are seen to rest on intensely yellow sandstones containing Myophoria costata. Near Ginci-Han Liassic beds appearagain. Their organic remains are—Belemnites paaillosus, Schlth., Pleurotomaria (near expansa, Sow.), Rhynchonella acuta, Sow., Sprriferina rostrata, Schlth., Lyonsia untoides, Gldf., Pecten liasinus, Nyst, Pect. sublevis, Phill., Plicatula (near spinosa, Sow.), Gryphea (near fasciata, Tietze). The steep northern slope is formed of granite, intersected by many veins of andesite. Farther off, crystalline schists extend to beyond Berkovac. On the whole, the Berkoviza-Balkan is an independent portion of the Balkan chain. Cretaceous deposits are wanting throughout the section, except that perhaps the coral-limestones on the southern side may possibly be Lower Cretaceous, if not Tithonian. The crystalline schists past the lme Berkovaz-Vraza are succeeded by Paleozoic argillaceous schists and conglomerates, overlain by red sandstones and light-coloured limestones. Mighty masses of these limestones, locally abounding with organic remains (Thamnasirea, Actinarea, Reptomulticava, Chetetes Coquandi, Mich., Lithodomus, Caprotina Lonsdale, d’Orb.), rise above the Lower Triassic deposits. Near Vraza, sandy limestones and marls, characterized by the presence of Orbitolince, appear on the northern base of the Caprotina-lime- stones. Several of their beds abound with fossils, as,—Ositrea Vrazaénsis, sp. nova, Rhynchonella (near lata, d’Orb.), Terebratula, Waldheimia, Cerithium Forbesianum, Turbo, Gsruoyms06 yo shunpunog Seti op 0g Fras Sage oe rey ae Ua es AE | ae YL % ee aie op " 4 op Us NN ed u op ui OF = op ” al Ht CUNT MOY] EG OUT Woy WT ¢ S31SI ATII0S 3401 GN3 SGNV1 eee } TeaMaq Sian Sucmays (sodted sJOUSS()* st WM SW eyeasnyr of) dVIN 09 Neal Se) Td APA 1 speed Gat BEM 1029 Geol. Mag. 1679. Decade Il. Vol. VL PLIL lig, 1k, Diagrammatic Section trom N.to 5.to show general structure of District. me 2. Stale) BraystanesW ita> Sellafield St: iN phe ||) ow Gi WLow Gill gy . i a ia cby Kendal U. Siluriaw and Oxenhohmne Sta. Conislorv Lumestone. Fass] Volcanic Series \ h ~ eae Is Spe FERS eee = HEB Dolerites dc. 5 onfaKendal wd x3] Felsites + E Granite and yy ABurton & Holme SN ~ oe fetammorphosed. Skiddaw Slates. | ards Geog’ fstab’ London To illustrate the Rev. J. Clifton Ward's paper A fe fh a wal h ana. int Maer Ltr ¥ » i (63 ey THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. NEW RSERIES- i) DECADE wils) VORP VI: No. II—FEBRUARY, 1879. (svi SEIN (YNIB JAS abe Gals S ——>—__ I.—On tue Puysican History or tHE Encuise Laker District. Wire Norss on THE PossipLE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE SKIDDAW SLATES. By the Rey. J. Currron Warp, F.G.S., F.R.M.S. (PLATE II.) Introduction.—In previous papers upon the Geology of the English Lake District, which I have had the honour of laying before the Geological Society, special considerations of theoretic significance have been dwelt upon, and in the official memoir upon the Geology of the northern part of the English Lake District, detailed facts have been brought forward and a sketch given (in chap. xii.) of the original relation of the formations to each other, and their physical history. J yet venture to think, however, that there is need of a general summary of the facts relating to Physical History which may reach a wider circle of readers than do the official memoirs, and which may stimulate further inquiries into this deeply-interesting subject. The following pages may therefore be regarded as a sequel to my former papers on the district, and in some measure as a last chapter to the story told thus far." AGE oF THE DistRIOT. Our first inquiry is naturally—What is the age of this small mountain district of Cumbria? Do Scafell, Helvellyn, and Skiddaw stand up as modern products of the world’s evolution, or are they very ancient monuments, bearing many hieroglyphics written by the finger of time? First then, if we sum up the rocky volumes at our disposal, we find the following geological formations represented :— (d) Carboniferous and Basement Conglomerate. (c) Upper Silurian and Coniston Limestone Series. (6) Volcanic Series of Borrowdale. (a) Skiddaw Slates. Hach of these series stands by itself, and is either separated from its neighbour by a long period of time, as is markedly the case between (d) and (c), and less so between (c) and (6), or by a decided change in physical conditions, as between (a) and (6). 1 For a list of the author’s papers on the district see Appendix at the close of this memoir. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. II. : 4 50 ~=©Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. About the Carboniferous and Upper Silurian! we know sufficient to be sure of their age as compared with the corresponding rocks of other areas; but it is doubtful whether we are right in assigning, unhesitatingly, certain definite ages to the series (b) and (a), and that, too, mainly on the strength of the occurrence in the latter of certain groups of Graptolites. The Skiddaw Slates may be con- sidered to be of Lower Llandeilo age, as long ago surmised by Mr. Salter and believed by Professor Nicholson; but they may represent several of the subdivisions of the Welsh Lower Silurian, and I shall presently bring forward some physical evidence to show the possi- bility of this latter surmise. At any rate, this much is evident, that the mountain district of Cumbria is made up of rocks of great age, and we may consider all the material that now enters into the formation of our Lake District Mountains to have been formed ere the lowest beds of the great Carboniferous System were laid down, and at the present day the beds of Carboniferous Basement Con- glomerate and overlying limestones, sandstones, and shales form a rough circular framework to the older and mountain-forming rocks of Silurian (or Silurian and Cambrian) age, as shown in the Sketch- Map (Plate II.). We will now consider in succession the physical conditions which probably prevailed during each succeeding period of the history of Cumbria, giving first the leading facts in short abstract, and then dwelling on the conditions which those facts indicate. Part J.—Puysitcat Conpitions oF EACH PERIOD. A.—Skiddaw Slate Period. As the name indicates, many of the rocks formed during this period have now a slaty character. The total thickness of the whole series we do not know, for no defined base is met with; but there must, I think, be at least a thickness of 10,000 or 12,000 feet of beds included under the head of Skiddaw Slates. We will return to the consideration of possible subdivisions of this formation, later on. Cleavage is undoubtedly a characteristic feature among the rocks of this series, and is best exhibited among the fine black slates of the west and south side of Skiddaw. In such slates it is sometimes exceedingly difficult to determine the original bedding, and where, as in many cases, a system of close jointage, and sometimes a species of secondary cleavage, occur, the task is made still more difficult, or quite impossible. These slates, representing old marine muds, are those beds which most frequently contain fossils—as Graptolites, a few Trilobites, Phyllopod Crustacea, etc. Sometimes interstratified with the black slates, and sometimes forming thick masses by them- selves, occur bands and beds of sandy mudstone, sandstone, and coarse grit. The flags are frequently ripple-marked, and show worm tracks. The grit occasionally passes into a true conglomerate, with 1 In conformity with Survey nomenclature used in previous work, I here call the series above the Coniston Limestone, Upper Silurian, and when speaking generally of the physical relations of one group "to another, I use the term to include all under the head of (c). Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 651. pebbles of quartz, and fragments of black slate, accompanied some- times by felspathic portions, giving it a somewhat ashy appearance. These conglomeratic characters more particularly prevail in a bed occurring high up in the Skiddaw Series, to be referred to hereafter (see large-dotted band in Map). Again, in the lower part of the series, gritty beds very largely prevail, as in Whiteside and Grasmoor (Hor. Sect. No. 2, a, p. 54), where there are some thousands of feet of such beds. Fossils are not abundant in the sandy or gritty beds, and indeed, with the exception of worm tracks, and some doubtful Grap- tolites in the flaggy parts, and a single obscure shell in the upper grit of Latterbarrow, none have been found. Physical Conditions indicated.—In this 10,000 or 12, 000 feet of deposits, we meet with no indications of deep- sea conditions, rather throughout of shallow-water and shore conditions. Judging from the way in which, generally speaking, the sandy and gritty beds thicken westwards, one would be inclined to infer that the current drift was from the west, and continental land not far off in that direction. To allow of such a thickness of shallow-water deposits, there must have been continual depression of the area of deposition, and the greatest thickness of gritty beds occurring in the lower part of the series accords well with the idea of such a slow depression taking place, and causing the gradual submergence of the neighbour- ing land, whence the coarser sediments may have been derived. The presence of the bed of grit high up in the series may have been the result of a special set of currents lasting for a short time, and distributing the current-borne material very irregularly, as is, indeed, clearly shown by the great variations in thickness of the bed. It is quite possible that this bed of grit may indicate either a cessation of depression and slight denudation of the previously formed deposits, or even a partial elevation accompanied by denudation. There is little or nothing, however, in the general course of this grit to indicate the presence of a marked unconformity, rather would it seem to point to some slight change of conditions in the depths of the area of deposition. In the south-west of the district, about Lank Rigg, and Latterbarrow, this grit is succeeded at once by volcanic deposits, the black slates of the summit of Skiddaw being entirely absent. This would seem to show that the volcanic forces came into play earlier in this direction than about Keswick, and as volcanic action is generally connected—in the first place at any rate—with movements of elevation, it may well have been that some such movements preceded and prepared the way for the deposition of the grit. The volcanic ashes laid down upon the grit of Lank Rigg and Latter- barrow contain many rolled pebbles of that grit, and the character of these early ashy beds is clearly such as to indicate submarine volcanic deposits. On the other hand, the very presence of rolled pebbles of the grit proves that sufficient time must have elapsed for the consolidation of the gritty deposit ere the volcanic beds were laid down. This leads us naturally and without break into the next period—that of great and long-continued volcanic activity. . 92 Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. B.—Volcanic Period. The rocks deposited in the present area of the Lake District during the period coming between that of the Skiddaw Slates and that of the Upper Silurian are almost exclusively of Volcanic origin. They may represent a total thickness of about 12,000 feet. At the base of the volcanic series only are there intermixtures with rocks of an ordinary sedimentary character; here, where the junction beds are exposed, occur alternations of Skiddaw Slate and submarine volcanic deposits. The rest of the series consists of beds of volcanic ash and breccia with lava flows. The finer ash deposits are frequently well stratified and false-bedded. The breccia is of all degrees of coarseness, from a rock made up of fragments having the size of a sixpence or shilling to one containing blocks several yards in diameter. Conglomeratic ash occurs in one or two beds near the base of the series. Much of the variation in appearance among the beds of the ashy series is due to subsequent alteration, metamorphic action producing diverse changes, dependent, oftentimes, upon slight original differences in texture and composition—examples of selective metamorphism. 'The lava-flows are either good dolerites and basalts, or belong to a class more or less mediate between these and the more acidic group of lavas. As is generally the case among volcanic deposits, the various beds are more or less irregular in their range, showing instances of rapid thickening and thinning. Physical Conditions indicated.—The presence of ordinary sedi- mentary beds interstratified among the volcanic deposits near their base; the occasional occurrence in this lower part also of con- glomeratic ash ; and the absence of both these peculiarities in the great bulk of the volcanic series, together with that of fossils in the bedded ashes,—all point to volcanic action commencing at the close of the so-called Skiddaw Slate period beneath the waters of the Skiddaw Slate sea, and the gradual passage from sub- marine voleanic conditions to those of terrestrial and wholly sub- aerial volcanos. At first sight it might seem that the regularly- bedded ashes running at intervals throughout the series, pointed to subaqueous deposition, but no one can ramble much around modern terrestrial volcanos without being struck by the frequent cases of fine stratification shown by the ash scattered around, whether de- posited in the wet or dry state, and by the not infrequent cases of false-bedding. It may sometimes have happened also that extensive deposits of ashy material were laid down in large crater-lakes. The centres of eruption are difficult to fix upon, as might be expected amongst volcanic remains of such antiquity. The boss of Castle Head, Keswick, almost certainly represents one such centre, and the best developments of lava-flows are all found occurring within an easy distance. It may be further remarked that since the lower part of the series contains the greatest thickness of lava-flows, it would seem that the chief emissions of lava were followed by long and continued ejections of ashy material. What the height of the old Cumbrian volcano or volcanos may have been, it is difficult to estimate; but volcanic deposits were accumulated to a thickness, in Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 58 parts, of at least 12,000 feet, and the highest beds known (the fine, altered, almost flint-like ash of Great End, Esk Pike, and Allen Crags) are unsucceeded by any conformable series of sedimentary rocks; hence we know not how much of the products of the old voleano has been lost, and, for aught we know to the contrary, an Etna in size may have once stood where now are the resting-places of quiet lakes. In this connexion it is interesting to remember how little of our miniature mountain district would be uncovered, could we transplant Etna bodily with its surrounding volcanic ejecta to the site of the present Lake District. Note.—In my previous papers, read before the Geological Society, and in the Survey Memoir, I have given my reasons for believing that the several granitic areas of the district were not connected with the volcanic deposits as cause with effect. It may well be that one or more large centres of eruption now lie hid beneath the unconformable overlap of Upper Silurian and Carboniferous rocks. Bb.—Unrepresented Period. Between the periods indicated by B and C, there comes an interval of unknown duration which we may represent by Bb. This was a time of which we have no records left, but the duration of which is made clearly evident by records abstracted. It is as if the latter part of volume B was torn away, and hence we infer a denuding action subsequent to its completion. Our Cumbrian Etna had ceased its activity, and, as so frequently happens, a subsidence of the volcanic region ensued, accompanied doubtless by much waste of the volcanic material through the agency of atmospheric denudation. Subsidence, however, continued until the old volcano came within the planing power of marine coast- action, and at last there was probably but little of the old terrestrial voleano lett above the level of the sea. For Cumbria, this is undoubtedly the point at which one would draw the line between Lower and Upper Silurian. Here is a great physical break, and the deposits accumulated above the Volcanic Series are markedly transgressive in their strike to those of that series, though, undoubtedly, for a certain distance east of Coniston, the strikes do more or less correspond. West of Coniston, however, nothing can be clearer than the successive curving round in strike of the divisions of the Volcanic Series and their abutment at right angles against the outcrop of the Coniston Limestone and Upper Silurians. The period unrepresented by deposition, but made clear through denudation, was brought to a close by the formation on the bed of that Mid-Silurian sea of a deposit of limestone (the Coniston), rich in the remains of marine life. But here we meet with evidence of a slight return of volcanic conditions, and mingling with the calcareous deposit a bed or beds of lava were poured out. This time, however, the lava belongs decidedly to the more highly silicated group, and the felstone now associated with the Coniston Limestone SSS ————_ ar ae seecermrmestonnectt ‘asvd JO azIs JIns 0} potoj[v AYYSI[s usaq sey (a]ut [ 0} Your [) afvos oy —"a'N “SMO[] VAVT JO Soltog “FT *SHOOy olUvo[OA petei[Ty ATNSIELT “OD ‘A OL ‘USV Ppepped Petey y ATWSIH °C “Blooeig pue YsV IUBdIOA *D “YSV ofuvofoA popped “a *elodalg a[epMOK “V *saqeis] ‘SUIUAG OINVOIOA GHL HONOUNL NOLLOAS—'e ‘ON “LOUg “AOFT Oy1BMYIIOQIN, *UIe TOYO MA “SSI Oe ‘apps UosLueyy *JooJ 00ST *yooq 9}IVATIOUNIS "T1aq osuviy | "s8vIp qsnoy | ‘ajepsuey yeaiy | *souo}g oJ: WM USIET *yoog WiwajssuoT | ‘urey, Yood fo' Mm | *asuery Coniston Limestone. Poe S ‘ ae Senn eeee” . *19}SIUoT] | “SUIMAG ALVTG MVAGTHS AHL HONOUHL NOILOIG—'Z ‘ON ‘LOTS “NOT ‘oMld WIENIOO Oo TTL “LOOWSUIN “Op{seuT AA “Ppod ‘yoo yam = ‘sso doug THI domySM TU PATE = “TOS “oNRIOPUTTT "aus yu *(9) eIS “Te *(v) spog Aqp119 pue Apurg “OTL, *(v) 443109 pure Apurg *(q) ‘omtorq *(¢) “ID “23S “PHIS a wn < ry & 3 =| “MYACINS HYNOUWHL NOIWOAS—'] “ON “LOAg “xO ‘Tod Autoquatg “SBN MOIRA “Pray 9[ISeD Orsay “MEPPLIS *dny009 1 “UST “AML “SSM OTTOUN SYOOYW OLULI[OA “oqL1ajod ‘IRIS "a4R1S "PIAS “ILV “aque. ‘a4VIS “PITS patoipy ‘aqitolq + *(q) a1RI1g9 "SOO DLUBITOA Py >— = Gs} AL UES) N “LOIMLSIG] AMV’ HSIIONW AHL dO ANOTOAL TVOISAHG S@avAy NOLAIT) “( “ATY GHLVaLSATIL OF, Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 59 probably represents an ancient quartz-trachyte. With this slight indication of dying volcanic power over the tract under description, commences another great series of marine depositions quite unaccom- panied by volcanic phenomena. C.— Upper Silurian Period. Under this heading I will also include the time during which the Coniston Limestone and associated beds were being formed; phy- sically, in this district, these deposits belong to. the Upper Silurian, although, palwontologically, they may be the equivalents of Welsh Lower Silurian divisions. According to Mr. Aveline’s determinations, in the Kendal district the total thickness of these Upper Silurian beds cannot be less than 14,000 feet. At the base of this great series lies the only limestone bed—that of Coniston—and throughout are alternations of clayey and sandy deposits, the former much cleaved and folded, and the latter occurring as flags, sandstones, or grits. Whether there be a slight unconformity or not between the Coniston Limestone Series and the great overlying group of Coniston Flags, practically the whole forms one continuous succession of sedimentary deposits. Although no Upper Silurian beds are found north of their Coniston and Windermere outcrop, there is every reason to believe that the whole series once extended over the now exposed volcanic rocks, for there is nothing in the deposits themselves to indicate a land margin near their present outcrop. Physical Oonditions indicated.—Such a thickness of beds as that just described implies a continued slow subsidence of the sea-bed during the whole period of deposition. The character of many of the strata decidedly points to shallow-water formation, though it is hard to say from what direction the material was derived. The conditions correspond in great measure to those prevailing during the Skiddaw Slate period; when, however, the uppermost Silurian beds had been deposited, the Skiddaw Slates must have been buried some 20,000 to 25,000 feet deep, beneath the piled-up volcanic series and the great accumulation of Upper Silurian strata. Ce.—Unrepresented Period (Old Red). Again we come upon a period of time unrepresented by written records, but clearly evidenced by the destruction of the records of the previous periods. This destruction by denudation was carried on to an enormous extent, being accompanied, or rather rendered possible, by great movements of upheaval over the whole tract, which movements were probably most intense along a N.E. and S.W. axis. running through the heart of the present mountain district. If we pile up black cloth in layers to a thickness of ten inches, red cloth upon this to a thickness of twelve inches, and blue cloth upon the red fourteen inches thick, then by bringing some powerful force to bear upon the two ends of the pile, the whole may be thrown into curves and contortions by the lateral pressure, and the centre portions consequently raised above the level of the ends. Imagine, then, a o6 Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. large pair of shears brought forward which shall cut off or pare down all the upraised central portion; in this way the uppermost blue cioth may be removed altogether from the centre of the low arch, a less amount of the red cloth layers would be removed, while, perhaps only a few topmost inches of black cloth would be touched, but the consequence would be that, at the centre of the cloth dome, an arch of black cloth would appear, on either side of this would lie inclined layers of red cloth, to be flanked in their turn by similarly inclined strata of blue cloth. Suppose. now, the ten inches of black cloth to represent 10,000 feet of Skiddaw Slates, the twelve inches of red cloth 12,000 feet of Volcanic Deposits, and the fourteen inches of blue cloth 14,000 feet of Upper Silurian strata; suppose, moreover, the lateral pressure applied at either end of the cloth to signify a probable depression of extensive tracts on either side of that over which these formations are upraised, and the gnawing and planing action of the sea alone the coast-line of rising land, aided by the powers of the atmosphere, to be represented by the great shears, then, when the elevation and crumpling had done their work, and brought the pile of 36,000 feet of strata conveniently under the denuding agents, some of the outer coats of this dome must have been pared away, and Upper Silurian and Volcanic deposits beg both removed over the central dome, the Skiddaw Slates themselves would be once more exposed to view (see Plate II., Fig. 2). Such a denudation must mean the removal of 20,000 to 25,000 feet of strata, unless we suppose that within the distance of a few miles (twelve or fourteen) the thickness of the Upper Silurian beds was much reduced. To this amount of removed material we must add a considerable thickness of Skiddaw Slates, themselves cut from the dome top. Surely such an action must represent a very great length of time, yet do we find that it all transpired in the interval between the close of the Upper Silurian and the deposition of the Red Conglo- merate of Mell Fell, ushering in the great Carboniferous Period. For these Lower Carboniferous rocks (Mell Fell Conglomerate, etc.) are deposited across the denuded edges of all the older formations ; at one place they lie upon Upper Silurian, at another upon rocks of the Volcanic Series, and at yet another upon the Skiddaw Slates. Thus there cannot be the shadow of a doubt as to the length of time which must have elapsed between the close of the Upper Silurian and the commencement of the Carboniferous Period, and of the greatness of the work accomplished in that time. It is to the earlier part of this lengthy period, when the Skiddaw Slates were buried at their deepest, and internal commotions began to be displayed, that I would assign the formation of the various granitic centres. In an earlier paper I have treated of the probable pressure under which they were respectively formed, and called attention to the fact—in the Survey Memoir (p. 74)—that an axial line of most intense metamorphism runs parallel with the main axis of upheaval. That there was a disposition at this period towards volcanic outburst I do not doubt, and that the mass of the Shap Granite came nearest to establishing a volcanic connexion with the Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 57 surface I have hinted before; but we have no evidence that the granitic roots were ever continuous, in this district, with volcanic vents, though, having no deposits of the true Old Red age (Lower Old Red) in the district, it would be unsafe positively to say that there were not volcanic eruptions within this area in Old Red times, or that the Shap Granite, for example, does not represent the root of such an Old Red volcano. Of the three principal granitic centres (see Sketch-Map, Plate II.) the Skiddaw granite occurs only in con- nexion with the Skiddaw Slate, which is extensively metamorphosed around, but the granite, where we now see it, is undoubtedly intrusive ; the Eskdale Granite ranges for a distance of more than fourteen miles through the Volcanic Series, and is surrounded by an extensive zone of altered volcanic rocks; while the Shap Granite has altered both volcanic rocks and the Coniston series. We have, in fact, in these three masses, granite consolidated at various depths, or the potential roots of volcanos exposed at different stages. We shall return to consider the probable length of time repre- sented by the effects of denudation during this period, when the chronology of the district is discussed. D.—Carboniferous Period. Under the head of Carboniferous I include the beds in this distriet formerly classified as Old Red, but which have been shown to be but the Basement Conglomerates of the Carboniferous. These con- glomerates are particularly well developed in Mell Fell (1760 ft. high), and the range of hills extending eastwards from that mountain to the foot of Ullswater (see Sketch-Map). Their general character is that of a loose sandy matrix containing pebbles of all sizes and occasional large and more angular blocks as much as three feet in length. In parts the larger pebbles are absent, and the beds take on the character of a coarse grit, always much false-bedded. The peculiarity of this conglomerate consists, however, in the composition of its pebbles. In Mell Fell they all seem to belong to sedimentary rocks, and are composed of gritty and micaceous sandstone similar to that so largely occurring in the Upper Silurians (Ludlows) of the Kendal district. Although Mell Fell, rising to a height of 1760 ft., stands partly on Volcanic ground and partly on Skiddaw Slate, and must have once extended much further to the west and even nearer to the mountains formed of volcanic rocks, yet I have failed to detect one undoubted instance in the conglomerate of this hill of a pebble made from these rocks. At Pooley Bridge (foot of Ullswater) a few cases occur of ash and trap pebbles, though those of sandstone and grit largely predominate. At Hutton, however, two miles to the east of Mell Fell, there are many pebbles of ash and trap and of altered Skiddaw Slate, occurring with those of sandstone. It is worthy of remark that the pebbles of trap at Hutton most resemble the lava flows of Eycott Hill two or three miles to the north-west (just N. of the railway line). In most cases the pebbles, and even the large angular blocks, lie with their long axes in the direction of the bedding. The pebbles are frequently rather elongated and often 58 = Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. flattened at the sides. In some few cases these flattened sides seem to bear scratches like those left by glacial action. Such are the chief facts with regard to this Basement Conglomerate, their possible meaning will be considered directly. The various beds of limestone, shale, and sandstone which go to form the Carboniferous framework of the district come in above this very irregularly distributed conglomerate. Some of the lower beds of limestone contain quartz grains and small pebbles. Generally speaking, there are very frequent alternations of limestones and sand- stone, with occasional shale bands and thin coal-seams. The lime- stones are often highly fossiliferous and largely made up of corals. No volcanic ashes or lavas are found in connexion with the Carboniferous rocks immediately surrounding the mountain district. Lavas, basaltic in character, and often highly vesicular, occur beneath the limestone all round the northern side of the framework, from Cockermouth to Eycott Hill (see Sketch-Map), and could one not prove by fairly conclusive evidence that they belong to the northern extension of the Borrowdale Volcanic Series (on the N. side of the anticlinal), they might readily be taken for Carboniferous basalts, such as occur among the Carboniferous rocks in plenty upon the other side of the border. ‘In one case only do igneous intrusions occur among Carboniferous rocks immediately skirting the district, and that case is among the basement conglomerates just east of Little Mell Fell. Four very small bosses of basalt, wrapped round by hardened conglomerate, and showing vesicular margins, may be seen close to Mell Fell farm. That they are intrusions there can be no doubt, and microscopic examination reveals their likeness to the basaltic dykes of the Pennine range—a likeness which is also sufficiently evident in hand specimens. Physical Conditions indicated.—What was the condition of our present mountain tract during the great Carboniferous period? Was it wholly submerged after the elevation and denudation to which we have already seen it subject, or was there always a nucleus of dry land —an embryo of Cumbria—around which the Carboniferous deposits were laid down? JI do not think this is a question that can ever be decidedly answered. Long ago it was remarked by Prof. Sedgwick, that ‘had our island been laid dry immediately after the Carboni- ferous period, without any change of relative position among the great formations, the Cumbrian mountains would have appeared as a cluster of ancient rocks rising out of a great Carboniferous plain.”* That the limestone beds extended much farther than their present outcrops, cannot be doubted ; but whether the elevated and denuded block of Silurian strata was ever completely smothered under Carboniferous deposits, may fairly be questioned. At first sight one would naturally suppose that the existence of thick masses of Basement Conglomerate would clearly point to shore 1 Some such apparent ice-scratched stones from Mell Fell have been deposited in the Jermyn Street Museum. 2 Trans. Geol. Soc., second series, vol. iv. p. 47. Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 59 action; but while these beds do thus indicate shallow-water con- ditions, and the presence of powerful currents around some land, yet the material—in the case of Mell Fell,} etc.—is not derived from the neighbouring Lower Silurians, but won from Upper Silurian strata, which in the area around Mell Fell must have been denuded away long since, for, be it remembered, these conglomerates are laid down partly upon Volcanic rocks and partly on Skiddaw Slate (see Map), and the latter could not have been exposed until long ages after the Upper Silurians had been removed. Since the Mell Fell Conglomerate must have had at one time a much greater westerly extension, and since it now occurs up to a height of 1760 ft., the Cumbrian nucleus must have been small, though to what height it attained cannot be estimated. But what could cause the peculiar composition of the conglomerate? Why should it not be made up of stones worn from the neighbouring land? This is a puzzle. Was there no such neighbouring land formed of Lower Silurian rocks? Then why should there be exposed Upper Silurian beds—whence the pebbles were worn—laid bare at some point which one would infer, from the facts of denuda- tion previously discussed, to be at a distance from the principal centre of upheaval —farther from the axis of elevation and disturbance (Plate II. Fig. 2). If Upper Silurian beds, forming the sides of the anticlinal, were exposed, surely there is every probability that some land existed nearer to the centre of upheaval. This anomalous distribution of the material of the Conglomerate led me at one time to speculate on the possibility of the Upper Silurian sandstone pebbles having been drifted by current action “around the skirts of a tract of high land, which, not rising in any lofty peaks, was effectually protected from marine and subaerial denudation, at that particular time, by an icy covering, leaving few or no rocks exposed above its surface.” Even then it is hard to understand how ice- borne scratched stones from the Lower Silurian high ground did not freely mingle with the current-drifted pebbles of sandstone. Again, how is the great development of conglomerate between Mell Fell and Pooley Bridge to be accounted for? It would seem to thin away very rapidly, both north and south, but especially to disappear northwards. Can it have accumulated in an old valley ® or fiord, or in a narrow channel? If in the former, how came it to be filled with material foreign to the surrounding land? If in the latter—a channel or strait—may not the Mell Fell deposits occupy the site of the eastern end of a strait, which at that early period had been sketched out as the future great valley separating the Skiddaw and Blencathra group of mountains from the more southern mass of land.* Jn this case one might understand the banking up of shingle 1 Mell Fell is a mountain of rounded form at the west end of the long patch of Conglomerate marked on the Sketch-Map, Plate il. * Survey Memoir, p. 76. 3 Prof. Phillips long ago suggested that the Old Red—so-called—may have been accumulated in old valleys.—Geology of Yorkshire, vol. ii. p 14. 4 The east and west line of railway on the Map may be taken as the axis of this now much-deepened channel. 60 Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Ceology of the Lake District. against the eastern end of the channel, and much of it might have been rolled well into or through the strait. The subsequent great deepening and widening of this channel to form the present broad valley may easily have removed all traces of the further westerly extension of the conglomerate. (The base of the conglomerate at Mell Fell stands at about the 1000 ft. level.) This might account for the great local thickening of the conglomerate along an east and west line, although of course its present distribution in the form of a band, two miles wide and some five in length, is due partly to the overlap of the limestone on the north and east, and in the south its boundary appears to be mostly a faulted one. I should be inclined to think that on the whole it was most likely that the drift of Upper Silurian pebbles was from the south, round the skirts of the land-nucleus by Shap and Bampton, until, the current being deflected up the eastern end of the early Keswick Vale strait, the material might be there banked up and prevented from being carried further north, partly by the set westwards up channel, and partly, perhaps, by more or less of a bank on the north side of the mouth of the strait. Certain it is that north of the present line of railway (between Keswick and Penrith) the conglomerate is almost entirely absent. My former supposition as to the land-nucleus being covered with an ice-sheet I regard as very doubtful, but one cannot but be surprised at the scarcity of pebbles derived from the Volcanic series, although, as I have remarked, they are more numerous at some spots than others. It may have been that cold conditions prevailed, as rather indicated by the character of some of the stones in the conglomerate (the apparently flattened and scratched stones, and the large and more angular blocks) ; but if cold prevailed, and ice and snow were at work upon the land, one might have expected to see more indications of their action in the shore deposits. There is, however, another fact which rather strongly militates against the idea of a glacial climate having prevailed at this time. North of Carlisle, all along and over the border, there occurs a great development of the Calciferous Sandstone Series, consisting of many thousands of feet of beds below the true Limestone Series of Cumberland, as developed east of the Lake District. This great thickness, gritty sandstones in the upper part, and thin limestones and shales with occasional coal-seams in the lower part, must, one would suppose, have been in course of deposition during the period of formation of the so-called Basement Conglomerate, and, perhaps, long anterior to the commencement of its formation. Now these beds show no signs of glacial conditions, the lower part (thin limestones—with ordinary Carboniferous Limestone fossils,—shales, and a few coals) indicates similar conditions to those prevailing during the rest of the Carboni- ferous—sometimes marine, sometimes fresh-water, sometimes terres- trial—and the upper part consists mostly of thick gritty sandstones containing thin calcareous bands, and occasional coal-seams with shale. Hence we must suppose either that (1) previous to and during the for- mation of the Mell Fell Conglomerate, rocks of a Carboniferous type Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 61 were being deposited in the border-area under ordinary Carboniferous climatal conditions; or (2) that the Conglomerate was deposited when glacial conditions prevailed, and that a long period elapsed between its formation and that of the true Limestone. Series, during which period the Lower Carboniferous of the border-land and of Scotland was formed under warmer conditions. Now against this latter supposition is the tact that there are often indications of a true conformable junction between the upper part of the basement-beds and the overlying limestones; therefore, if there is no break between the Basement Conglomerate and the Limestone series, and no break between the Lower Carboniferous Calciferous Sandstone series and the same Limestone series, the Conglomerate and the Calciferous Sandstone series must be considered as more or less contemporaneous formations, and the doubtful glacial indications among the Conglomerate are negatived by the general Carboniferous facies of the climate indicated among the Calciferous Sandstone series. All that has now been said about the origin and formation of the Mell Fell Conglomerate inclines me to think that, at all events during the early part of the Carboniferous Period, there must have been a land-nucleus, a Cumbria in embryo; but whether this early centre was or was not covered over during the later part of the Car- boniferous Period by deposits of limestones, sandstones, and shales, is one which must be left open. Certainly, the general absence from the limestone series immediately surrounding the district of material such as would have been derived from a tract of land formed of the Lower Silurian rocks, is in favour of a complete submergence during the latter half of the Carboniferous Period. Surely, if the present outcrop of the limestones, etc., immediately around the Lake Dis- trict, be not far removed from their termination along a shore-line, one would expect, at any rate, to find water-worn débris won from the hard rocks of the Volcanic Series. May we not, therefore, rather believe that after the great elevation and denudation of the Silurians of the district which took place in Old Red times proper, the Mell Fell Conglomerate was formed at the mouth of an inlet or strait running into or through the northern portion of the early land, and that subsequently that early land was wholly or almost wholly covered up by Carboniferous deposits as it once more slowly sank beneath the waters of the sea. The close of the Carboniferous Period was probably marked by an upward movement over the area of the present Lake District, a movement during which the denuding powers must have largely stripped off the outer Carboniferous skin, laying the old Silurian nucleus bare, never again to be covered up by unconformable measures. This elevatory movement was probably coincident with that great east and west one forming the Pendle Anticlinal. (Zo be Continued.) 62 W. Swanston—Clays overlying Basalt, Lough Neagh. I7.—On Svprosey Fossttirerous Priocenr Cnays OVERLYING Basalt, NEAR THE SHORE oF LovucH NwaaGu. By Witu1am Swanston, F.G.S., Belfast. N the Geonocrcan Macazine for December, 1876, appeared a short paper on certain clay beds near the south-eastern shores of Lough Neagh. The paper is intended to supplement a more extended communication entitled, “On the Age and Mode of Formation of Lough Neagh,” read by the same author—Edward T. Hardman, Hsq., F.C.S., H. M. Geol. Survey of Ireland—before the British Association in 1874,’ and also read before the Royal Geological Society of Ireland in January, 1875.2 The beds in question are described “as a very extensive and important deposit, spreading (under water and on shore) over an area that cannot be less than 180 square miles in extent, and probably in some places 500 feet thick. ‘They repose on the basalt, and are covered by drift. All the evidence we have points to their being of Pliocene age.” The author, after giving a sketch of the Geology and Physical Geography of the district, proceeds with a description of the clay beds and associated lignites, and gives abstracts of numerous borings ranging in depth from a few feet to 192 feet, which have been made over this area. These borings disclosed a series of light-grey and variously-coloured plastic clays, containing hard nodules of clay- ironstone inclosing leaf and other plant-remains, also large quantities of black lignite, occurring frequently in masses throughout the beds, but sometimes bedded. From the fact that no visible junction was known between the clays and the rocks upon which they repose, much elaborate argument was brought forward to prove that the former were of later date than Miocene, and rested on the surrounding basalt of that age. Hitherto no fossils except plant-remains had been found in them, and, in the absence of more direct evidence, they were considered to be of Pliocene date. The subsequent discovery* of fossil shells in a clay band on the banks of the Crumlin River, and which clay band was supposed to rest in this place directly on the basalt, seems to have proved to the satisfaction of the author of the paper, and to Professor Hull, F.R.S., who examined the section at the same time, that the beds were undoubtedly of Pliocene age. Owing to the extremely delicate structure of the shells, and the friable nature of the bed in which they occur, it is most difficult to obtain good specimens; those procured by Mr. Hardman were admittedly in so bad preservation that Mr. W. H. Baily, F.G.S., to whom they were submitted, would not do more than express an opinion regarding them, than that they may possibly belong to a new species. The author, however, seemed to be convinced that they belonged to a species of Unio, not unlike Unio Solanderi of the Upper Hocene of Hordwell Cliff, Hampshire; and is so far satisfied 1 British Assoc., Trans. of Sections, p. 79. 2 Journ. Royal Geol. Soc. of Ireland, vol. iv. part ili. new series, p. 170. 3 GEoLogicaL Magazine, December, 1876, Decade II. Vol. III. p. 556. W. Swanston—Clays overlying Basalt, Lough Neagh. 63 regarding their character, and the age of the containing beds, that he concludes his paper by remarking, in the absence of better speci- mens, that, “In the meantime it is right to place the matter on record—seeing that this place is, so far as I know of, the only locality in the British Isles yielding lacustrine fauna of Pliocene date.” During the past summer, in company with a few other amateurs, I made frequent visits to the Crumlin River, and succeeded in pro- curing better examples from the same clay beds than had apparently been obtained before. As the opinion formed from the inspection of the fossils on the spot, and from other independent evidence, is entirely different from the conclusions arrived at by Mr. Hardman, not only as regards the shells, but also respecting the age of the beds; and as considerable importance has been attached to the determination of the shells as indicative of a Pliocene lacustrine fauna in Britain; I had a good series of them prepared and sent to Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., for his opinion regarding them. That gentleman, with his usual kindness, states, ‘“ I can come to no other conclusion than that they are certainly not any species of Unio, but belong to our common mussel (Mytilus edulis).* which occurs in all the newer tertiaries. The structure, composition and colour agree (See British Conchology, vol. 1. p. 103.)” A quantity of the material from the same shell-bed was submitted to Joseph Wright, Hsq., F.G.S., of Belfast, for microscopic exami- nation. Mr. Wright reported that the only microzoa that he was able to detect in the clay were a few foraminifera, referable to four species, namely :— Globigerina bulloides, D’Orb.—very rare. Textularia variabilis, Will.—small, and very rare. Discorbina globularis, D’Orb.—rare. Nonionina depressula, W. and J.—common. The foraminifera above enumerated are all found living and in abundance on our coasts, and are also species which are of frequent occurrence in our Drift-beds; the last mentioned, especially, is a very common Boulder-clay form. The coarse material left after the examination for microzoa, consists for the most part of small round pieces of clay, which were too hard to dissolve in the washing. There were also a good many fragments of lignite, and one piece of silicified wood about an inch in length. An examination of the stratigraphical position of these fossiliferous clay-beds proves that they repose upon a deposit of true Boulder- clay, the position of which is accurately represented in the section illustrating Mr. Hardman’s paper,’ and is there described as follows : ““m. Coarse gravelly clay—pebbles of quartz and basalt—resting in pockets and erosions of basalt = 3 feet.” This coarse gravelly clay is of a dark brown colour, extremely compact, and full of large ' This confirms the opinion expressed by the Editor of the Grou. Mae., that the fossils shown him by Mr. Hardman indicate rather a Mytilus or Modiola-like shell than a Unio.—See Grou. Mac., December, 1876, foot-note, p. 557. 2 Gxou. Mac. 1876, Decade II. Vol. III. Pl. XXII. Fig. 1; and Journ. Royal Geol. Soc. of Ireland, vol. iv. part iii. new series, pl. xii. fig. 1, ete. 64 W. Swanston—Clays overlying Basalt, Lough Neagh. stones and pebbles; so compact is it, that it is with difficulty the larger stones can be removed, but when taken out they almost all exhibit the well-known form of glacial pebbles, and very many of them retain quite distinctly the characteristic scratching and polishing due to ice action. The miscellaneous character of the stones and pebbles is also worthy of note. The following were noticed, beginning with the most numerous and proceeding in the order of their relative abundance :—Basalt (local), chalk and flint (Antrim), sandstone and clay nodules (New Red Marls ?), quartz, mica-schist, granite (red), etc. There is also a great abundance of lignite, in pieces from several inches in length to mere particles, scattered irregularly through the bed, and I was fortunate enough to find a piece of grey siliceous sandstone containing plant-remains, principally dicotyledonous leaves resembling those of the beech and willow, and closely agreeing in character with the siliceous nodules which occur in the plastic clay of Lough Neagh. The only conclusion that can be drawn from the foregoing is,— that the beds in question containing Mytilus edulis and Foraminifera are of marine, or, at least, of brackish-water origin. The common mussel is at present found living from high-water to a few fathoms in depth, and it is also found in tidal rivers, but never entirely out of reach of the sea. Judging from the appearance of the fossils in the clays, I am of the opinion that the animals lived and died where we now find their remains; or that they have, at least, suffered very little disturbance. In many of them the valves are united and the epidermis still preserved. Foraminifera are essentially marine organisms; a few only are known to inhabit brackish water. The species detected in the clays in question indicate a depth of at least a few fathoms, and may be found in almost every haul of the dredge on suitable ground around our coast at moderate depths. The fact that the fossiliferous deposit reposes upon true Boulder- clay containing well-marked glacial pebbles, at once proves that it is not of Pliocene age, but either a Glacial or a Post-Glacial deposit. The settling of this question would require further investigation than has yet been given to the subject. The error into which Mr. Hardman seems to have fallen, was, in hastily concluding that the Crumlin River beds were identical with the beds of white clay, lignite, etc., which occur along the southern shores of Lough Neagh, whereas the latter beds do not seem to extend to within half a mile of the spot where the fossils occur, nor do they in any way resemble them in lithological character. What then is the age of the Lough Neagh clays and their associated lignites, which are estimated as covering an area of 180 square miles and to be in some places probably 500 feet thick ? Granted that they may repose upon the basalts—they may be of any age between that to which the lower sheets of the Miocene beds of the neighbourhood belong, and the clays of the Glacial epoch with which the upper beds are undoubtedly associated. In all probability they span the entire period, and are in part contemporaneous with the lacustrine iron-ores, beauxite, and lithomarge of the Antrim G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. 65 Hills, which also rest on the same basalts, and contain plant-remains similar in general character to those in the Lough Neagh clays. In the absence, however, of full lists of the flora of both beds, nothing more definite can at present be stated regarding their identity. Should subsequent researches prove them to be the same, it may safely be inferred, that one reason why the Lough Neagh beds still retain their clayey character is owing to the simple fact that the later outflows of Miocene basalt did not reach them, and convert - them into iron-ores, etc., similar to those so largely developed to the east and north of County Antrim. Although not strictly connected with the subject, I may be allowed to refer to the much-vexed question of the origin of the silicified wood of Lough Neagh. Dr. Barton was most probably right in his statement, made in 1751,! that the celebrated fossil-wood was found in association with the black lignites. His descriptions of over a hundred specimens—many of them figured in his work, most of which were part wood and part stone—cannot be ignored; and although only a few of these were obtained direct from what seemed to be the true Lough Neagh beds, yet many were so intimately associated with the lignite, the origin of which is not disputed, that considerable weight still attaches to his quaint descriptions. I have in my possession specimens, portions of which still retain their woody character, in no way different from the more solid pieces of lignite. One piece was found intimately associated with the lignite and white-clay beds; and in the same place was also found one of the numerous ironstone nodules, derived from the same clays, which contained a piece of silicified wood and other plant-remains. Scattered through the Boulder-clays of the district for miles around may be found pieces of the lignite, which testify to the vast amount of denudation which the older beds have suffered. Associated with them, but much less abundant, may be picked up the silicified speci- mens, the angles of which are quite sharp, and showing no evidence of distant origin. IjJ.—TuHe Srnurtan Rocks or IRELAND AND THEIR RELATION TO THE OLp RED SANDSTONE.’ By G. H. Kinauan, M.R.1.A., ete. A QUARTER of a century ago it was a disputed question whether the Old Red Sandstone was a separate formation or not. About that time, or a few years later, the subject engaged the attention of the Geological Section of the British Association. When I joined the Geological Survey, Sir R. Griffith had mapped the older rocks in West Cork as of Silurian* age, while Jukes was inclined to class them as Old Red Sandstone. Plant-remains were found in rocks of the same series in the Killarney district by Du Noyer in the summer of 1855, and near Valencia by myself in ' Dr. Barton’s Lectures on Natural Philosophy ; Lecture 3, Metamorphoses, p. 51. 2 Read Nov. 18th, 1878, before the Royal Geological Society of Ireland. °'In this paper Jukes’ nomenclature is followed; the formations. being called Silurian and Cambro-Silurian instead of Upper and Lower. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. II. ; 5) 66 G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. the following year. When the plants were pronounced by Salter to be of Carboniferous types,’ Jukes considered the question to be finally settled; Griffith however said, “ Wait till the Dingle district is examined, and you will find, that although the plants are of Carboniferous types, the rocks are Silurians.” When the Dingle peninsula was examined by Du Noyer, Foot, and Wynne, it was found that while there was a great unconform- ability between the lower and upper divisions of the strata called . Old Red Sandstone, a complete conformability extended from the lower division downwards into fossiliferous Silurians, and from the upper division upwards into the Carboniferous Limestone and the Coal-measures. In the lower division, however, no fossils could be found,’ and these strata were called “Dingle beds,’—a title which involved no assumption as to their age. To this lower division, according to both Griffith and Jukes, the above-mentioned rocks near Killarney, near Valencia, and in West Cork, belong Subsequently these rocks were examined conjointly by Griffith, Murchison, and Jukes; and some of the party visited not only Cork and Kerry, but also Galway and Mayo. After this exploration Murchison was inclined to side with Griffith; but the plants were a stumbling-block. Furthermore the late Mr. John Kelly showed that the Dingle beds have the same stratigraphical position as the rocks mapped as Old Red Sandstone in the Curlew Mountains (cos. Sligo and Roscommon) and about Fintona (cos. Fermanagh and Tyrone) ; while the Curlew and Fintona rocks are lithologically similar to the Old Red Sandstone of the Commeragh, Galtee, and Knockmeeldown Mountains; the classification of the just-mentioned Cork and Kerry rocks therefore was left an open question until the rocks in Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Fermanagh, and Tyrone, suggested by Griffith to be of the same age as the Dingle beds, were examined. The question remained in abeyance while the officers of the Geological Survey were examining the rocks of North-east Munster ; until about 1864, when Foot declared that he suspected the rocks of the Curlew Mountains to be “Dingle Beds.” The following year Jukes examined those rocks for himself, and subsequently announced his belief that the lower portion of the so-styled Old Red Sandstone, near Ballaghaderreen, to the west of the Curlews, was probably of the same age as the “ Dingle Beds,” as it seemed to lie conformably on similar fossiliferous Silurians, as previously stated by Kelly, while it was similarly capped unconformably by what all would regard as true Old Red Sandstone (Carboniferous). Still it was premature to say what its age might be until it and all the tracts mentioned by Griffith had been systematically examined. At this time I began the work in West Galway and Mayo, and, after seven years’ careful examination, I came to the conclusion that 1 Mr. W. H. Baily has recently examined the plants from these localities in the Glengariff Grits. * I have since learned from Mr. O’ Kelly that fossils, like plant-stems, were subse- quently found in the Dingle beds. G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. 67 the oldest rocks there are Cambrians. These are partially covered, as it would seem conformably, by Cambro-Silurians. Resting un- conformably on both of these are newer rocks, some of which years ago were proved by their fossils to be Silurians, but others for a time were considered to be Old Red Sandstone. All of these are capped unconformably by acknowledged (Carboniferous) Old Red Sandstone. The rocks extending from Loughs Corrib and Mask by Maum to the Atlantic on the south of Killary Harbour had for years been known to be Silurians; but the rocks between Toormakeady on Lough Mask and Mweelrea north of the mouth of Killary Harbour, as also an isolated tract further north near Louisburgh, were at one time supposed, on account of their lithological character, to be Old Red Sandstone. Griffith, however, found Silurian fossils at Toor- makeady, while subsequently I also found them in somewhat similar rocks in the Mweelrea Mountains. It was either during the ex- ploration in which Griffith found the fossils at Tocrmakeady, or on a subsequent occasion, that he came to the conclusion that all were of Silurian age; the Louisburgh beds being the newest, and the representatives of a portion of the Dingle Beds. To the northward of Toormakeady, in the neighbourhood of Croaghmoyle, there is a large tract of rocks, that Jukes, Symes, and myself were convinced to be of about the same age as the Toor- makeady conglomerates, although it was marked on Griffith’s map as Old Red Sandstone. This led me to seek for an explanation, and when my maps and sections were so far complete as to be intelligible, they were carefully examined and considered by Griffith. Subse- quently I waited on him, by appointment, and in our conversation I learned that the marking of that district, as also of others, on his map, as Old Red Sandstone, was done in compliance rather with received opinions, than with his own conviction. That. in the so- called “ Old Red Formation ” in Ireland, there was a marked uncon- formability,—part of it extending downwards conformably into the Silurian, and part of it upwards into the overlying Carboniferous rocks. That the rocks of West Cork, and adjoining portions of Kerry, of Dingle, of Toormakeady, of Mweelrea, of Louisburgh, of Croaghmoyle, of the Curlew and Fintona Mountains, he believed to be of nearly similar Silurian age. Those in the West Cork and Kerry, Dingle, Toormakeady, Mweelrea and Louisburgh, he had had time to examine properly, and had mapped them as Silurians, while the rest he had not so carefully examined. But in deference to Portlock’s authority, and also because they were lithologically more or less similar to the Old Red Sandstone (Carboniferous) of the Knockmeeldown, the Galtee, and Commeragh Mountains, he left them as Old Red Sandstone. At the same time, he pointed out—‘ The Toormakeady Conglomerates are also similar, yet I found Silurian fossils in them.”! In this conversation he also stated: 1 Strictly, these fossils are not in the Conglomerates, but in the beds de/ow them. As yet, in no place above the Toormakeady Conglomerates have fossils been found, except, perhaps, in the green tuff at Mount Partry—its position, however, is uncertain, “SUPIIN[IS SiO) W'O'T ‘WOW ‘Won UOMLLMOISON pup omMy 6 ee ee ee eee ae *poyiqerqsioqur Ayre] -NS01II AIv souojsoUNT] snoliva oy} *g pue ‘Z ‘e suoljsag uy—aLOoN *AqI[Iqewm1oyuo0ou *OPLORIL) *SURIIN[IS-o1qued SD) W'O"l “spog [sul *S}LID) Plvsua[y ‘NDT “Y2V2T ‘OADPIIST pun pio 127QNq 22QN IN 8 L ‘QLOJADI pun "02D SUusane 9 f 7 BERIO) ISPECO *QU0}SPULS MOTO A ‘SA *a4e[S snor1ejiuoqies) ‘SCO puv s[eys ouojysomiy =“ IS (7p *snoxoyI jeuoysouriy ATeYS NOTE ASML ~uoqiey § eee les aa *ouoysoUy uorINgG a as | “ec IOMO'T ‘NOT “ S1PPIN “WON l *soinseoyy [eop toddq "wo = ‘5:9 ‘ad ye) n A os S'a'O ees | () S'a'O — ‘swo me Sara s/o ST] gayo ‘Ta (Salen 5 SS “Ta re ‘WOT wom) |"wo-r RII BU ‘WO"W ‘WOW “Ap02yDH) SIO ee fp A427) "YIMMIMAT Mtdha yy G v € G % “DI 1)) ‘s'a'o ‘SoA ‘sO {40D MA “Ay Iqewioyuoou Ey *SURIIN|IS -O1quIe|D *(auley.) SnoropI[Issoq ‘spog Hlresusly io opsuiq *souoqspuRs ‘IT *SUBIINTIS *SnoIOjI -uoqte;) *QuO}SOITT *‘soinsvoy [20D purrs] ee[D 23 ysinqsmoy *o[Aoulysvoiy *S}]JM Moping on HITE) *OIOJN DADITS pue vuoqury (‘(OUI I = yoof C00g 9]vIC) « UOeCULIOT OQUOJSPUeS PIX PIO,, 4} Fo SYIOL OY} Ul SYveIG oY} Surmoys suoyseg yYSUT "1 “DL G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. 69 «None of my work is guesswork; all my conclusions are from personal examination. I cannot now work out these rocks, and my map must remain as itis; the Geological Survey must complete the examination,” or words to this effect. After this interview, I paid more special attention to this subject," and an epitome of my researches (except in respect to the equiva- lents of the Dingle Beds) appears in my recently-published “ Manual of the Geology of Ireland.” In that book I only hint at the age of the equivalent of the “Dingle beds,” because at the time it was being written, more than a year ago, I was aware some of my colleagues were engaged working out the disputed rocks of the Curlew and Fintona Mountains, and I supposed they would have given attention to the question as to their age. It was not till the book was in print.that I learned that the dispute had been ignored ; although Mr. Berdoe-Wikinson’s work proved that Jukes’ and Foot’s surmises in respect to the classification of the rocks of the Curlew Mountains were correct. Then, when I felt at liberty to express my opinion, it was too late to do so, except in the preface of the book. ~ The accompanying sections (Figs. 1 and 2) show the relations of the lower and upper divisions of the Old Red Sandstone to the Silurian and to the Carboniferous. In one table are given the sections of the Old Red Sandstone of Silurian age, and in the other most of the type sections of the true or Carboniferous Old Red Sandstone. In the Ballycastle Coal-field, to the north-east of Antrim, Old Red Sandstone occurs interstratified in the Coal-bearing Calp. This is also the case near Draperstown, county Derry, where the Calp is very similar to that of Antrim, except that no workable coals have been found there; while in Armagh the Old Red Sandstone is interstratified with the Burren limestone. These three districts are grouped together, as in the rocks associated with the Old Red Sandstone are found fish-remains, more or less similar among themselves, and also to the fish-remains met with at Burdie House, Scotland. To the north of the county of Dublin conglomerates occur close under the base of the Coal-measures, while in the rest of Dublin, Kildare, and Carlow, small patches of red conglomerate have been discovered, seemingly on different geological horizons. These appear to be only shore-beds, margining ancient lands; but in the county of Kilkenny, to the north-east of Thomastown, the Old Red Sandstone comes in as a distinct subdivision at the base of the Carboniferous Limestone formation, and increases in thickness as it is followed to the south-west. In this place, as also in the country between Knocktopher and Waterford, and in Slievenaman, the rocks are of the ordinary Central Ireland type (red and yellow shales, clay- rocks, sandstones, and conglomerates; the pebbles in the conglo- ' Foot and myself, in about 1864, wrote a paper to show that the Munster Old Red Sandstone was in part Silurian and in part Carboniferous; the paper, however, was not published, as Jukes considered it to be premature. 70 G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. merates are usually small, and of white quartz, with some of red jasper) ; but south-west of the valley of the Suir, in the Commeragh, Galtee, and Knockmeeldown ranges, the type changes, the rocks being massive purplish conglomerates, interstratified with slaty grits or gritty slates. ‘The pebbles in these conglomerates are often very large, while the maximum thickness of the subdivision seems to be considerable. The upper portion of the subdivision (called Upper Old Red Sandstone on the Geological Survey Maps, and Yellow Sandstone by Griffith), however, is still very like the Central Ireland type, except that the conglomerates are few or altogether absent. North of the Galtees, in Slieve Phelim, Kimalta, Slieve Arra, Slieve Bernagh, and Slieve Aughta (counties Tipperary, Limerick, Clare, and Galway), the rocks are for the most part of the Central Ireland type, although in places there are massive conglomerates; while in Slieve Bloom (King’s and Queen’s counties), the rocks are more like the Commeragh type. South of the valley, between Dungarvan and Dingle Bay, there is a very complete change in all the rocks; from the base of the Coal- measures downwards, they assume peculiar types. ‘The Cork type of the Old Red Sandstone has below massive, although generally cleaved, purplish and dark grey grits and slates (Old Red Sandstone) ; and above, when typical, yellow and greenish grits and shales, over variagated green, red, liver-coloured, and rarely purple slates (Upper Old Red or Yellow Sandstone). The Old Red Sandstone is very constant in its characters, but the Yellow Sandstone changes considerably in the east and west direction, To the eastward, where it is overlaid by the Lower Limestone Shale and limestones, the Yellow Sandstone partakes in part of the Central Ireland Type, and contains more or less red beds; but towards the westward, where it is overlaid by the Carboniferous Slate, the red rocks die out, and the sandstones are replaced by grits. The greatest and most sudden change that I have observed is in the neighbourhood of the bay called Kenmare River. On the north and south sides of this bay, in the neighbourhoods of Sneem and Ardgroom, are tracts of Carboniferous Slate lying on Yellow Sandstone. ‘Those to the eastward are cut off by faults with downthrows to the west, and further east, at Kenmare, are limestones and the Lower Limestone Shale resting on bright red rocks, the latter lying conformably on the Old Red Sandstone. These bright red rocks are evidently on the same geological horizon as the Yellow Sandstone to the westward of them, although so totally different. The Old Red Sandstone extends conformably downwards into the Glengariff Grits, which, as previously stated, are considered both by Griffith and Jukes to be the equivalents of the Dingle Beds, and by the first to belong to the Silurian formation. On the north of Dingle Bay the Old Red Sandstone belonging: to the Carboniferous is nearly similar to that in Cork, but in places it contains conglomerates. It has a great thickness (over 5000 feet), and its upper portion is somewhat like the Yellow Sandstone of Cork, but contains more red beds. Farther east, in the county Limerick, G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. vo this Old Red Sandstone is like the Yellow Sandstone of North Kerry, but it is apparently much thinner; while still farther east are the already-mentioned rocks of Slieve Phelim. In Connaught, except in Slieve Aughta, south-east Galway, also in the north-west of Leinster, the Old Red Sandstone is evidently a shore formation at different horizons in the Limestones; but in Fermanagh and Tyrone it seems to be at the base of the Carboniferous. The rocks are more or less similar to the Central Ireland type. We have now given a short résumé of the Old Red Sandstone adjuncts of the Carboniferous, and may now proceed to explain the sections of the Silurian portion of the Old Red Sandstone. We have mentioned that the Dingle Beds on the north of Dingle Bay, which are capped unconformably by Carboniferous Old Red Sandstone, are considered by such competent authorities as both Griffith and Jukes to be the equivalents of the Glengariff Grits, which in the Killarney district and in West Cork extend conformably upwards into the Carboniferous rocks. The authority of these geologists is scarcely to be questioned; we therefore take it as proved, and proceed to the next section. At Toormakeady, county Mayo, are conglomerates lithologically somewhat similar to the Commeragh Old Red Conglomerates, but in the beds at the base of the Toormakeady Conglomerates are Silurian fossils; and further westward, in the very similar rocks of the Mweelrea Mountains, Silurian fossils also occur. On these rocks the Carboniferous strata lie unconformably. North of the Mweelrea rocks are the Louisburgh Beds. In them no typical Silurian fossils have been found, but lithologically they are similar, in part to the Mweelrea pebbly grits, and in part to the Salrock slates; the latter being the highest beds in the Galway Silurians. To the north of the Toormakeady Conglomerates, east and north- east of Clew Bay, are the Croaghmoyle Conglomerates. No typical fossil have been found in them, but lithologically they are similar to the Toormakeady rocks, also to those to the north-east, in the Curlew Mountains; while they are capped unconformably by the Carboniferous rocks. The Curlew Mountain rocks are lithologically more or less similar to those already mentioned. They extend downwards conformably into Silurians, having fossils similar to those in the Silurians that, in the county Kerry, underlie the Dingle beds; while upwards, similar to the Kerry rocks, they are cut off and are capped uncon- formably by the Carboniferous beds. The rocks of the Fintona district are lithologically similar to those of the Curlew Mountains, and are also capped unconformably by the Carboniferous series. Of these Portlock states that in one place they seem to lie conformably on the Cambro-Silurians. Griffith, however, in conversation, stated that he suspected there was a sequence of rocks somewhat similar to that near Ballaghaderreen, and that Silurian fossils occurred in them similar to those at Toormakeady. This supposition rests solely upon information which I have not had an opportunity of working out. 72 G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. Let it be clearly understood that, in no place in the above-discussed rocks—of Cork, Dingle, Toormakeady, Louisburgh, Croaghmoyle, Curlew Mountains, or the Fintona districts, have fossils been found to prove distinctly that they are of Silurian age. The only indirect evidence of that kind which can be produced being the fossils in the Mweelrea beds; which may perhaps be on the same geological horizon as the unfossiliferous rocks of Toormakeady, Louisburgh, Croagh- moyle, and the Curlew and Fintona districts; while on the other hand there are plants of Carboniferous types found in the Dingle and Glengariff beds. Therefore it is no doubt possible, that (if there is such a distinct formation as the Old Red Sandstone) these rocks may belong to it. It is evident, however, that they all are of one and the same age,' and it is the height of absurdity to class’ the Dingle beds,’ with plants of a Carboniferous type, among the Silurians, while the Curlew and Fintona rocks are put in a separate formation and called Old Red Sandstone. That the Old Red Sandstone forma- tion is the Sick Man of Geology seems proved ; as its supporters are reduced to suggesting the existence of extraordinary unconform- abilities to allow of its existence ; or to distorting the different rock sections and representing the rocks, not as they really are, but as they ought to be in the opinion of these different observers. The title of Old Red Sandstone to be ranked as a distinct formation seems to depend on the meaning given to the expression a Geologicat Formation. The generally accepted meaning seems to be—a series of strata with a more or less well-defined beginning and ending, its distinctness being marked paleontologically and (almost always) stratigraphically ;—these characteristics the Old Red Sandstone does not seem to possess. In South-west Ireland, indeed, there is a vast continuous unbroken series of reddish, purplish, and greenish arenaceous and argillaceous rocks, over 20,000 feet thick, that extend upward from the typical marine Silurians of Dingle to the typical marine Carboniferous of Cork. These must represent the time during which the Old Red Sandstone accumulated, in Ireland or elsewhere. In this series, except in the upper 1000 or 2000 feet, (Yellow Sandstone) fossils occur at rare intervals, and are principally plants allied to Carbon- iferous types. In the Yellow Sandstone terrestrial fossils are much more common; while in the lower beds of the overlying Carboniferous Slate, strata containing terrestrial and marine fossils alternate with each other.2 In South-west Ireland the rocks, 1 In the Dingle Silurians, in the Toormakeady conglomerates, in the Mweelrea beds, in the Curlew rocks, and in the Fintona rocks, there are peculiar and characteristic felstones and traps that seem to be of the same age. 2 As the Continental and American geologists have found plants like Carboniferous in the Silurians, this evidence against the Silurian age of the Dingle and Glengariff beds may be considered in part at least as done away with. 3 It has been suggested that there is an unconformable overlap of the Carbon- iferous Slate on the Yellow Sandstone. This, however, is perfectly impossible, for such an overlap could not exist without, in places, adding rapidly to the thickness of the Carboniferous Slate, which nowhere happens; furthermore, the Carboniferous Slate everywhere graduates downwards into the Yellow Sandstone, and the latter into the Old Red of the Cork type. ~G. H. Kinahan—The Silurian Rocks of Ireland. 73 including the Yellow Sandstone, the Old Red, and the Glengariff Grits, might possibly be called a formation ; if it were not that north of Dingle Bay there is a great break in the sequence, the upper 5000 or 6000 feet, only, extending continuously into the Carbon- iferous rocks. Stratigraphically and paleontologically this upper portion belongs to the Carboniferous formation; while the lower portion, over 10,000 feet in thickness, stratigraphically belongs to the Silurians, but paleeontologically to the Carboniferous. It has been suggested that the Old Red Sandstone (Carboniferous) of the Dingle promontory (2, Fig. 2) cannot be the same as the Old Red Sandstone (Carboniferous) of West Cork (1, Fig. 2), as such a change in their positions could not take place in so small a distance as the width of Dingle Bay. This suggestion, however, is not borne out by facts, as extending along Dingle Bay there is a great fault with a downthrow to the northward, which, to the eastward of the bay, brings down the Coal-measures against the Old Red of the Cork type, and cuts out a thickness of strata more than sufficient to account for a greater change. Hlsewhere in Ireland, as shown in the sections (Fig. 2), rocks having the Old Red Sandstone characteristics, and, like it, graduating into the Lower Limestone Shale, occur on different geological horizons.’ Nore in Press.—Since this paper was read, Prof. Hull, in the Gerotoeicat Magazine, November Ist, 1878, published ‘‘ A Possible Explanation of the North Devon Section.” Unfortunately for the suggestions contained in it, there are various errors in reference to the Irish rocks. All the Irish geologists who have studied the Dingle and Glengariff Grits came to one conclusion about them, that is, that they belong to one group, and Prof. Hull has now arrived at the same conclusion. If this is allowed, we have a vast continuous series of rocks which represents ALL THE TIME intervening between the accumulation of the typical Silurian of Dingle and the typical Carboniferous of Cork. This necessitates some portion of this series of rocks being the equivalent of the Old Red Sandstone or the Devonian rocks. Those that are acquainted with the Old Red Sandstone (Griffith and Jukes) in the country south of Dingle Bay are aware that it contains fossil plants said by Baily to be also found at Kiltorcan, county Kilkenny, while farther southward, near Toe Head, county Cork, and in the county Waterford, the Kiltorcan fossils are well represented. The rocks containing these fossils lie conformably on the Glengariff Grits, while the latter also contain plants said by Baily to be of the same type as some of the fossils of Kiltorcan. Thus these Old Red Rocks, also the Glengariff Grits, according to Prof. Hull’s reasoning, should be of the same age as the Kiltorcan beds, and consequently Old Red Sandstone. Yet this authority states that the Glengariff Grits are certainly Silurians. An unconformability in the Cork rocks between the Carboniferous ' Its uncertain position induced the Rev. Dr. Haughton, in the year 1863, to designate it a ‘“‘ Phantom formation.’’—Journal Geol. Soc. Dublin, 1863. 74 W. A, £. Ua terccent Geology of Cornwall. Slate and the Glengariff Grits is an impossibility, on account of the universal parallelism between the strike of the beds in the first with those in the underlying Yellow Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, and Glengariff Grits. The question of the age of the Glengariff and Dingle Beds, so far as their relative positions are concerned, remains nearly as undecided as in Jukes’s time. Jukes found that strati- graphically these rocks were allied to the Silurians, but Salter insisted that the fossils were Carboniferous, and that the rocks should be similarly classed; at the present time Baily reiterates Salter’s opinion. Are the Dingle or Glengariff Beds Silurian or Old Red Sandstone ? —The answer to this question depends on the relative values of,— stratigraphical position and fossil evidence. If the first is most important, then the rocks belong to the Silurian; but if the second, then they are of Old Red Sandstone age, a group of rocks that form passage-beds from the Silurian into the Carboniferous. It seems remarkable that Prof. Hull should class the Dingle and Glengariff Beds as Silurians, while he has mapped the rocks of the Curlew Mountains, which are siratigraphically similar, as Old Red Sandstone. It is unnecessary to enter into Devonian geology further than to point out that Jukes’ fault has not been disproved, while the Irish geologists who have been in Devon believe in its existence; also the fossil evidence, so much relied on, seems not to be of much geological value, inasmuch as the species have been collected without that care and precision which can alone render them of use in marking horizons. The localities assigned to the specimens, in the collections chiefly relied upon, are such as Torquay, Chudleigh, etc. ; where two, if not more, distinct groups of rocks are developed. TV.—Hisrorican GEoLoGY oF CoRNWALL. By W. A. E. Ussuer, F.G.S. (Continued from the January Number, p. 36.) (PLATE III.) Part 4,—St. Michael’s Mount. HE best description of St. Michael’s Mount, as it now exists, that I can find, is by Mr. Wm. Pengelly, F.R.S.,' as follows: “The Mount is an isulated mass of granite measuring about five furlongs in peri- meterat its base. At high-water it plunges abruptly into the sea, except on the northern or landward side, where the granite comes in contact with the slate, into which it sends veins and dykes, as may be well seen on each side of the harbour. Here there is a small plain occupied by a village, adjacent to which is the harbour, built in 1726-7, and, as Mr. Johns, the harbour-master, has been good enough to write me, capable of receiving ships of 500 tons burthen.” Its situation is described as follows: ‘“‘The distance between the nearest point of Marazion Cliff and spring-tide high-water mark on the Mount is 1680 feet. A tidal isthmus (Hogus) of highly inclined Devonian slate and associated rocks, in most cases covered with a 1 Journ. Roy. Inst, Corn. for 1878, p. 12. W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 79 thin layer of gravel or sand, is at spring-tide high-water, in still weather, 12 feet below ; and at low-water 6 feet above the sea-level. This ridge is dry in fine weather from four to five hours every tide, but occasionally during storms and neap tides it is not passable for two or three days.” “« St. Michael’s Mount! was named in Cornish, as Carew informs us ‘Caraclowse in Cowse, in English, the hoare rock in the wood: which now is at every flood encompassed by the sea, and yet at some low ebbs, roots of mighty trees are descried in the sands about it.” 3. 6. Florence of Worcester expressly asserts that it was formerly five or six miles from the sea and enclosed with a very thick wood; and therefore called in British, Carrey lug en Kug, “Le Hore Rok in the wodd.’ ” The above is said to have been corrected by Florence of Worcester in a letter to William of Worcester, 1478.? Mr. Peacock * thinks that we need not go back further than the time of the Domesday Book for the origin of the Cornish name of St. Michael’s Mount, “ Carreg coedh yn clos,” i.e. ‘“‘ Rock of the wood in the enclosure,” as William Camden (1550-1623) “proves that the Cornish language had not become quite extinct even so lately as his time.” “Dr. Gibson,‘ the editor of Camden’s Britannia, says that St. Michael’s Mount is called Careg Cowse in Clowse. Careg is, doubt- less, the origin of the English word crag; and cowse is said to mean cana, white; and clowse obviously means a close or enclosure.” “Mr. Metivier says that St. Michael’s Mount was ‘Carreg Coed yn Clos,’ rock of the wood in the enclosure.” Mr. Peacock*® says that “the earliest period at which the Saxon name Mychel Stop, or Michael’s Step, could have been given to the Mount, was after the landing of Hengist and Horsa in 449.” The Mount received its present name in 1085, from the Monastery of St. Michael, of which it then became an appanage ; before that time it was called Dinsol.° ‘In Milner’s Gallery of Nature, p. 387, it is stated that in the time of Edward the Confessor, 1044, the rock of St. Michael’s Mount was the site of a monastery described as being near the sea, ‘juxta mare’ (interpreted by Barham, ‘by the sea’).” “The ancient designation,” says Mr. Pengelly, ‘‘betokens a change in the geography of the district—a change, not only within the human period, but since Cornwall was occupied by a people who spoke the language which was tardily supplanted by the Anglo-Saxon.” Mr. Pengelly refers the name “ Hogus,” now applied to the rocky ledge between Marazion and the Mount, to an old Scandinavian derivation, meaning “a rock in or near a wood adjacent to water, and used for sacrificial purposes.” Mr. Peacock’ takes exception to this determination on the ground that Hogus (in Guernsey hougue, French hogue, neo-Latin hoga) pyle Ren Gr Sel COrnenyOly ii pal 34. ? Pengelly on Submerged Forests in Torbay. 3 Peacock, p. 110. 4 Ibid. p. 89. PS neelite 6 Ibid. p. 112. 7 Peacock, p. 107. 76 W. A. HE. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. sometimes denotes a quarriable knoll, of which he gives examples. From this Mr. Peacock infers that the term Hogus only carries us to the middle ages, and not to the time of Diodorus. Mr. Peacock! quotes Diodorus Siculus (about 44 B.c.) as follows: “They who inhabit the promontory Belerium are exceedingly hospitable, and on account of the merchants being their guests are civilized by custom in their mode of life. They procure the tin by ingeniously working the earth producing it, which, being rocky, has earthy veins, in which working a passage and melting (the ore) they extract [the tin]. Forging it into masses like Astragals, they carry it into an Island situate before Britain, called Ictis. For the middle space being dried by the ebb they carry the tin into this (island) in abundance in carts. (But a certain peculiar thing happens con- cerning the neighbouring islands lying in the middle (weraév) between Europe and Britain, for at full sea they appear to be islands, but by the reciprocation of the ebb of the sea, and a large space being dried, they appear peninsulas.) Hence the merchants buy [the tin] from the inhabitants and export it into Gaul.” Taking wetaév to mean “in the middle,’ Mr. Peacock considers that the Northern Channel Islands were alluded to in the above passages, being of opinion that the Northern Channel Islands were then only insulated at high-water, and that they are called neigh- bouring islands to distinguish them from the more remote islands in the Bay of Biscay. Mr. Pengelly* observes that, according to Leland, St. Michael’s Mount in 1533 was no larger than at present; that William of Worcester’s estimation of its distance from the mainland differs but little from its present site: that “Bishop Lacy’s encouragement to the Faithful in 1425 to complete a causeway between Marazion and the Mount, for the protection of life and shipping, denotes that the exposure was as great as in our day; and as the Confessor’s Charter in 1044 describes the Mount as ‘juxta mare,’ * next or by the sea, it may be safely concluded that the insulation of the Mount had taken place more than eight centuries ago.” After a passing allusion to other competitors for the Ictis of Diodorus, he says, ‘It is perhaps worthy of remark, that those who have studied the Geology of Cornwall, espoused the cause of the Mount; while those who fail to do so, appear to have come to the question with their minds imbued with a belief in William of Worcester’s statement, that there were 140 parish churches sub- merged between the Mount and Scilly, and accordingly hold that the submergence took place not only since the time of Diodorus, but since the introduction of the parochial system into Cornwall.” Mr. Pengelly quotes Sir George Cornewall Lewis (An Historical Survey of the Astronomy of the Ancients) as follows: “'Timzus mentions an island of Mictis within six days’ sail of Britain which produced tin, and to which the natives of Britain sailed in coracles.” He regarded Mictis and Ictis as variations of Vectis. 1 Peacock, p. 86. 2 Journ. Roy. Inst. Corn, for 1873, p. 181. 3 “Sanctum Michaelum qui est juxta mare.” W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 77 From Mr. Pengelly’s statement that the Mount 1900 years ago possessed a harbour, Mr. Peacock dissents on the ground that “if the coast had remained unaltered ever since Diodorus’s time, the Roman tin-transporting ships need not by any means have been confined to St. Michael’s Mount as a harbour, because, as the Rev. W. Borlase! well observes, Guavas Lake is the principal anchoring place.” Whence he considers that the chief export of tin could not have taken place from St. Michael’s Mount, and does not favour the belief in its identification as the Ictis of Diodorus. He says further :* «The ancient block of tin which was dredged up about 1823 in Falmouth Harbour (Lyell’s Principles of Geology, 1867, p. 451), if we suppose it to have been dropped during its transit to the Isle of Ictis, would seem to place Ictis opposite Falmouth harbour, and therefore twenty miles east of St. Michael’s Mount.” Mr. Pengelly, in a lecture at the Royal Institution,’ says, “The Mount is by no means a solitary rock of its kind. Within seventy miles east of it there are certainly four that actually are or probably were, within the last 1900 years, precisely similar though slightly larger islands—Looe Island, St. Nicholas Island, the Mewstone, and Borough Island.” Mr. Peacock cherishes the idea that the Mounts Bay forest was submerged in the historic period, and is sufficient confirmation of the “tradition of these parts that St. Michael’s Mount, now enclosed half a mile with the sea, when the tide is in, stood formerly in a wood.” He quotes the following note from Carew (1602) :* “Tradition tells us that in former ages the Mount was part of the insular continent in Britain, and disjoimed from it by an inundation or en- croachment of the sea, some earthquake or terrestrial concussion.” “Tf,” says Mr. Peacock,® “the storm of 1099 and Dr. Borlase’s submersion® in the ninth century be true, St. Michael’s Mount cannot have been the ancient isle of Ictis, because must we not suppose that the Mount only became an island at one of these submersions.” Mr. Peacock strengthens his position by the following quotation’? from page 2 of the Domesday Book: “The land of Michael . . . there are two hides which never paid the Danish tax (nunquam geldaverunt). The land is eight caracutes.” The hide is generally supposed to be equal to 120 acres.* Sir. H. Ellis says that the measure of a hide varied in different places at different times. ‘The carucate was as much arable land as could be managed with one plough and the beasts belonging thereto in a year; having meadow, pasture, and houses for the householders and cattle belonging to it.” Taking the smallest estimate of a “hide” from the five different measures of it in the reigns of Richard I., Edward I., and Edward II., 1 Phil. Trans. vol. 48. 2 Peacock, p. 118. 3 Quoted by Peacock, p. 139. 4 p. 140. 5 Peacock, p. 88. 6 Dr. Borlase was inclined to refer the submersion of St. Michael’s Wood to the inundation of the year 830, mentioned in Irish Annals. Mr. Whitaker ascribed it to that mentioned by the Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester as occurring in 1099. Vide T. R. G. 8S. Corn., vol. i: p. 139. 7 Ib. p. 187. 8 Ib. p, 113. 78 W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. which vary from 60 to 180 acres, Mr. Peacock says that eight carucates would have amounted to 490 acres, whilst’ the present dimensions of the Mount, measured from the Ordnance Map, “are found to average 22 x 14 chains; the area therefore is 30:8 acres; * and it is quite clear that, so far from there being eight carucates of arable land, there can hardly be a single acre capable of being ploughed, because the ground is too steep and rocky.” Mr. Peacock * believes that at the date of this description in the Domesday Book (in the year 1086), St. Michael’s Mount was not an island, for the following reasons: Firstly, because neither the Domesday Book nor the Saxon name Michael Stop give any reason for such a conclusion. Secondly, because it is the custom in the Domesday Book, “‘ when a place is an island, to call itso.” Of this he gives examples. Thirdly, on account of its then containing at least eight times as much land as at present. Of the several remaining competitors for the Ictis of Diodorus, Mr. Peacock disposes as follows :— As the Scilly Isles do not lie between Europe and Britain, and as there is a 43-fathom sounding between them and the Land’s End, none of them would answer to the description of Ictis. As to the Isle of Portland or the Isle of Wight, so accurate an observer as Diodorus would not have failed in distinguishing their position definitely as ‘‘near the south coast of Britain, nor are there any grounds for the supposition that the relations of either locality to the mainland were different in Diodorus’s time from the present.” With respect to the claims of Mont St. Michel, he considers that the space between it and the Continent was the Forest of Scisy and not sea until seven centuries and a half after Diodorus’s time. As alternatives, Mr. Peacock proposes the Wolf Rock (which would be opposite Britain if a westerly and north-westerly extension of the Cornish cvast be conceded) ; the Seven Stones; or some island now totally lost. He considers, however, that the identification of Ictis is “‘ both impossible and unimportant.” Mr. Claypole* gives an estimate of the uniform rate of depression of Mounts Bay on assuming the identity of St. Michael’s Mount with the Ictis of Diodorus and the Ocrinum of Ptolemy. He says: “Tt must then have been an island as now at high-water only. In the time of Diodorus the isthmus must have been below high-water mark. So depression must be restricted to limits allowing the isthmus to have been below the upper limit of 20-foot tide, 1800 years ago, and above its lower limit now: so that it would not have exceeded 6 feet, therefore the rate of depression would be 4 inches per century, which would be 6 feet in 12,600 years.” Mr. Pengelly,> commenting on the evidence furnished by the caverns of Devon, gives the following general note, which may not be out of place here: ‘In order to obtain the whole, we must add to this part the time represented by the lodgement of the Blue 1 Peacock, p. 136. 2 Tb. p. 114. 3 Tb. pp. 112, 113. 4 Proc. Brist. Nat. Soc. 1870, vol. v. p. 35. 5 Journ. Royal Instit. Corn. for 18738. W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. 79 Forest Clay of Devon on the tin ground of Cornwall; to this again must be added the period in which the forests grew ; to this a further addition must be made of the time during which the entire country was carried down at least 70 feet vertically by a subsidence so slow and tranquil and uniform that it nowhere throughout the area of Western Europe and the British Islands disturbed the horizontality of the old forest soil; and finally we must also add the time which has elapsed since—a time which of itself, thanks to the description of St. Michael’s Mount by Diodorus Siculus, we know certainly ex- ceeded 2000 years, and which the volume of the stratified deposits overlying the forests, as well as the amplitude of the existing fore- shore, warrants our believing exceeded it by a very large amount.” Conclusion.—If the word Cassiterides, in the writings of Strabo, Posidonius, and Diodorus, refers to the Scilly Isles, and if they have also been mentioned by Dionysius Alexandrinus under the name of Hesperides, the quotations from these authors would imply the following consequences. First,—That tin must have been obtained in the Scilly Isles as they then existed. Secondly,—That, as no productive tin veins or signs of old work- ings are found on these islands, such workings must have been carried on in districts now submerged, at a time when the number of the islands (allowing a considerable margin on the score of insignificance in Strabo’s account) was much less than at present, and when the flats between the islands of Tresco, St. Mary, and St. Martin (as may reasonably be inferred from Dr. Borlase’s descrip- tion), were dry land at high-water and above the level of spring- tides. Thirdly,—That the Channel Islands were not insulated in Diodorus’ time; for, if they were, he would hardly have alluded to the Scilly Isles as nearest to Iberia. This accords with Mr. Peacock’s views as to their more recent insulation. Fourthly,—From Alexandrinus’ account, must we not suppose that the inhabitants of the islands were a colony from Spain in his time, and either supplanted the original inhabitants alluded to by Dr. Borlase, or were themselves succeeded by a British race, addicted to Druidic rites ? Notwithstanding, I am inclined to think that the word “ Cassi- terides” was indiscriminately used for the Scilly Isles and Land’s End District, owing to the imperfect navigation of those early days of naval commerce. Diodorus’s description of the inhabitants and mineral wealth of Belerium would apply rather to a district of that name than to an individual promontory, and it does not seem improbable that the name of one of its most important headlands should be indiscrimi- nately applied to the whole stanniferous district of the Land’s End. If, as Mr. Peacock supposes, the Northern Channel Islands are spoken of by Diodorus as neighbouring islands with reference to Ictis, one can scarcely agree with him in disposing of the claims of 1 T. R. G8. Corn. vol. vii. p. 153. 80 W. A. E. Ussher—Historical Geology of Cornwall. the Isle of Wight to the appellation of Ictis on the ground of the accuracy of that historian’s descriptions. Jf the name Vectis’ applied exclusively to the Isle of Wight, Pliny’s mention of it as lying between Ireland and Britain would prevent one from putting too much faith in the latitudes and longitudes of ancient geographers. (Vide Note B.) To revert to more recent records. As the description of St. Michael’s Mount in the Domesday Book is so indefinite, and, from the nature of the record, rather applicable to the lands belonging thereto than to the geographical position of the Mount itself, there appears to be little reason why the eight carucates mentioned in the passage should not be regarded as arable lands on the adjacent mainland belonging to the monastery. The submergence of the Mounts Bay forest seems to have occurred considerably anterior to any inundation on record, for the following reasons. First,—Mr. Carne? mentions the extension of the old forest ground seaward, traced to a depth of from twenty to thirty feet below spring- tide level. Secondly,—There is every reason to conclude, with Mr. Carne, that the forest bed met with in a pit at Huel Darlington mine, under 12 feet of marine sediment, four feet of peat, and eight feet of river wash, is continuous with the forest bed on the beach. Thirdly,— Whilst the entombment of the forests in marine sedi- ments indicates subsiding movements, the peat and overlying gravel in Marazion Marsh, and the present positions of rock plattorms slightly higher than spring-tide at high-water, and of estuarine deposits, seem to point to a slight subsequent elevation, not yet counteracted. The changes which took place after the submersion of the old forest ground can hardly have been comprised in eight centuries, and were more probably operating during a period of more than 2000 years. A belief in the pre-historic ’® submergence of the Mounts Bay forest is by no means contrary to the identification of St. Michael’s Mount with the Ictis of Diodorus; for, although the land may have been at a slightly lower level in the time of Diodorus than at present, the rapid disappearance of thirty-six acres of pasturage from the West Green sand-banks*‘ since Charles the Second’s time, mentioned by Dr. Boase (T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. iii. p. 181), leaves one free to infer that prior to that time the bank was of still greater extent, so that its eastward portion may have facilitated the passage to the Mount by affording a ridge or causeway of sand covering the rocky isthmus and passable in most conditions of the tides. The Wolf Rock and the Seven Stones can scarcely be regarded as possible competitors for the Ictis of Diodorus; their admission would entail a subsidence of at least 200 feet within 2000 years, as the former is seven miles to the south-west of Guethenbras Point (Land’s End district), with 1 (Peacock, p. 183.) Pliny, Nat. Hist. lib. iv. § 80: “Sunt autem xl Orcades modicis inter se discrete spatiis. Septem Acmode, et xxx Hebrides; et inter Hiberniam ac Britanniam, Mona, Monapia, Ricina, Vectis,”’ etc. 2 T. R. G. S. Corn. vol. vi. p. 280, etc. 3 As far as Britain is concerned. 4 The banks are now only two or three acres in extent, Notices of Memoirs—Prof. Owen on Wingless Birds. 81 intervening depths of from twenty-one to thirty-eight fathoms; and the latter are fourteen miles west from the Land’s Hnd, with depths of thirty-two to forty fathoms between them and the Longships. St. Michael’s Mount appears better to accord with the description of Diodorus than any other island on the Cornish coast, on account of, firstly, its vicinity to tin-producing districts; secondly, the facility with which carts laden with the ore could have reached it, either on the supposition of an elevation of a few feet, or allowing the extension of the sand-bank from the mainland or the existence of a sand spit concealing the isthmus. APPENDIX. Nore A.—A rock near the Land’s End bears the name of “the Armed Knight.”’ Though this appellation may have been bestowed on it through a fancied resemblance in outline, the existence of the tradition respecting Trevelyan’s adventure appears to furnish a more likely reason for the name. : Nort B.—In Speed’s Map of Cornwall, 1610, no dependence can be placed upon the latitudes, as may be seen by placing a tracing of a reduced Ordnance Map of the same scale (about 1 inch to 4 miles) over it, when the Land’s End district will be found to occupy entirely different positions scarcely overlapping in any place, and the shape of the Lizard district to be quite dissimilar. Another map without date, but probably as old as Speed’s, was shown to me by Mr. Parfitt, of the Devon and Exeter Literary Institute ; the same discrepancies were visible in it. Now when we find discrepancies of latitude equal to 10’, and the shapes of pro- montories entirely misrepresented in maps of their own country produced by geographers 300 years ago, how can we expect to find even as great accuracy in the geographical descriptions of Roman or Greek historians, more especially when relating to coasts with which they must at best have been very slightly acquainted ? IMNGnEChne| | Guan WnsaVeonSS On tHe Extinct Winexess Brrps or New Zeatanp. By Ricwarp Owen, O.B., F.R.S., erc. (London: John Van Voorst, 1, Paternoster Row.) ARON CUVIBER, in the “ Avertissement” to the First Hdition of the ‘ Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles des Quadrupédes, ’? assigns as a reason for reprinting, with additional matter, his ““morceaux détachés dans les ‘Archives du Muséum d Histoire Naturelle,’ ”’ the facility which would thereby be afforded to students of fossil remains in their comparisons with the text and plates of such Work. A like motive has led the Author to collect his detached Memoirs on the Fossil Bones of the Birds of New Zealand, which have appeared in successive Parts of the ‘Transactions of the Zoological Society of London’ since the year 1838, and to similarly combine them with additional matter and general remarks in the two volumes now issued. His purpose, long entertained, was strengthened by the appearance and favourable reception of an excellent and comprehensive Work on the existing Birds of New Zealand,” to which the present Volumes may be deemed complementary. 1 4to. 3 vols., 1812. 2 “A History of the Birds of New Zealand,’ by Walter Lowry Buller, Sc.D., F.L.S., ete. 4to. (London, John Van Voorst, 1872.) DECADE II.— VOL. VI.—NO. II. 6 82 Reviews—Skertchly’s Physical System of the Universe. They comprise an Introductory Notice of the circumstances which led to the discovery and restoration of the extinct Avifauna of New Zealand. 'The descriptions are accompanied by Illustrations of the natural size of the fossils, and reduced views of the restored skeletons on which the several genera and species have been founded. The whole is preceded by an illustrated Anatomy of the existing wingless bird (Apteryx australis) which is the nearest ally of the extinct Dinornis ; and is followed by notices of the food, footprints, nests, and eggs of the Moas, the Maori traditions relating to those gigantic birds, the causes and probable period of their extirpation, and a speculation on the conditions influencing the atrophy of the wings in flightless birds. The latter topic has led the Author to append Supplementary Memoirs on the Dodo, Solitaire, Great Auk, and some evidences of gigantic extinct Birds of Australia and Great Britain. His advanced age has led him to issue the present Work entire, in preference to a publication in Parts. It consists of a Quarto Volume of Text (512 pp.), and a similar Volume of 130 Plates, several of which, from the size of their subjects, are in folio. With the Text are intercalated Woodcuts.1 Dr. Hector’s Geological Map of New Zealand, giving the localities of the discovered fossils, is annexed. RAVI WwW SS. —>——_ I.—Tuer Puystcan System oF THE UNiverse. AN OUTLINE OF PuystograPHy. By Sypnry B. J. Sxertouty, F.G.S8. 8vo., pp. 885. (London, Daldy, Isbister & Co., 1878.) INCE the Science and Art Department determined to hold an Examination in Physiography we have been presented with various text-books on the subject. Professor Huxley, the Rev. Alexander Mackay, Professor Ansted, and more recently Mr. Skertchly, have come into the field; while in late numbers of “ Good Words”? Mr. Norman Lockyer has contributed a series of physio- graphical sketches on “The Harth’s Place in Nature.” This subject—which, at South Kensington, seems to have sup- planted Physical Geography, ought, however, in no sense to interfere with it. Physical Geography deals with the configuration of the earth’s surface, and with the distribution of its various forms of life ; it is, in fact, the geology of the present day, and must always retain more or less of an individuality so far as any study can do so. Physiography, on the other hand, endeavours to knit together the sum and substance of all that is known of the physical history of the universe—it is, in fact, a Cosmogony—though its chief aim is to develope the intimate connexion between all sciences, and to illus- trate the Unity of Creation. It is only within the past few years that Physiography has assumed its present comprehensiveness. The term has not unfrequently been in use to designate the physical aspect or contour of any tract on the earth’s surface. Nor has the connexion of various sciences been 1 The price of the Work is £6 6s. Reviews—Shkertchly’s Physical System of the Universe. 83 lost sight of, for as early as 1849 a little work entitled ‘“‘' The Unity of Nature,” by John Warren Howell (edited by Charles Pooley), was published; a work whose object was to show the relation of the sciences one to another. But recent spectroscopic observations have especially led to the conclusion that all the heavenly bodies “are but parts of one stupendous whole.” In the work now before us, Mr. Skertchly gives us an outline of physiography, embracing all the latest work in astronomy and physical science which bears upon the history of the universe. It is, we must premise, a work which contains a good deal of hard reading, and perhaps too many technical terms to please an ordinary reader. In the introductory chapter the author briefly sketches the plan of his work, and shows that the past and present state of the globe are the result of the action of heat upon solid, liquid, and gaseous matter. Chapter 2 deals with Matter and Motion, and it is pointed out that the earth is not an isolated fragment in space, but part of one great machine. Chapter 8 treats of Light and its Revelations, and it is shown that the sun, stars, etc., contain the same elements known to us on earth. Chapter 4 is devoted to the Sidereal System —a term applied to the whole of the visible universe, with its hosts of stars, nebula, etc., and it is pointed out that not only is it composed of the same kind of matter, but this is acted upon by the same laws as terrestrial matter. In Chapters 5, 6, and 7, the Solar System is treated; the motions, reactions, and influences of the bodies are dwelt upon, also the origin and movements of meteors and comets. Chapter 8 is devoted to the Sun, and all that is known of it—the influence of the cycle of its spots on terrestrial magnetism, tempe- rature, rainfall, and other phenomena. Chapter 9 deals with the Earth’s Internal Heat, in which it is concluded that the interior is probably metallic; that, as a whole, the earth is very rigid, and cannot be molten in the interior; that it contains great cavernous spaces more or less full of liquid rock; and that volcanic action has been far more extensive than it is at present. The effects of In- ternal Heat and influence on the production of faults and contortions, upheavals and depressions, and in the sketching out of the broad features of the continents are noticed in Chapter 10. The effects of the Karth’s External Heat are pointed out in Chapter 11, where various climatic conditions are shown to result from Solar Heat. Chapter 12 continues this subject in its bearing on Earth Sculpture, where the influence of Subaérial Denudation is noted as the most prominent. In Chapter 13 the subject of Climate is again dealt with, also the causes of great variations in past periods. The conclusions being that cold and warm periods alternated in comparatively rapid succession during the Glacial period; and that they are due to the indirect results of a high excentricity, combined with the position of the solstitial points in aphelion and perihelion. Chapter 14 deals briefly with Life, and it is shown how dependent the forms and their distribution are upon climatic change. The concluding chapter discusses the Nebular Hypothesis, which, while it is stated to be the naturai explanation of the Solar system, yet is not supported by what is known of exist- 84 Reviews—Geéologie pour les Années 1876 et 1877. ing nebule; they do not contain the spectra of all the known elements, and hence it might be inferred that none of them could condense into a system like ours. To this, Mr. Skertchly replies that, “It may be that at excessively high temperatures most of the vibrations are too rapid to emit light, and hence, even if our elements are truly such, they might fail to yield a spectrum under nebular conditions.” In concluding this outline of Mr. Skertchly’s work, we cannot refrain from complimenting him upon the care he has bestowed upon this subject, and from expressing our belief that he has formed a very solid nucleus from the nebulous matter that is scattered through a wide range of knowledge. H. B. W. IIl.—Revvur DE GéOLOGIE PouR LES ANNEES 1876 ET 1877. Par M. Detessse et M. De Laprarent. (Paris: F. Savy, 1879.) HE onward progress of geology is fully evidenced by the numerous works which of late years have been published bearing on that science. Distributed as separate treatises, or as memoirs and papers in various scientific journals, or in proceedings of societies, and in different languages—the majority of them might be comparatively unknown to many geologists, without some general record of their place of publication. This desideratum has been fulfilled by the “Revue de Géologie” of MM. Delesse and De Lapparent, of which fifteen volumes have now appeared, and to which object the ‘Geological Record” and ‘Revue Géologique Suisse” have also contributed. With the fifteenth volume of the “Revue de Géologie,” the Editors have brought their French record of geological literature up to 1877. Commencing in 1860, the series now published contains a vast amount of useful information with regard to the various publications issued during the period, and so arranged as to be easily referred to. The subjects in this, as in the preceding nine volumes, are classed under the chief divisions adopted by Prof. Dana in his Manual of Geology,—physiographical, litho- logical, historical, geographical, and dynamical geology. As in preceding years, the authors have endeavoured to present a concise but faithful and methodical analysis of the various memoirs which have contributed to the advancement of geological science during the years 1876-77. J. M. I1I.—Conrrisutions To THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HRuPtTIvE Rocks IN THE DisTRICTOF SAAR AND MoseLLe.—“ BertRAGE ZUR KENTNISS prR ERUPTIVGESTEINE IM GEBIETE von SaaR wunD Mosst.” Von Prof. Dr. A. von Lasautx. pp. 76, with 2 coloured plates. (Bonn, 1878.) N this treatise the author describes the mode of occurrence, the megascopic, and the microscopic characters of a number of eruptive rocks which have hitherto been, with a few exceptions, designated Greenstones. The rock first described is the Diabase- Diorite of Kiirenz, near Trier. Then follow descriptions of an Reports and Proceedings—Greological Society of London. 85 Amphibolite from Olmuth ; Diorites from Wilmerich, from Winkel- hornfloss, near Schillingen, from the Grinburg, near Wadrill, and from Paschel, near Zerf. A decomposed dioritic rock from Schoden on the Saar is also described. Diabases from Kellenbach, Forstel- bach, Hockweiler, near Trier, Saarburg and other localities, are likewise treated of at some length. Descriptions of numerous Melaphyres from different localities are followed by an account of what is headed as a Porphyry, from Rhaunew, which is shown to be a fine-grained granitic rock with porphyritic felspar crystals. The descriptions are clear, and the drawings at the end of the treatise are well calculated to explain those portions of the text which need illustration, as they are rendered in the slightly diagram- matic manner which characterizes the microscopic drawings of many of the leading continental petrologists. IV.—Tse American QuarterRLty MicroscopicaL JouRNAL. Con- taining the Transactions of the New York Microscopical Society. No. I. (New York, October, 1878.) E heartily wish Mr. Romyn Hitchcock, the Editor of the above, all possible success in his arduous but much needed undertaking. That the United States should have been hitherto without a journal of Microscopy is certainly an anomaly, considering the numberless other scientific publications of which it can proudly boast, and the immense field there open for all comers to work in. We trust, therefore, that this attempt to supply a known defect may meet with a fate quite the reverse of that which attended its predecessor the “‘ Lens.” The part before us is got up somewhat in the style of our lately defunct “Monthly Microscopical Journal,” but printed on better paper, and illustrated with, we venture to add, still more excellent lates. Though the present number does not\contain any papers of special interest to the geologist, still we nevertheless trust that from time to time we may see, and be able to record as occurring in its pages, articles on Microscopic Geology. B. B. W. REPORTS AND PROCHHE DINGS. MS GEOLOGICAL Society oF Lonpon.—I.—December 4, 1878.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Hsq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.—The following communications were read :— 1. “On some Mica-Traps from the Kendal and Sedbergh Districts.” By Prof. T. G. Bonney, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., and F. T. 8. Houghton, Hsq., B.A. The rocks described by the authors are mapped by the Geological Survey on Quarter Sheets 98 N.H., 98 S.E., and 97 N.W., and in parts briefly mentioned in the accompanying memoirs, under the generic name mica-trap. Seventeen examples are described macro- 86 Reports and Proceedings— scopically and microscopically, and of eight chemical analyses are given. It appears better to call one a porphyrite and two diorites (micaceous varieties). The remainder are all characterized by abundance of mica (biotite). Augite also appears to have been generally a constituent; but it has almost invariably been replaced by secondary products, calcite, dolomite, viridite, etc. Three are crystalline in structure; one of these is named minette, the others kersantite. The remaining eleven show a microcrystalline or crypto- crystalline base. It is proposed to call eight of them minette- felsite, the rest kersantite-porphyrite. ‘These rocks commonly occur in rather narrow dykes; they are intrusive in Silurian strata, and, in the authors’ opinion, are undoubtedly true igneous rocks. 2. “ Pleistocene Notes on the Cornish Coast near Padstow.” By W. A. E. Ussher, Hsq., F.G.S. In this paper the author described certain deposits seen in a small bay near St. Enodock’s chapel, and known as Daymer Bay, and in section at Greenway cliffs. The former included a portion of raised beach, and a reef of consolidated old beach and a peaty deposit below high-water mark, the raised beach indicating a depression of from 5 to 10 feet and a subsequent elevation of more than that amount, during a pause in which the lower beach was formed. The further elevation of the coast was sufficient to favour the growth of forests furnishing the peaty bed, which a subsequent subsidence has brought down to its present level. Greenway cliffs consist of grey slates, resting against which, in two places, are old consolidated blown sands; about 5 feet above high-water mark is a raised beach, near which the face of the cliff consists of “head” capped by gravel. The author discussed the relative ages of these deposits, and inclined to regard the gravel as a fluviatile deposit, and the stony loam or “head” as an ancient talus or flood-gravel, both deposited before the raised beach. 3. ‘The Pleistocene History of Cornwall.” By W. A. E. Ussher, Ksq., F.G.S. In the first part of this paper the author, from his own observa- tions and the writings of other geologists, gave detailed descriptions of the various superficial deposits of Cornwall as exposed in nume- rous coast-sections. In the second part he discussed the relative ages of these deposits, for which he proposed the following classification :— 1. The oldest beds described are patches of quartzose gravel, found up to 400 feet above the present sea-level; these are regarded by the author as of fluviatile origin, and as being possibly rede- posited Tertiary beds. | Their age may be any thing between Cre- taceous and Glacial. 2. Boulder-gravels, from 40 to 50 feet above sea-level. 3. Raised beaches, up to 15 feet above sea-level. 4. Old blown sand closely associated with the raised beaches. 5. “Head” or talus of angular fragments lying upon the raised beaches, and therefore of younger date than the latter. 6. Stream tin-gravels, evidently older than the forest stratum. Geological Society of London. 87 7. Submerged forests, evidently occupying a long period subse- quent to the deposition of the stream tin-gravels. 8. Recent marine and fluviatile deposits. In conclusion he remarked on the paucity of superficial deposits in Cornwall, the absence of evidence of glacial conditions, and the proofs of great changes in the level of the area. IJ.—December 18, 1878.—1. “On Remains of Mastodon and other Vertebrata from the Miocene Beds of the Maltese Islands.” By Prof. A. Leith Adams, M.B., F.R.S., F.G.S. The author recognized the following Maltese formations :— Upper Limestone.—Maximum thickness over 250 feet, passing into a sandy rock, and that into a hard red limestone. Fossiliferous, containing 4 Brachiopoda, several Lamellibranchs and Gasteropods, and 25 Echinodermata (10 being peculiar). Sand Bed.—Maximum thickness about 60 feet, variable in character, characterized by vast abundance of Heterostegina depressa ; ‘15 Vertebrata. The Marl Bed.—Maximum thickness over 100 feet, but sometimes almost wholly thinned out. Organic remains rarer than in the Sand Bed. The Calcareous Sandstone.—Maximum thickness rather over 200 feet, Contains bands of nodules, of which the second is rich in organic remains. Hence come the noted teeth of Squalide. Among its invertebrate fauna are many Pectens, with other Lamellibranchs, Gasteropods, and Brachiopods. Also 22 species of Echinodermata. The Lower Limestone.—Maximum thickness over 400 feet. Scutella subrotunda and Orbitoides despansus are abundant in the upper part, and it is generally fossiliferous. In a nodule-seam in the Calcareous Sandstone in the Island of Gozo two rather imperfect teeth of a Mastodon have been found. Both are penultimate molars. They agree most nearly with the teeth of Mastodon angustidens, but the characters are not sufficiently well preserved to differentiate the species with certainty. The same formation has furnished teeth of a Phoca to which the specific name rugosidens has been given by Prof. Owen. Large teeth referable to the Phocide are found in the nodule-seams of the Calcareous Sandstone and in the Sand Bed; the Marl Bed has also furnished a portion of a jaw. The Woodwardian Museum contains a part of a jaw of Squalodon, evidently from a nodule-seam of the Calcareous Sandstone (found by Scilla cire. 1670). The Sand Bed and Calcareous Sandstone have furnished remains of more than one species of Delphinus, and large- sized Cetacean vertebra are found in nearly all the beds, especially the Sand Bed. Halitherium has been obtained from the Sand Bed, Marl Bed, Calcareous Sandstone, Lower Limestone, and (?) Upper Limestone. One specimen of Ichthyosaurus gaudensis, Hulke, has been furnished by the Calcareous Sandstone; the same has also furnished Melitosaurus champsoides, Crocodilus gaudensis, and Sterrodus meli- tensis. Myliobates toliapicus and allied species have come from all 88 Reports and Proceedings— the deposits except the Upper Limestone. Aitobates subconversus from the Sand Bed and Marl. The Squalide are abundant from all the deposits except the first. There are ten species belonging to the following genera:—Carcharodon, Carcharias, Oxyrhina, Hemi- pristis, Coraz, Odontaspis, Lamna. Remains of Notidanus, Plataa, and Diodon have also been found. 2. “ Dinosauria of the Cambridge Greensand.” Parts I.—VII. By Prof. H. G. Seeley, F.L.8., F.G.S. The author stated that this paper was founded upon the collection of more than 500 Dinosaurian bones preserved in the Woodwardian Museum, for the opportunity of studying of which he was indebted to the kindness of Prof. T. McKenny Hughes. He described the conditions under which the specimens occur, and accounted for the apparently worn state of the bones as the results of exposure to the air, and subsequent maceration. J. ‘Note on the Axis of a Dinosaur from the Cambridge Green- sand.” This bone was said to be very similar to the axis from the. Wealden previously described by the author (Q.J.G.S. vol. xxxi. p. 461), but differed in the neural arch being supported on pedicels of the centrum, in both articulations for the rib being on the centrum, in the compressed form of the odontoid process, and in the subhexagonal form of the oblique posterior articular surface of the centrum. There is no indication of a wedge-bone beneath the anterior articulation. The condition of the axis in other Dinosaurs, such as Zanclodon, was indicated, and reasons given for regarding the structure of the bone as a modification of the Crocodilian type. II. “On the Vertebral Characters of instead of ~4, the period is reduced to less than 14 million. Volcanic Period.—No reliable estimate can be made of the rate of deposition of volcanic material. The length of the periods of repose between successive eruptions appears to be very variable. In this particular case, however, there is nothing to lead one to suppose that the eruptions were not tolerably continuous. There seem to be no great breaks in the series, and, for aught we know to the contrary, the whole thickness of some 12,000 feet may represent continuous and violent action. Hence I am inclined to put the rate of accumu- lation at not less than 535 of an inch per annum, which gives a period of 14 million years. If we take + as the rate—as Mr. Morgan has assumed in the case of Htna—the length of the whole period is reduced to 720,000 years. The gap between this and the next period might be put down at 4 a million of years, perhaps some 500 feet having been removed at the rate of 1 foot in every thousand years, the denudation acting upon a sinking area. Upper Silurians of Lake District.—The same remarks may be made on this series of sedimentary deposits as on those of the Skiddaw Slates. Although in great part they must have been formed in tolerably shallow water, yet might the deposition have gone on more or less outside the limits of a delta proper. Taking therefore the rate of deposition at 5 of an inch per annum, a Pnlele ness of some 14,000 feet of beds may represent a period of about 84 million years. Old Red Period.mHere we have not facts of deposition to calculate from in this district, but those of denudation. What length of time must have elapsed between the close of the Upper Silurian and the commencement of the Carboniferous, to allow of the removal of probably more than 20,000 feet of rock, so that the Mell Fell con- glomerate could be deposited transgressively upon both Volcanic Rocks and Skiddaw Slates? The length of time must have been great indeed, for the extensive denudation necessitates also a great amount of continued elevation to allow of the deeply buried strata coming within the range of the denuding powers. A planing action is required to cut off the rising land along the main axis of upheaval; and the sea alone can supply us with this. The work, in fact, would be most efficiently done if we could suppose the elevation to be going on but very little faster than the sea could gnaw and eat the land down. Now are we warranted in assuming that the rate of denu- dation under such circumstances would be greater than in the case of a tract of country lowered mainly by subaerial agencies? I think we are. Prof. Geikie has calculated that the area of country drained by the Mississippi is being lowered at the rate of one foot in 6000 years, while that drained by the Po is being lowered at one foot in 729 years; the Ganges, Hoang Ho, Rhine, Danube, and Nith Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 117 are each lowering their basins at rates intermediate between these extremes. We might, I think, assume that the sea acting as a great planing agent, aided by the atmospheric forces working on those parts well above water, might denude at the rate of one foot in 750 years, the elevation along the main axis going on at about the same, or but little more than the same rate. But even this comparatively high rate of denudation would require 15 millions of years to do the work which was effected. There can be no doubt that the Old Red Period (i.e. all the time between the close of the Upper Silurian and the commencement of the Carboniferous, as shown by the deposition of the basement beds) was one of great duration. Paleontological facts demand a great length of time, and the facts of physical geology, not only in England, but markedly in Scotland, demand the same. Still, it is with some little compunction that one draws on Time’s bank as large a draft as 15 million years. Carboniferous Period.—A large proportion of the thickness of Carboniferous rocks is undoubtedly deltaic in character. If we allow the British Carboniferous to have a thickness of some 20,000 feet at the outside, then taking 12,000 feet as delta deposits, and 8000 feet as limestone and extra-deltaic, we arrive at the following conclusion :— 12,000 feet at rate of 35 of an inch per annum=1,440,000 years 8,000 feet zm ss Fe - =4,800,000 _,, 100 feet of Coal ,, sis 4 oH = 120,000 ,, 6,360,000 years, or, in round numbers, we will say 64 million years. If the whole thickness be taken at the rate of 5 of an inch per annum, the period indicated is 12 million years. Post- Carboniferous Periods.—In England the various Post-Carbon- iferous formations do not amount in total thickness to more than 20,000 feet; but when we consider the large development of some of these formations abroad—example, the Hocene and Miocene—it is necessary in any calculations of total length of time to make a greater estimate than 20,000 feet. Accordingly I will take 40,000 feet—almost certainly an over-estimate—of rock deposited at the uniform rate of 35 of an inch per annum. ‘This represents a period of 24 million years. Glacial Period.—For this last episode of geological history it is difficult to find data either of deposition or denudation to go upon. According to Mr. Croll’s theory, the epoch commenced some 250,000 years ago, and ended about 80,000 years back. I have already stated that I believe there is evidence in the Lake District of a submergence to the amount of 2,000 feet, and Professor Ramsay long since stated that he believed there was like evidence in Wales. But although I see no other way of accounting for the facts, yet do I fully acknowledge the difficulty of the supposition. I am supposing that the Lake District group of mountains, which for so many geologic ages were being elaborated under subaerial agencies, now 118 = Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. within the last million of years sank deeply beneath the sea, and was re-elevated without, apparently, any long periods of rest, and therefore without having left upon it many well-marked lines of marine action. Moreover, supposing Mr. Croll’s theory to be the right one as to the cause of the Glacial Period, and taking the time indicated by that theory, this submergence and re-elevation must have taken place in some 200,000 years. Now, from what we know of such movements at the present day, the rate of two feet per century would appear high, and this rate would allow of no halt. There might be plenty of time for the District first to become shrouded in confluent glacier-ice, and then to be depressed and re- elevated under changing climatal conditions ; but I must acknowledge that the submergence to such an amount is somewhat embarrassing. Post-Glacial Period.—According to Mr. Croll, about 13 feet may have been removed from the general surface of the country since the close of the Glacial Period (7.e. in 80,000 years). I doubt very much whether, taken all round, more than six feet has been thus removed in the same period over the area of the Lake District mountains, and this would be at the rate of one foot in every 13,000 years. The ice-action is yet so evident over large tracts, that I question whether even this may not be too high an average. The Skiddaw Slate mountains with their greater softness may, however, more than make up for the unyielding nature of the hard ice- smoothed volcanic rocks. General rate of subaerial denudation in the Lake District—The low rate of denudation just now assumed for the period since the close of the Glacial may be partly put down as resulting from the polished state of the country, but that the general rate over so small a mountain district must have been low is, I think, very probable. If an accurate model of the Lake District be examined, it will be seen that more material has been removed in the formation of the valleys than has been left to form the mountains. The mountain district might, indeed, as well be described as a valley district, so close to one another are the several valleys, and so narrow the mountain ridges separating them. The question then arises, at what average rate has denudation been carried on since Carboniferous times? Is the amount of denudation effected ridiculously small for the amount of time sup- posed to have been spent upon it? or the reverse ? At the close of the Carboniferous Period we must, I think, believe the area under description to have been elevated as a more or less lofty table-land, constituting the rough-hewn block out of which such a valley-system as that we now see has been carved. The height of that table-land we cannot indeed accurately estimate, but it may well have been higher than the height of the highest mountains as they now stand. This is not, however, a necessity, for much denudation may have been effected, ere, in times long after the close of the Carboniferous, the base of the country, so to speak, had been raised to its highest level, or, in other words, ere the move- ment of elevation had finally ceased. Still, I think we may assume, Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 119 without much affecting the result, that at the close of the Carbon- iferous Period, the Cumbrian nucleus was elevated to its greatest height as a table-land with slight ridges and furrows, the early promise of mountain and valley. Uniting the summits of the chief mountains by means ofa plane, we restore some such plateau; butas it is certain that the denuding agents would lower the country generally as well as along certain lines of valley, we must place the original plateau at a higher level than any plane now joining the mountain tops. Now the highest mountain, Scafell Pikes, is a little above 3,200 feet in height, and there are several others over 3,000 feet. Might we not suppose that the original plateau stood at 300 to 500 feet higher than the present highest point? If so, and we can form an idea of the present mean level, we get the thickness of rock removed over the area of the district in the work of scenic elaboration. If we take the Keswick one-inch sheet, we find that of a list of 47 mountain summits in this sheet, there are 34 above 2000 feet in height, and 18 above 2,500 feet. Probably the mean level is not less than 1,500 feet, and not much greater than 1,800 feet. Hence, if we assume the height of the original plateau to have been 3,500 feet (which may very likely be under the mark), and the present mean level to be 1,500 feet, we have to account for the removal over the area in question of some 2,000 feet of rock by purely subaerial agents. It should be borne in mind that none of the rocks thus removed are calcareous to any degree, and therefore they are not readily soluble in water; still the wonder remains that, if the original plateau did not much exceed 300 feet above the present highest point, more has not been effected by denudation during that long period from the close of the Carbon- iferous to the present, for the actual amount denuded seems insig- nificant indeed in comparison with that removed from the same district during the Old Red Period. Still, the changed conditions may make all the difference; in the latter case—that of the Old Red—conditions the most favourable for denudation may have pre- vailed—land rising scarcely faster than the rate at which the sea could plane it down; while in the case of Post-Carboniferous ages, the conditions are those of a small tract of only moderately high ground containing no soluble rock material, and eaten down and into by sub- aerial agencies. If the basin of the Mississippi be lowered by such agencies one foot in every 6,000 years, are we likely to err much if we assume that this small mountain area was denuded at the rate of one foot in every 10,000 years? Calculating on this supposition, the 2,000 feet removed, in the formation of mountain and valley out of the rough-hewn block provided at the close of the Carboniferous epoch, would represent a period of some 20 million years. In our former ealculation of the length of time represented by the formation of of 4C,000 feet of Post-Carboniferous strata, we arrived at a period of 24 millions of years. Summary. — The foregoing time-estimates may now be placed together in one column, and in parallel columns the rates of deposi- tion or denudation which have been assumed. 120 = Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY. steee Rate of Deposition. Rate of Denudation. Skiddaw Slate Period..... 6 Tins DACA |W GN Ses Volcanic Period ............... 13 ae Ts JOSE CVU eee Possible Gap. ......... Yad es chilis a ee 1ft. in 1,000 years peer allman ci bets | 83 Sw MNS [OTE CHAT ae ees IDistrictepe eee f @ldeRedsPeriod ee ees LLG») Gl READ pert NIV Mee a ma RE 1 ft. in 750 years. T27000Tt: @ =o mm. per ann: |) ea 8,500f. @ asin. ,, We Oh BOM ATG ae ce Q ty) i= ion (=) i=} (= lourd (q>) fa fo} a es tae) @ 4 J is) Q lor) wile ——S Post - Carboniferous \ Periods! ween tence J A The above result may, after all, in itself be of little value; but if it helps to make one realize the respective magnitude of the various operations which the Lake District has undergone in the course of its long history, one main purpose will have been served. Whether the Old Red Period was one of such duration as here indicated or not, its length, in respect to the other formations, is probably shown with some degree of truth. Whether 60 millions of years have elapsed since the beginning of the Skiddaw Slate Period or not, it is more than likely that the time which elapsed between the first laying of the foundations in the early Skiddaw Slate sea and that time when the roughly-hewn block of country was turned out at the close of the Carboniferous epoch, for the tracing of scenic details upon it, was greater than the time consumed in the actual formation of our present mountain and valley system by subaerial denudation. Part III.—Nores on tHE PosstsiE SuBDIVISIONS OF THE SKIDDAW SLATES. Introduction.—In making some observations upon the correlation of the Skiddaw Slates with the Silurian rocks of Wales, I wish to bear in mind the following axioms. (1). Physical evidence, such as character and thickness of deposits, can be taken as no absolute guide in the correlation of distinct groups of strata separated from one another by considerable distances. (2). A general sequence of similar deposits in two distinct but not widely separated areas may be held to indicate a succession of similar conditions prevailing at or near the same period of time. (8). The evidence of fossils as to the age of a deposit is generally trustworthy when it is grounded upon assemblages of life, and when corroborating evidence is to be gathered from the formations above and below. (4). In determining the age of a formation due weight should be given to both physical and paleeontological evidence, but neither should be relied on exclusively. Applying these axioms to the case of the Skiddaw Slates, I wish to see whether the paleontological dictum as to their Lower Llan- deilo or Arenig age can be unhesitatingly supported. Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Geology of the Lake District. 121 First, I would remark that this name—indicating the supposed age and the equivalent in Wales—has been given to the whole thickness of some 10,000 feet. Second, that this opinion is founded almost entirely upon the presence of certain groups of Graptolites. Third, that Graptolites are notably capricious in their distribution— witness in the Lower Silurians of Scotland the immense thickness of non-graptolite bearing and unfossiliferous strata associated with the one or two black shale bands bearing Graptolites. Fourth, that in the Skiddaw Slate Series as a whole there are several alternations of deposits varying much in character—an upper black slate series, a marked grit or gritty series, again a black and irony series of slates, passing down into a great thickness of sandy and gritty beds. Fifth, that the majority of the Graptolites have been found in beds above the upper grit, but that they also occur in those below the grit, where the sediment seems to have been favourable for their existence ; while there are a few cases apparently of their occurrence even among some of the flaggy beds of the lower sandy and gritty series. With these preliminary remarks, I will pass, first, to the consider- ation of physical evidence as to subdivisions and their possible equivalency to Welsh Lower Silurians. Points of Physical Evidence.—I had been working for some years upon the Lake District rocks, when Prof. Ramsay called me into Wales to trace a base to the Arenig series marked by a thin grit. In carrying out this work, I was often struck by the general resem- blance in sequence of the deposits both above and below the grit to that of a like series in Cumbria, and on returning to the Lake country examined more closely the characteristics of the various parts of the Skiddaw Slates. The resemblance in physical character between the Arenig grit of Wales and the upper grit of the Skiddaw Series is perfect. With one or two local exceptions, the Cumbrian upper grit is thicker than the Welsh Arenig, but both are made up of similar materials, both vary much in coarseness, though almost always presenting some coarse gritty or conglomeratic portion, and both are much traversed by quartz strings. The constancy of the Arenig grit in N. Wales, though often not exceeding 12 or 20 feet, is surprising, and the fact is at any rate worth recording that among strata of somewhat parallel age in Cumbria there occurs a like grit. Moreover, in Wales the Arenig slates above the grit soon become mixed with volcanic deposits, submarine volcanic ejecta, and in Cumberland we have in the northern or Skiddaw district a consider- able thickness of black Graptolite-bearing slates succeeded by a Volcanic Series, and in the south-western part, at Lank Rigg and Latterbarrow, the same Volcanic Series lying directly upon the grit. (See also previous remarks on this subject, page 51.) Turning to the beds below the grit, we have in Wales the iron- stained Tremadoc Slates underlaid by a great thickness of flaggy, sandy, and gritty beds, the Lingula Flags. In Cumbria there is a like physical sequence; beneath the grit come black iron-stained slates, often quite indistinguishable from the Tremadocs of North Wales, underlaid by agreat but unknown thickness of flaggy, sandy, 122 Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Greology of the Lake District. and gritty beds. If reference will be made to the Horizontal Section through the Skiddaw Slate Series, No. 2, page 54, the course of which is marked in the accompanying Sketch-map, the sequence and lie of these subdivisions will be clearly seen. The central range of high mountains along this section shows the lower sandy series in their fullest development, the physical equivalents—as it would appear from above—of the Lingula Flags; and the black slates beneath the grit at either end of the section (shaded more darkly)— physical equivalents of Tremadocs—come in as a faulted synclinal in the valley between Whiteside and Grasmoor, the latter mountain presenting a very exceptional example of a summit formed by an anticline.’ Referring to Horizontal Section No. 1, page 54, it will be seen that the grit of Great Cockup dips southwards under the mass of Skiddaw (see also Map), and only reappears in an anticlinal fold on the south side of that mountain. Thus, the area of Skiddaw and surrounding mountains is mostly made up of the slates above the grit, the phy- sical equivalents—and in this case the paleontological equivalents also—of the Welsh Arenigs or Lower Llandeilo. Ina set of rocks so highly contorted as are those of the Skiddaw Slates, taken as a whole, it is often impossible to detect and trace the faults; butif my reading of the district be at all correct, there must, I think, be some large N. and §. fault or series of faults separating the tract of Skiddaw, etc., from that W. and S.W. of Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake. This I have indicated in the Sketch-Map. That there are many such N. and S$. faults of great size is proved by the frequent shiftings of the grit west of Great Cockup. In Hor. Sect. No. 1, page 54, a large strike-fault throws down the Vol- canic Series against beds far below the grit, and while this is very generally the case for many miles west of Carrock Fell, yet is there clear evidence at several points of the passage upwards into the Volcanic Series of the higher beds of the slates above the grit. To sum up the physical evidence : while fully acknowledging the fre- quent inconstancy of physical characters, there does seem to be in this case of Cumbria and Cambria, some 60 to 80 miles distant from one another, a striking sequence of similar deposits, such, indeed, as to lead me to infer, so far as physical evidence can do so, that in Cumbria we have the following groups represented which are more or less equivalent to those of Wales. Arenig Slates—True Skiddaw Slates. Arenig Grit. Tremadoc Slates. Lingula Flags. It is impossible everywhere to define the limits of these groups, so contorted and faulted is the District; but that they exist as generally definable subdivisions I have myself no doubt. It would seem—- as already called attention to in the Survey Memoir—that the lowest 1 This may be well seen looking up on to Grasmoor End from Crummock Water. In Horizontal Section No. 2, the upper black slate should have been represented as conformable to the underlying grit of Elva Hill. Rev. J. Clifton Ward—Greology of the Lake District. 128 sandy series of beds so largely developed in Grasmoor and Whiteside, either thin eastwards or have their place taken by less sandy and more slaty deposits in this direction; this, combined with excessive faulting, and the difficulty in tracing the faults, owing to contortion and cleavage, makes it exceedingly hard to draw the actual boundaries of these groups in many places. Points of Paleontological Evidence.—In assigning the whole thick- ness of the Skiddaw Slates to the Lower Llandeilo, and that mainly on the strength of the Graptolite fauna, Axiom (38) is distinctly transgressed in both its clauses, for the Graptolite family cannot be taken as a characteristic assemblage of life in general, and the forma- tion above (the Volcanic Series) is unfossiliferous, while nothing is known of that below. Still, the group of Graptolites being such as is known to be characteristic of rocks of Lower Llandeilo age else- where, is evidence of considerable value, though not to be too exclusively relied on; but when the paleontologist says further that the whole of this Skiddaw Slate Series must be L. Llandeilo because Graptolites do occur throughout, or nearly so, I for one am inclined to demur. Coulda L. Llandeilo assemblage of fossils be shown to prevail throughout the series, the case would be different. But it so happens that among the Trilobites there are several Tremadoc forms —see notes by Mr. Etheridge, F.R.S., at the end of the Survey Memoir—and with them a species of Cybele hitherto only represented by species not occurring below the Caradoc rocks. Certainly the scanty evidence to be derived from the group of Trilobites is con- flicting, and besides Trilobites and Graptolites, we have but a few doubtful plant-remains, carapaces of Phyllopod crustacea, a Lingula (brevis), and doubtful Discina, and worm-tracks. Under these circumstances no wonder that the Graptolites are referred to as the most important. Hence we have the evidence of this group in favour of the L. Llandeilo age of the Skiddaw Slates, and the evidence of at least part of the Trilobite fauna in favour of the Tremadoc age of portions of the series. 'The question arises, are we justified in saying that such and such beds below a certain horizon cannot be of Tremadoc age because beds believed to be of that age in Wales do not contain Graptolites ? A thin grit in Wales separates black slates above, containing Graptolites, from black slates below not containing them; the upper are called Arenig, the Lower Tremadoc: are we to assert from this that, such being the case in Wales, so far as our experience goes, no black slates, whatever their physical position, which contain Graptolites, can be of Tremadoc age? Surely not. In Cumbria we have a grit, similar to the Arenig grit of Wales, with black slates above containing Arenig Graptolites, but in this case the black slates below also contain them ; therefore the paleontologist says these cannot be Tremadocs, and yet there may be but 50 feet or less of grit separating the two series. For my own part, while ready enough to accept the evidence of paleontology when it is presented in the form of life assemblages, I do decline to pin my faith as to the succession and equivalence of rock-groups to the evidence afforded by the finding of a few 124 Rev. J. Clifton Ward— Geology of the Lake District. Graptolites below a certain horizon, such an horizon not necessarily indicating any long break. Among rocks in which there so frequently occur great thicknesses of wholly unfossiliferous beds, the mere absence of a particular fossil or group of fossils cannot go for much. Thus, over large tracts of the Lingula Flags in Wales, no Lingulas or other fossils occur, while in some spots they may be plentiful enough. Hence, although no Lingula Davisii has been found in the lower sandy series of White- side and Grasmoor, this cannot be used as evidence against the Lingula Flag age of these beds if that be supported on general physical grounds. Summary of Hwvidence-—The Physical evidence inclines one to believe that the Skiddaw Slates include the Arenig Slates, the Arenig Grit, the Tremadoc Slates, and the Lingula Flags. The Paleeon- tological evidence, based on no complete assemblage of life, and having no fossiliferous formations to which to refer above and below, suggests an Arenig age for the whole series on one score, and a possible Tremadoc age for portions of it upon another score. Hence, may we not conclude it to be at all events very possible that in Cumbria we have the equivalents of the Welsh rocks down to the Lingula Flags ? If we consider the Lingula Flags and Tremadoc Slates as Cambrian, all that portion of the small Sketch-map denoted by broken vertical lines will represent the Cambrian, and that above the Grit the Silurian. Expianation or SKETCH-MAP, Prats II. (Gzou. Mac. Feb. 1879, p. 49.) Fie. 1. Diagrammatic Section, from N. to 8., to show general structure of District. Fic. 2, Diagram to show plateau of marine denudation, at the close of the Old Red period. The pattern used to denote the Upper Silurians is not meant to indicate that the strata are vertical, though they are generally highly inclined. Sketch-map of the Geology of the Lake District. The lines along which the Horizontal Sections on p. 54 are drawn are indicated in the Sketch-map. APPENDIX. List oF ParErs, By THE AuTHOR, ON Lake District GEOLOGY, TO BE REFERRED TO IN CONNEXION WITH THIS PAPER. Notes on the Microscopic Structure of some Ancient and Modern Volcanic Rocks. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxi. p. 388. On the Granitic, Granitoid, and associated Metamorphic Rocks of the Lake District. bid. vol. xxxi. p. 568, and vol. xxxii. p. 1. Part I.—On the Liquid Cavities in the Quartz-bearing Rocks of the Lake District. Part II.—On the Eskdale and Shap Granites, with their associated Metamor- phic Rocks. Part III.—On the Skiddaw Granite, and its associated Metamorphic Rocks. Part IV.—On the Quartz-Felsite, Syenitic, and associated Metamorphic Rocks. Part V.—General Summary. The Geology of the Northern Part of the English Lake District. Memoirs of the Geological Survey. Longmans & Co., and E. Stanford. Notes on the Occurrence of Chlorite among the Lower Silurian Voleanic Rocks of the Lake District. Mineralogical Mag. No. 4. _ On the Lower Silurian Layas of Eycott Hill, Cumberland. Monthly Microscop. Journ. 1877, p. 239. A. Champernowne—The Devonian Question. 125 * Glaciation of the Northern Part of the English Lake District. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxix. p. 422. On the Origin of some of the Lake Basins of Cumberland. did. vol. xxx. p. 96. The Glaciation of the Southern Part of the Lake District, and the Glacial Origin of the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland. Second Paper. Jdid. vol. xxxi. p. 152. Notes on the Archeological Remains of the Lake District. Trans. of the Cumb. and West. Ant. and Arch. Soe. part il. vol. iii. p. 241. IV.—Tuet DEVONIAN QUESTION. By A. CHAMPERNOWNE, M.A., F.G.S. N last month’s Grotocican Macazine there is much (by three writers) that bears upon the Devonian Question, and I would now add a few words on the same subject, which is of the greatest interest to me. In the first place, notwithstanding that two of the writers are my personal friends, ] think that the united criticisms upon Prof. Hull’s proposed classification exceed what the nature of the case calls for, as that scheme contains the most essential elements of truth. I have myself been in North Devon during the last autumn with Mr. Ussher, and we hope to give a further account of our work and the conclusions arrived at. My chief object in going there was to test certain opinions I had before expressed with great confi- dence (in these pages and elsewhere), and, as a result, I have proved to my satisfaction that those opinions were wrong. Neither by fault, nor inverted junction along the line indicated by Jukes, is there any wholesale reduplication of the North Devon Series. The fault I had already taken to be disproved by Mr. Etheridge’s paper (Q. J. G. 8. 1867). In the last paragraph of Mr. Kinahan’s paper he observes, that ‘Jukes’ fault has not been disproved, and that the Irish geologists who have been in Devon believe in its existence.” This, however, from Prof. Hull’s classifi- cation, is evidently not his opinion, as he places the Ilfracombe and Morte slates beneath the Pickwell or (Upper) Old Red Sandstone, but he suggests an unconformity at the base of the latter, of which there is no evidence. Regarding the Pickwell as what Mr. Kinahan aptly calls the Carboniferous Old Red, I will venture to say that in nine out of ten Western Huropean areas a break! might be expected at a corre- sponding horizon, but the North Devon marine sequence is almost unique in its completeness. My former belief in an inverted passage assumed perfect conformity at that junction, and of this conformity there are indisputable proofs. 1 Of all areas in which rocks belonging to the Siluro-Carboniferous interval are developed, that of the Welsh border counties, although geographically the nearest, is perhaps the least comparable of any to the North Devon area, and the greatest stumbling-block to a would-be ‘‘ Devonian”’ disciple. In vain may be the search there for a break of any magnitude to be filled in from the latter area. Lacustrine conditions may have prevailed more or less, from the final retreat of the Ludlow types, until the waters of the Lower Limestone Shale united the “ Welsh Lake” (see Prof. Geikie’s Lectures on the Old Red Sandstone) with the ocean. In South Ireland and Devonshire, on the other hand, there are plain indications of an open sea to the South and Hast, extending into the Rhine country. 126 A. Champernowne—The Devonian Question. The absence of a ‘‘ Middle Devonian” (with its peculiar forms of life) anywhere in the United Kingdom, save North and South Devon only, was enough to stagger one and shake one’s faith in fossils ; and no unconformity in the heart of the Old Red Sandstone districts appeared originally to me to be sufficiently significant to explain its absence. Nevertheless, the rock groups north of the Pickwell Series are unquestionably distinct from those south of it. With regard to Mr. Hall’s expostulation as to there being no fossiliferous ‘“‘ Upper Devonian” in Prof. Hull’s scheme, that surely is a question of nomenclature, and, expressive as the local names ‘Marwood’ and ‘ Pilton,’ ‘ Baggy,’ ‘Cucullea zone,’ certainly are, I think that the only philosophical classification ultimately attainable will be to drop the term ‘‘ Upper Devonian” as applied to these beds altogether, or regard it simply as a synonym for Lower Carbon- iferous, in cases where that period is not represented by good Carboniferous Limestone. In this respect I still think Jukes was undoubtedly right. Therefore I would apply the term Devonian as high as Prof. Hull applies it, regarding the Pickwell as the conformable base of the Carboniferous. This will still leave us the great Ilfracombe-Morte Series as Devonian, and the Linton grey beds as a lower fossiliferous Devonian. The presence of land-plants of Carboniferous genera in the Mar- wood beds would be in harmony with this view, and the great profusion of a Productus in the gritty beds of the Pilton Series at Croyde Bay, etc., would make it probable that they represent (in time) the lower parts of the Carboniferous Limestone. There are not wanting signs that Prof. Hull’s suggestion about the Silurian affinities of the Foreland Sandstones is worth a great deal. In the red and variegated beds of the Lincombe Hill, etc., exposed along the New Cut at Torquay, Mr. Lee and I found many portions of Homalonotus armatus, Burmeister. The genus Homalonotus being essentially Cambro-Silurian and Silurian, suggests at least that these beds, which contain also Chonetes, Holopella and a small Myalina, may have some Silurian affinities, and may be as low as the lowest North Devon beds. At the same time there are among them some grey red-speckled siliceous grits with superficial raddling, which resemble those of the Hangman Series, and as the South Devonian rocks are not nearly so complete as those of North Devon, it is quite possible either that the true Hangman Grits may be absent, or that beds belonging to the three lower groups of the North, Foreland, Linton, and Hangman, may be somewhat inseparable in the South ; the Meadfoot grey and brownish grits and schistose beds might well represent the Linton. Great N.W. and S8.E. faults, shifting an earlier set of fissures, cut out parts of the series in the Torquay Promontory. As a matter of pure speculation, I see no reason why the Homa- lonotus red flagstones of the Hifel district should not prove to be a Silurian rock rising from below the Coblentzien (Lower Devonian) of Daun, Priim, etc. To resume then: I believe Sir Roderick Murchison! was right as 1 Siluria, 4th edition, p. 282, Prof. E. Hull—Reply to Mr. Kinahan. Ie to the comparative structure of South Ireland and North Devon, and that the great unconformity shown in the centre of Mr. Kinahan’s woodcut (Guon. Mac. 1879, February No. p. 68, Fig. 1), represents the missing Hifelian system; missing in South Ireland, not from denudation, but from having never been deposited in that region. The Glengariff and Dingle Grits would therefore have been upturned and denuded, and remained land or shoal water during the time that the Ilfracombe-Morte Series was accumulating in a steadily subsiding area, which is now North Devon and West Somerset. I have crossed the mountainous country from Macroom to Killarney, which route affords grand sections of these massive grits, so that their characters are somewhat known to me, and I know them also on the Upper Lake of Killarney, and at the Gap of Dunloe. Taking all into consideration, the conclusions of Prof. Hull appear to be in the main legitimate deductions from the facts, and not mere theory. Dartineton Hatt, Totnes, DEvon. V.—TuEr DeEvontaAN QuEsTION: Repty Tro Mr. Krnanan’s Norte. By Professor K. Hurt, M.A., F.R.S., etc., ete. N the Gro.octcan Magazine for February will be found a “Note in Press,’ appended by Mr. Kinahan to his paper on the “Silurian Rocks of Ireland,” read some time ago before the Royal Geological Society of Ireland, and which I had an opportunity of hearing and replying to. On that occasion I pointed out some of the numerous defects and erroneous views which this paper contains ; and I could have wished that the matter had rested here, because I consider it highly unbecoming that the Director of the Survey should enter into a public controversy with one of his staff on points connected with the geological structure of the country which has been entrusted to him for elucidation. On the English and Scotch Surveys such conduct is happily unknown, and however the field surveyors may differ amongst themselves, and maintain their opinions in print, there has always existed a sufficient feeling of respect for the heads of the Survey, as well as a just consideration of the interest and credit of the Survey itself, to prevent open controversies with the heads of the Survey in the public prints. To this rule Mr. Kinahan presents the solitary exception. I cannot take blame to myself for having provoked the “Note in Press” to which I have referred, because there is nothing in my paper. published in the GronocicaL Magazine, Decade Ii. Vol. V. 1878, p. 529, to call forth the statement on the part of Mr. Kinahan that I had made “ various errors in reference to the Irish rocks.” If, then, I depart from the rule I have followed for several years in reference to Mr. Kinahan, of passing over his unseemly language in silence, it is with the understanding that this rule will be adhered to on all similar occasions, and that my silence in the future must not be construed into acquiescence, either in his statements of supposed facts, or his conclusions. 128 Prof. E. Hull—Reply to Mr. Kinahan. I shall now touch briefly upon his points seriatim, as stated in his ‘“‘ Note in Press” (p. 73), which seem to call for reply. First.— Mr. Kinahan says: “If this be allowed” (7.e. the Silurian age of the Dingle and Glengarriff Grits in which “all Irish geologists who have studied them agree’’), ‘‘ we have a vast continuous series of rocks which represents ALL THE TIME intervening between the accu- mulation of the typical Silurian (beds) of Dingle and the typical Carboniferous (beds) of Cork.” } This is a remarkable statement in the face of the fact—that in the Dingle Promontory there exists between the “Upper Silurian” Dingle beds and the Old Red Sandstone (and consequently the overlying Carboniferous beds) an unconformity scarcely exceeded in amount by that between any two sets of rocks in the British Islands—by which the Old Red Sandstone rests on beds in some places 12,000 or 15,000 feet higher or lower than in others. If this is Mr. Kinahan’s' idea of a ‘“‘ continuous series ” representing all the time between the Silurian and Carboniferous, his notions are special and peculiar. In my paper (Grou. Mac. Nov. 1878) I suggested that this great gap in the Irish series is filled up by the Marine Devonian beds of IIfra- combe and Mortehoe—a suggestion which seems to bring the Irish beds into remarkable harmony with the Devonshire series. Mr. Kinahan next attempts to commit me to the following absurdity. Because certain plant-remains (which J have seen) are stated on somewhat doubtful authority to have been found in the Glengarriff Grits south of Dingle Bay—and are also “said by Baily ” to be found at Kiltorcan in the Upper Old Red Sandstone—there- fore he supposes I have stated that the Glengarriff Grits are at one place Upper Silurian, and at another Old Red Sandstone ! This process of reasoning, besides being a little amusing, involves several postulates which I do not admit. First, from the appearance of the plant-remains found in Kerry, I strongly suspect they have been got out of the Lower Carbonifer- ous Slate and Coomhola Grit Series rather than out of the Glengarriff beds. If Mr. Kinahan had been a little more candid, he would have admitted that when we examined these plant-remains the other day in this Office, great doubts were expressed by others, as well as by myself, of their having been found in the Glengarriff Grit Series at all. I also distinctly deny the supposed conformity in the sense of con- tinuity of the Carboniferous and Upper Old Red to the Glengarriff Grit Series; and of this I hope to give sufficient proof in a paper now in the hands of the Secretary of the Geological Society of London, but not yet brought before the Society. On the contrary ; the wide lapse of geological time represented by the great dis- cordance in the beds north of Dingle Bay is represented also by at least as great a break in continuity south of Dingle Bay—where the Lower Carboniferous Slates and Grits come directly in contact with the Glengarriff Grit Series (as at Kenmare, Sneem, Glengarriff, etc.), without the intervention of the true Old Red Sandstone of Dingle, 1 The italics are Mr. Kinahan’s own. Prof. E. Hull—Reply to Mr. Kinahan. 129 Tralee, ete., a fact which Mr. Kinahan, with all his experience, has failed to discover for himself. For my part, I cannot be guilty of the absurdity of supposing that beds separated by a gap (represented by 12,000 feet of strata) on one side of a small bay, that of Dingle, can be in a position of con- tinuous sequence on the other side; yet this view appears to be held by Mr. Kinahan (“ Geology of Ireland,” p. 52, etc.). As regards the beds of the Curlew Mountains, which are shown on the maps of the Geological Survey as Old Red Sandstone, Mr. Kinahan considers them to be “ stratigraphically similar” to those of the Glengarriff Grit Series. This is a view peculiar to Mr. Kinahan himself, who can have but little personal knowledge of these beds, and different from that entertained by the officers of the Survey who surveyed the ground. Professor Jukes calls these beds ‘‘Old Red Sandstone” in his paper “On the Felstones of the Curlew Hills” (Journ. Geol. Soc. Ireland, vol. i.); they were so denominated by the late Mr. Foot, and by Mr. Cruise, who surveyed the ground; as also by Sir R. Griffith in his Geological Map of Ireland (1855), who places these beds (Fc) on quite a different geological horizon from the Dingle Beds and Glengarriff Grits (which are marked He). I am not surprised at this unanimity of opinion, in which I entirely concur, as the beds of the Curlew Hills, consisting of dark red and purple sandstones and conglomerates, bear little resemblance to the hard green grits and purple slates of the Glengarriff Series. Mr. Kinahan proposes to abolish the Old Red Sandstone from the Geological Map of the South of Ireland—entirely ignoring the fossil evidence, which is of a very striking kind. There is, first, the pre- sence of the fresh-water bivalve Anodonta Jukesii; then the remains of Old Red fishes, such as Ooccosteus, Pterichthys, etc.; and plants like the noble Adiantites (Paleopteris) Hibernicus, not found in the overlying Carboniferous beds. Now, while these beds, lying at the top of the true Old Red of the South of Ireland, thus indicate freshwater conditions, those of the succeeding Carboniferous Slate show only marine conditions, as indicated by numerous species of Mollusca. As Mr. Kinahan has done me the honour to point out my “errors”? in reference to Irish rocks, he cannot, therefore, object to a similar piece of service on my part. I might enumerate many, but will content myself with two instances. In his paper already referred to (Guou. Mac. Feb. p. 69) he says: “Tn the Ballycastle Coal-field, to the north-east of Antrim, Old Red Sandstone occurs interstratified in the Coal-bearing Calp.” Now, ‘‘Calp” is the term used in Ireland to denote the middle earthy beds of the Carboniferous Limestone. Thus, while Mr. Kinahan would obliterate the Old Red Sandstone lying at the base of the Carboniferous beds, with its fresh-water shells, its peculiar fish, and remarkable flora, from the South of Ireland, he would introduce it amongst the Coal-bearing beds of county Antrim. ‘This is, to say the least, a novel position for the Old Red Sandstone. The beds referred to are red sandstones with a conglomerate base DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. III. 9 130 Prof. E. Hull—Reply to Mr. Kinahan. which occur in the lower portion of the Ballycastle Coal-field. Some years ago I pointed out, in a paper published in the Trans. Roy. Geol. Soc. Ireland, vol. ii. (1871), and therefore accessible to Mr. Kinahan, the analogy between the beds of the Ballycastle Coal-field and those of the Lower Coal-formation and underlying Calciferous Sandstone Series of Scotland—referring the beds to a similar geological horizon. On the publication of the paper, Professor Geikie expressed his concurrence in my views. According to Mr. Kinahan, however, we have an intercalation of Old Red and Carboniferous rocks, unknown elsewhere amongst British formations. Mr. Kinahan seems to deny the existence of Permian beds near the City of Armagh,’ as coloured and described in the Survey publications, and for the purpose of doing so, deliberately mis-states the position of the beds at this spot, notwithstanding clear and ex- plicit descriptions given in at least two publications,*® accompanied by sections, showing the position of the Permian beds with reference to the Carboniferous Limestone. ‘These beds consist of sandstones, breccias, and conglomerates, resting on the marble beds of the Car- boniferous Limestone, and after I had (in 1872) identified them as Permian beds, they were visited by Prof. Ramsay, who concurred in my view, recalling as they did to his mind the ‘“‘brockram” of the Vale of the Eden. Mr. Kinahan, however, dissents from the views of Professor Ramsay and myself, which he is at perfect liberty to do ; but in order to justify his dissent, makes a statement which is entirely erroneous, namely, that Mr. Egan, who surveyed the ground, has proved that the supposed Permian beds are “ interstratified ” with limestones with fish-remains;* and secondly, that the limestones of Armagh belong to the upper division of the Carboniferous Lime- stone Series. If this is so, then the maps of Sir R. Griffith and of the Geological Survey, which represent the beds near Armagh as Lower Limestone, are altogether wrong. Mr. Kinahan has been commended for his disregard of “ authority,” and unquestionably independence of opinion is a high quality in a man, provided it be accompanied by candour in stating the case as against himself, and weighing the views of others. ‘The instances T have given will suffice to enable the reader to form his own con- clusions on this question. I have now done with Mr. Kinahan’s views; nor shall I again be tempted to notice them. Except for the discredit they are calculated to bring on that branch of the public service to which he belongs, they might well be passed over in silence. Perhaps, after all, even this apprehension is groundless. GroLogicaL SurvEY Orricr, Dustin, 12th February, 1879. 1 “ Geology of Ireland,” p. 133. 2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lond. vol. xxix. p. 402, and Explan. Memoir to Sheet 47, by F. W. Egan, p. 11 (1873). 3 There is no reference given for this statement, and Mr. Egan, in a letter in my possession, says: ‘‘In reply to your letter of yesterday, I fail to see where I have proved that the red and other coloured sandstones (considered by you to be of Permian age at Armagh) are interstratified with limestones.” Notices of Memoirs—Prof. Heim on Formation of Mountains. 131 INT QuosteamS) (slr AVA Wis mesS Notice or Pror. A. Hetm’s work on THE MECHANISM OF THE Formation oF Mounrains.! By Pror. EH. REN»EVIER. HIS work is an important one, not only from its being a con- scientious study of a very interesting Alpine region, but also from its containing the result of the author’s systematic researches on the mode of formation of the Alps and of mountain chains in general. Prof. Albert Heim, former pupil of the late Escher von der Linth, replaced the latter on his lamented decease in the Chair of Geology at the University of Zurich and at the Federal Polytechnic School. He has profited not only by all the experience of his master, but has had the use of all his manuscript and unpublished notes. Be- sides having often traversed the Glarus Alps with our regretted colleague, he has studied them more in detail for a number of years. In these explorations—as well as in his numerous travels across Europe, from Sicily in the south to Norway in the north—he has fixed his attention especially on the different alterations and dislo- cations of rocks, and on the physical causes to which they have been subject. This is also the dominant point of view in the work to which we have the pleasure to point, and it is this which the author has wished to signify by the phrase, ‘‘ Mechanism of the Formation of Mountains.” From the wide generalizations in which Prof. Heim’s book is very rich, it commends itself not only to the notice of Swiss geologists, but also to those in other countries who are interested in the physical laws which govern our world. The work consists of two 4to. volumes, accompanied with a magnificent atlas of 17 large folio plates, of which 14 are chromo- lithographs. The first two are geological maps, one on the scale of rovsos Of the mass of the Tcedi and its environs, the other on the scale of =ss505 representing the Glarus Alps and chain of the Grisons to the north-west of the Rhine. The plates following con- tain geological sections to true scale, without exaggeration of heights, also drawings and sketches, done with the hand of a master—exact execution being guaranteed, since they have been put on stone by the author himself. Vol. i. 8350 pages, contains the geology of the Tcedi mass, whilst the second, of 250 pages, is devoted to the discussion of general orographical principles applicable to all mountain regions. They are complementary of each other and form one inseparable whole. The Tcedi-Windgelle group of mountains is at the eastern ex- tremity of the Finsteraarhorn mass of crystalline rocks. The Reuss, Linth, and Hinder Rhine have their sources in this district. We find there rocks of very different age, protogine occurring at a short distance from Hocene beds. The first volume is divided into five parts, of which the first is devoted to the description of the crystalline rocks which form the " Mechanismus der Gebirgsbildung im Anschluss an die geologische Monographie der Tcedi-Windgzllen-Gruppe. 2 vols. 4to. with Plates. (Bale, 1878.) 182 Notices of Memiors— Prof. Heim on Formation of Mountains. central nucleus of the mass. The granite of Puntaiglas, the por- phyry of the Windgelle, have a special interest. The various schists of the central mass are repeated in the transverse section making the anticlinal and synclinal folds. The central mass itself contains Verrucano and Carboniferous beds—part of the Verrucano being contemporaneous with the latter formation. The second part treats of the beds which form almost a complete series from the Carboniferous to the Eocene. Fossils are in general scarce enough ; they are sufficient, however, to prove the existence of the Liassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous formations. The author notices among others Ammonites raricostatus found for the first time in the Central Alps. But that which gives the principal interest to this region is the gigantic foldings of the crust, of an intensity and extent the like to which has not been observed elsewhere. The reversals are so considerable that they surpass in extent and interest even the very curious case of the Dent de Morcles, which I noticed on a former occasion. The third part of the volume is occupied by a description of these complicated foldings. One enormous fold, bent over towards the north, borders the northern margin of the central mass; by this reversal the Jurassic, Verrucano, Porphyry, and even the Gneiss, are piled up on the Nummulitic. In the direction of the Windgeelle, to the lower Landalp, this fold breaks up into a large number of minor ones. At the southern border of the central mass, we find that the chain of the Piz Tumbif is formed by a fold which is again folded—a compound fold. The middle zone, consisting of calcareous sediments, which is elevated on the back of the crystalline mass, penetrates, in some places, into this, forming very much compressed synclinals. The Tcedi itself is an enormous block of Jurassic Limestone, which has been separated from the surrounding masses of similar nature by prodigious denudation. At the top of the Bifertenstock are seen the Nummulitic Limestones, at a height of 11,300 feet. Many of the most remarkable folds of this region had remained unknown hitherto. The fourth part of vol. i. contains a description of the well-known double fold which passes by the name of the Glarner Doppelfalte. Escher von der Linth was the first to discover this feature, which reverses absolutely the position of the beds over an extent of 454 square miles. Several geologists maintained that a reversal of such an extent was impossible, inadmissible! Such an opinion had for its excuse an incomplete knowledge of the locality. The present work is the first which gives an account of the phenomena over the whole of the reversed area. The mechanical explanation which Escher had broached we find here confirmed and developed in all its details. Apropos of this, already in the first volume are a number of general researches, among others, on the theory and formation of reversed folds. Wealso find there suggestions for a uniform mode of indicating the different parts of a fold, ete. Finally, the author 1 Archives des Sciences physiques et naturelles, 1877, May number. [Geneva.] Notices of Memoirs—Prof. Heim on Formation of Mountains. 133 shows that the Glarus double fold is the mechanical continuation of the central mass of the Finsteraarhorn —that the latter is also formed by lateral displacement—that these different mountains are of the same age, and must have been produced during the Miocene or Pliocene epoch. | The last part of the first volume treats of the form of the surface ; and in different chapters are considered successively—glaciers, the effects of Quaternary glaciers in the district, avalanches, springs, and specially the relations of erosion to the present configuration of the surface. Denudation has destroyed absolutely the original shapes which would correspond to the internal structure of the mountains. The Alps in our day have no longer half their pristine mass, more than half has been removed by erosion. We recognize in the form of terraces, on the sides and floors of valleys, the remains of old beds up to a height of 6,500 feet above the level of the present bed. These terraces are entirely independent of the structure of the mountain, but they correspond with those of the confluents of the same river, and differ in the valleys formed by the different main rivers. Professor Heim thinks that the necessary conclusion from these facts, is that the valleys of the Alps are due entirely to erosion. If fissures or synclinal lines have in the first place fixed the direction, this must have been far above the present peaks and actual crests and in rock which has long disappeared. Many of the large rivers existed before the mountains which now surround them. EHrosion acts from the mouth of a valley upwards, the valleys eat more and more back into the hills, and are often intersected. In a special résumé the author enumerates the arguments with which he meets those geologists who assume that mountain-valleys are ruptures of the earth’s crust. In the second volume the first part is entitled ‘Mechanical dis- tortion of rocks by the elevation of mountains.” The phenomena of folding, rupture, cleavage, etc., are examined as to their physical relations. The outcome is, that distortion without fracture can be produced in rocks which had already acquired their present hardness. The new observations belonging to these phenomena are grouped under sixteen laws. The author developes the result of an examina- tion by the microscope of rocks crushed by pressure—this can even produce chemical changes. The following chapter contains the physical explanation of these phenomena—it may be stated shortly thus: Ata certain distance below the surface rocks are found under a pressure much greater than their power of resistance ; this pressure spreads in all directions as in a liquid. Rocks are thus reduced to a latent plastic state. Directly that a new force like lateral pressure— such as causes the elevation of mountains—acts on the mass, a homogeneous change of form results. Neighbouring surface rocks are distorted in yielding. The thrusts which have acted during crumpling of the Alps are in accordance with theory and experience. A second part of the volume is devoted to the central masses of the Alps. Some geologists imagine that these crystalline centres play 134 Notices of Memoirs—Prof. Heim on Formation of Mountains. the part of active eruptive rocks, and have elevated the Alps in thrusting off the sedimentary masses to the right and left. Messrs. Favre, Suess, etc., on the contrary, regard the central masses as formed within folds. Prof. Heim is of the same opinion; he shows that all the eruptive rocks of the Alps are much older than the eleva- tion of the chain, which proves that they have merely played a passive part, like the sedimentary rocks themselves, during the eleva- tion. Certain central masses, like that of the Simplon, form large and well-preserved anticlinals. All intermediate conditions are found between this regular form and the fan-structure, which is nothing but an excessive folding. There is no definite separation between the crystalline schists of the central mass and the sedimentary rocks associated with them in the interior of the mass. While the crys- talline schists have ordinarily a high dip, we see them in some places but slightly inclined, and absolutely parallel to the limestones. The unconformities which exist between the two groups of rocks are often not original; they are produced neither by cooling effects nor by a former elevation, but simply by a difference of movement during the uplift of the Alps. According to Prof. Heim the clearest proof of the inactivity of the crystalline rocks is given by the repeated demonstration—amply detailed in the volume—that the central mass itself has undergone an enormous lateral compression, which by crumpling has reduced this zone of the crust to half its original width. The central masses are then zones of folding of the crust, of a “mechanical facies,” only a little different from what is frequently seen in calcareous formations. The difference is perfectly explained by that of the weight which acted on one and the other group of rocks during the lateral displacement. The last part of the work is headed “On the structure and formation of mountain chains.” The author groups here the results of preceding researches. After an historical account of different views successively put forth on the elevation of mountains, Prof. Heim describes in a general manner different phenomena of dislocation in their interior. The lateral displacement, which he recognizes as sole cause of the formation of chains, can be measured on horizontal sections in stretching out the folded beds. A contrac- tion only of 33> of the earth’s circumference would have sufficed to fold the crust in a way to form all the mountains found on the meridian crossing the Alps. The remaining chapters contain researches on the distribution of lateral displacement on the surface of the globe, on the relation of different sorts of mountains between themselves and continents, as well as on the proximate causes of their formation. The author, in conclusion, attributes foldings of the crust to the diminution of the diameter of the globe, resulting from contraction by cooling of the internal mass. Prof. Heim estimates at 50,000 metres the diminution of the earth’s radius, and thinks that the result would be the same under either hypothesis of the fluidity or solidity of the internal nucleus. The analysis above given of this important work is in large part Reviews — Nicholson and Etheridge—Fossils of Girvan District. 135 due to the author himself, who has furnished the materials as far as the essential ideas of his book are concerned. The work is one which will certainly become classical. Lausanne, 1878. [Translated by EH. B. T., from the ‘‘ Archives des Sciences physiques et naturelles,” 1878, November number. | d5u) 02h WF Jb ay WAS —_»>—_—_ J.—A MonocrarpH oF THE SriLuRIAN Fosstns oF THE GIRVAN District, IN AYRSHIRE, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THOSE CONTAINED IN THE “GRAY CouuEection.” By Professor H. AtLEyNE Nicuonson, M.D., D.Sc., etc., and Rospert Eran- RIDGE, JUN., F'.G.S8., etc. Fasciculus I. Rutzopopa, Acrinozoa, Trrtopita. Svo. 135 pages and 9 plates. (Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1878.) OON after fossils were first collected and brought to notice in the district referred to, Sir Roderick Murchison devoted a large portion of a Memoir on the Silurian rocks of Scotland (in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. London, vol. xvi. 1851) to the elucidation of the contorted and dislocated strata in which they had been discovered. He writes: ‘‘The most fossiliferous Silurian rocks yet discovered in Scotland lie directly to the Hast of Ailsa Crag, and to the north and south of the port of Girvan. . . . The rocks constituting the Silurian series of Ayrshire consist of (8) schists and limestones, (2) shelly greywackes, sandstone with conglomerates, and (1) limestone and schists,” in ascending order. ‘“ These ridges are composed of strata which strike from W.S.W. to E.N.E., or parallel to the general direction of the Silurian rocks of the South of Scotland. The Girvan Water and the Stinchar flow in longitudinal depressions or fissures,’ which are also coincident with the strike of the rocks” (pp. 141-3). Not only the recognition of the Girvan fossils (mostly collected in those days, we believe, by John Carrick Moore and Alexander M‘Cullum) as Silurian, but the discovery that the old Silures had inhabited this part of Ayrshire, was a source of great gratification to Murchison ; and he urged the further collec- tion of the organic remains, and induced Mr. J. W. Salter to enumerate and describe those already in hand (op. cié. p. 170, etc.). Sedgwick and M‘Coy also had already taken a similar interest in this Paleeozoic locality, and had studied some of its fossils (Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1850, etc.). With the progress of the Geological Survey the Silurians of Ayrshire became still better known (Explan. Sheets 7, 18, 14, and 15) ; and the importance of having their fossils definitely determined, and fully compared with those of Wales and elsewhere, was so strongly felt that a Government grant of £75 was obtained through the good oftices of the Royal Society towards the work ; and Robert 1 The Geological Surveyors, however, did not find a general concordance of the lines of valleys with faults in this district, though the strike of the beds has certainly an influence on them. See ‘‘ Explan. of Sheet 7, Mem. Geol. Surv. Scotland, 1869.” 186 Reviews—WNicholson and Etheridge—Fossils of Girvan District. Gray, Esq., F.R.S.E., most liberally gave further means for the purpose. Mrs. Robert Gray’s collection of the Girvan fossils is the most complete extant, and has been carefully studied. The authors, Mr. Lapworth, and the Geological Surveyors, have also had fossils collected for examination. The first part of the proposed Monograph is handsomely produced, with good printing and paper, and with nine excellent plates, lithographed by C. Berjeau, F.L.S. Among the Protozoa (and at page 10, among the Rhizopoda) are enumerated the obscure Nidulites and Ischadites, the better known Saccammina of H. B. Brady, and the less determinate Girvanella of N. and Eth. The remarks on the possible affinities of the first two are painstaking, and, though inconclusive, are useful in view of further inquiries. The Silurian age of Saccammina, a real Rhizopod, known also in both Carboniferous Limestone and recent seas, is very interesting ; but not so wonderful as it would be did we not know of the persistency of low organic existences. Principal Dawson has enumerated several Silurian and pre-Silurian Rhizopods. The Rev. J. F. Blake has noted a Lower-Silurian Dentalina’ at Aberystwyth; and the Zozoén is still unaccounted for by some mineralogists, and accepted by most Rhizopodists. The Girvanella, though obscure, has its analogues in Chalk flints, and in recent abyssal ooze. The Corals, though numerous, are not well preserved. They have been very carefully and judiciously dealt with; and have yielded about 21 species in 15 genera. Those of the Craighead Limestone have Lower-Silurian characters; from the other localities they indicate Upper-Silurian age. Chetetes and Fistulipora are here included in the Actinozoa for convenience, though belonging possibly to the Polyzoa. In naming a new genus of Corals after Lindstrom, the authors should have written Lindstremia, instead of retaining the Swedish form of the diphthong. Though the German and some other printers abroad have not the necessary type, we have it, and should use it in Latinized words, such also as Lindstremi and Keenigi, elsewhere in the Monograph. Several of the Trilobites are described and figured in this Fasciculus. Great care has been taken both with descriptions and figures; also with synonyms, and the references to other writers and observers. This indeed holds good with the descriptions of the fossils throughout. We must remark that no reason is given why the Trilobites are retained among the “ Entomostraca.” Advanced Carcinology (as represented by Henry Woodward’s “Catal. Brit. Crustacea,” Brit. Mus. 1877) gives them a higher place, between the Isopoda and the Amphipoda. A Bibliography of the Silurian Fossils of the Girvan District, from 1849 to 1878, occupies pages 1-6; and a list of definite localities of the fossils fills page 7. Everything promises well for future Fasciculi of this Monograph, so well begun ; its good appearance and trustworthy contents are the praiseworthy results of careful printers 1 Gzou. Mag. Dee. II. Vol. ILI. p. 134. Reviews—Rev. T. Wiltshire—History of Coal. 137 and lithographers, of enthusiastic and experienced authors, working for love alone, and of liberal promoters. We sincerely trust that generous support will be given to this publication, so useful to geological science. Ate te dlc I].—Tue History or Coat. By the Rev. Tuomas Witrtsuirg, M.A., F'.G.S., etc. Svo. 36 pages. (Spon, London and New York.) IVEN as an Introductory Lecture to the Evening Classes at King’s College Winter Session of 1878, this concise, and yet elaborate history of the use of coal is remarkably well adapted to supply much-required information on a subject interesting to the thinking public. It will also excite a wholesome desire to learn all that can be learned about the nature, origin, and economic applica- tion of the valuable varieties of fossil fuel. After two or three pages on the geological relations of coal to our own and other countries, also some remarks on the probable ignor- ance of the use of coal in pre-historic times, and on the general use of charcoal in early historic times, Mr. Wiltshire refers to the early mention of fossil fuel in Liguria and Elis, the former district still supplying lignite at Cadibona. The terms anthraces, bitumen, Thracius lapis, obsidianus lapis, ampelites, and gagates, as applied to lignite, mineral pitch, jet, and coal by ancient authors, and the supposed benefits derived from the various uses of these sub- stances in early times, are learnedly discussed. The more definite use of coal as fuel by the Romans in Britain, and possibly by the earlier inhabitants, is well worked out at p. 14, etc. At page 19 we enter on a later period, when, about a.p. 850, the monasteries appear to have recognized the value of coal (unless, indeed, charcoal is the substance referred to in their documents). In deeds and charters of a.p. 1190, however, the digging of coal is definitely referred to in the North of England and soon after in Scotland. The Newcastle Coal-field soon sent its minerals by sea along the south coast, and “sea-coal” became a household word in London, little as its use was approved of in town and country by old-fashioned people, and by those who for various reasons preferred wood fires and open hearths. The old colliery laws, often hard and arbitrary, the gradual introduction of sea-coal in London houses, in spite of prejudice and Royal decrees, and the gradual growth of the word “coal” from its olden forms, are fully treated. The introduc- tion of steam pumping engines, and the invention of safety-lamps, to facilitate the working of mines, and then the increased demand for coal in the manufactures, arts, locomotion, and domestic use, brought about the changes which have so greatly influenced affairs among all classes and conditions of modern life. The Appendices, including a Map, illustrate the relative supply of coal obtained from different countries; and especially the increasing quantity taken year by year from the British Coal-fields. Nearly 135 million tons of coal are raised every year in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In 1877 more than eight million and a half tons of coal came into the London District alone, sufficient to make 138 Reports and Proceedings— a wall, thirty feet high and thirty feet wide, reaching from London to Brighton. The coal removed from our mines since the year 1800 would form a mass nearly a cubic mile in dimensions. This enormous and increasing consumption of coal must have its limit before long. Were the rate to continue as now, and could coal be got from 4000 feet depth, we might look forward to England having 1000 years before her with coal at hand. Bnt the lavish use of this fossil fuel increases every year; and if the digging be practically limited to 3000 feet (as is most feasible), our combustible treasure can last for only 300 years! MU, ke dj. I1J.—Journan or tue Royvat Microscoprcat SocretTy, CONTAINING ITS TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS, WITH OTHER MicroscoPIcaL AND BronoercaL Inrormation. Edited by Frank Crisp, LL.B., F.L.S., ete. Vol. II. No. 1, February, 1879. 8vo. (London: Williams & Norgate.) Ne life has been infused into this Journal through the energy and ability of its present Editor, Mr. Frank Crisp, who seems determined to make it a thoroughly useful and successful scientific periodical. The part just issued has a far richer complement of varied biological information relating to histology, than the former ones, inasmuch as notices of foreign discoveries are especially cared for; there is a full catalogue of books and journals, and of their contained memoirs, treating of microscopical research. The Trans- actions of the Society furnish eight illustrated memoirs to this Journal; and of the notes and memoranda there are fifty and more. There is little that bears on Geology in this February Number, except a notice of Prof. Verrill’s discovery of Cliona sulphurea freely penetrating some marble blocks wrecked off Long Island in 1871. ANS Ie os ISJAIpAOisvayS) /AINTID) 1SAs(OCisIaI DIAN ES ——_ GroLocicaL Society or Lonpon.—I.—January 22, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Hsq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.—The following communications were read :— 1. “On Community of Structure in Rocks of Dissimilar Origin.” By Frank Rutley, Esq., F.G.S. After alluding to the community in mineral constitution of certain rocks to which different names have been applied, and indicating the advisability of retaining some old terms in a provisional sense, questions relating to the causes of the angular and rounded characters of certain rock-constituents were discussed. The author then described some of the more common structural peculiarities met with in rocks of various origin, especial attention being directed to those in which micro-crystalline, crypto-crystalline, or micro-felsitic conditions have been either normally developed or superinduced ; while other rocks were described in which corresponding structure, sometimes coupled with a similar mineral constitution, may be met Geological Society of London. 139 with. Difficulties attending the determination of the origin of some clastic rocks were also pointed out, and the value of certain structural characters in their diagnosis were mentioned. Assumptions as to the origin of some fragmentary rocks were shown to be un- demonstrable in certain cases, although such assumptions often earried much probability with them. The resemblances presented by devitrified rhyolitic rocks, felstones, and felspathic grits were dwelt upon at some length. The paper included a short structural classification of the constituents of rocks. 2. “Distribution of the Serpentine and associated Rocks, with their Metallic Ores, in Newfoundland.” By Alexander Murray, Hsq., C.M.G., F.G.8. The author stated that no extensive display of serpentine is known in the Laurentian series in Newfoundland; nor is the existence of crystalline limestone of that age, with which serpentine is often associated, as yet well established. The Intermediate or Huronian system is singularly barren in lime, magnesian minerals, and mica; lime occurring almost exclusively as intersecting calcareous veins. Over all the known area of the system no masses of serpentine have been observed, and only one instance of the presence of a serpen- tinous mineral, which occurs in an intrusive mass intersecting the Intermediate system, and disturbing the outcrop of the sandstones of the Primordial Silurian (Lingula Flags) at a place called ‘The Broad” of Tickel Harbour, Trinity Bay, where some steatite with some seams of asbestos were seen near the contact. Wherever a typical fossiliferous horizon could be established, the stratigraphical position of the fossils placed those of the Lévis age, or older, below the serpentines ; while in all cases, where the types were of Hudson- River or newer date, they as invariably succeeded unconformably above. Instances of this unconformable relation were mentioned in which the upper formation was as late as the Devonian age. The stratigraphical and paleontological break between the Lévis and Trenton groups is here filled up by a metamorphic mass which, in part at least, may possibly represent the horizon of the Chazy group ; and the great intrusive masses have been connected with, or the cause of, the metamorphic phenomena displayed. I.— February 5, 1879.—The President announced the receipt of a legacy of £1000, bequeathed to the Society by the late Sydney Ellis, Esq., of The Park, Nottingham. The following communications were read :— 1. ‘On the Occurrence of Pebbles with Upper-Ludlow Fossils in the Lower Carboniferous Conglomerates of North Wales.” By Aubrey Strahan, Esq., M.A., F.G.S., and Alfred O. Walker, Hsq., F.L.S. The authors described the mode of occurrence near Abergele of certain Lower Carboniferous conglomerates, best exposed in Ffernant Dingle, and especially of one containing numerous red and green sandstone pebbles, which inclose fossils of Upper-Ludlow forms, and lying above the so-called “ Bastard Limestone.” From the ar- rangement of the beds the authors believe that they may have been 140 Reports and Proceedings— deposited against a bank or sloping surface of Wenlock shale ; and they state that the great majority of the pebbles in the conglomerate are quite unlike any rock known in the district, but closely resemble the Upper-Ludlow beds of Kendal and Central Wales. The authors discuss the origin of the pebbles, and suggest ‘‘ the probable exten- sion of the Ludlow beds under Lancashire as the most likely source from which they can have been derived.” 2. “On a New Group of Pre-Cambrian Rocks (the Arvonian) in Pembrokeshire.” By Henry Hicks, M.D., F.G.S. With an Ap- pendix on their Microscopic Structure by T. Davies, Esq., F.G.S. In some new areas of Pre-Cambrian rocks discovered by the author last summer in Pembrokeshire, some rocks of a character hitherto unrecognized in this country were made out. As they were found to hold there, and-subsequently also in other areas, a very definite stratigraphical position, with a vertical thickness of several thousand feet, they have been separated by the author from the other Pre-Cambrian groups under the distinctive name of Arvonian. They were also found to occupy an intermediate position between the Dimetian and Pebidian formations, and at all points, so far as could be made out, appeared to be separated from each of those formations by stratigraphical breaks. The new areas where they are chiefly exposed are situated some few miles to the north of Haverfordwest, where they form ridges running in a direction from N.E. to 8.W. They occupy an average width ‘of about a mile, at- tain at some points to a height of nearly 600 feet, and together have a length of over nine miles. The rocks are flanked by Pebi- dian and Cambrian beds along their N.W. borders, and on the S.E. Silurian rocks have been brought against them by faults. In general appearance, as well as in their more minute lithological characters, they are easily distinguished from any of the rocks hitherto de- scribed by the author as characteristic of the Dimetian and Pebidian » groups in Pembrokeshire. They are, however, so closely allied to some of the true “ halleflinta’”’ rocks of Sweden, that it seems to the author and Mr. Davies that this is the name that should be applied to them in a petrological sense. In external aspect and in their splintery fracture they resemble a hornstone. Under the microscope they are seen to consist mainly of a crypto-crystalline ground-mass, which, when examined with a high objective, is resolved into grains of quartz, with an interstitial ingredient having but little action on polarized light, but which presumably is felsite. There are also numerous nests and fissure-like groups of quartz-grains disseminated throughout, and sometimes angular fragments, distinct in size and shape, are enclosed. These nests and fissure-like groupings are frequently encircled also with bands of fibrous, chalcedony, the structure of which is well exhibited with polarized light, and a rude parallelism, suggestive either of an incipient foliation or of stratification, is thereby given to the rock. The author and Mr. Davies believe the origin of the rock to have been a sedimentary one. 3. On’ the Pre-Cambrian (Dimetian, Arvonian, and Pebidian) Rocks of Caernarvonshire and Anglesey.” By Henry Hicks, M.D., Geological Society of London. 141 F.G.S. With an Appendix on their Microscopic Structure by the Rev. Prof. T. G. Bonney, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S. In this paper the author gave the results of some further re- searches made in Caernarvonshire and Anglesey since his previous communication to the Society on Dec. 5, 1877. Synop. Carb. Limestone Foss. Ireland, p. 48. 5 Descrip. Anim. Foss. Tert. Carb. Belgique, p. 97, 164 &. Etheridge, jun.—Notes on the Gilbertson Collection. Phillips’s species is a somewhat elongated shell, and has been fairly portrayed, so far as the general characters go, by Prof. de Koninck.! 36. Nucula luciniformis, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 11). The concentric strie are exceedingly fine in this species, the beaks quite close together, and the escutcheon linear, and little developed. 37. Nucula brevirostris, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 11a). Not in the Gilbertson Collection. 38. Lucina ? laminata, Phillips sp. (p. 209, t. 5, f. 12). This is an Edmondia-like shell with close concentric imbricating lamine. I cannot conceive what has led Prof. de Koninck? to unite this species with Modiola squamifera, Phillips, for there could not be two more dissimilar shells, more especially as he had previously placed* Z. 2? daminata in the genus Cardinia. 89. Isocardia ? axiniformis, Phillips sp. (p. 209, t. 5, f 18). Not in the Gilbertson Collection. 40. Nucula cuneata, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 14). The figure of this species is much enlarged. It has no appearance of a Nucula, but I suspect itis very much more nearly allied to Pleurophorus, King. The posterior radiating strize are quite apparent. 41. Nucula tumida, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 15). As pointed out by Prof. M‘Coy,‘ this is the WV. gibbosa, Fleming, under which name the shell is now universally known. 42. Nucula undulata, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 16). The posterior end of this shell is produced, and when perfect is obtusely pointed. In the figure it is too rounded and should have been represented as broken off. It belongs to the same group of Paleozoic Nuculidee as V. devirostrum, Portlock. 43. Nucula claviformis, Phillips, non Sow. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 17). Identical with Leda or Nuculana attenuata, Fleming. The specimens with which Phillips worked were contained in the Collection of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, the Gilbertson Collection, and that of the Natural History Society of Neweastle. Phillips usually appears to have first indicated after the name of each species that collection in which his type was placed, and following that rule, the type of this species would be in the Cabinet of the Yorkshire Society, but the Gilbertson Collection contains one so like the figure that I cannot but regard it as the original of his WV. elaviformis. 44, Isocardia ? unioniformis, Phillips sp. (p. 209, t. 5, f. 18). The original specimen is in a very bad state of preservation. The species is the type of Prof. de Koninck’s genus Hdmondia.® 45. Cucullea obtusa, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 19). Although marked in the usual way by Phillips as being in the Gilbertson Collection, I am unable to find the type. 46. Cucullea arguta, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 20). Phillips remarks that his shell is restored at the ends, and there is in the collection such a specimen wanting a portion of the posterior end, otherwise it is in a very good state of preservation, and is clearly the specimen from which Phillips’s figure was drawn. By the latter the species was referred to Cucul/ea, and by Prof. de Koninck to Arca,® but whatever may be the character of the shell to which Prof. de Koninck has applied this name, that figured in the “Geology of Yorkshire” belongs to neither of these genera, but possesses the prominent concentric ridges, split on the anterior end, the anterior sinus, and well-developed posterior slope of that group of shells to which Prof. M‘Coy, in 1852, applied his previously enunciated name of Leptodomus. Accepting the specimen in question in the Gilbertson Collection as the type, I feel sure that it is to this group it will have to be referred, and neither to Cucullea nor Arca. 1 Descrip. Anim. Foss. Tert. Carb. Belgique, Atlas, t. 1, f. 15, a. ¢. 2 Ie, Citi {0s Pe 3 Tbid, p. 78. 4 Brit. Pal. Foss. p. 512. > Descrip. Anim. Foss. Terr. Carb. Belgique, p. 66. § Loc. cit. p. 116. R. Etheridge, jun.—Notes on the Gilbertson Collection. 165 47. Modiola lingualis, Phillips sp. (p. 209, t. 5, f. 21). The type of this species is not preserved in the Gilbertson Collection, but there are specimens of the shell to which I gave the name of Modiola lithodomoides, which may be only the full-grown condition of M. lingualis. 48. Modiola squamifera, Phillips sp. (p. 209, t. 5, f. 22). An exceedingly well-marked shell, distinguished by its broad flat lamellze; the posterior wing is small, although it is not entirely preserved, and the dorsal margin in Phillips’s figure is too decidedly marked. This species belongs to a peculiar group of Carboniferous Mytiliform shells of the hinge character of which we at present know little. By Prof. de Koninck it has been identified! with a Belgian shell, which he places in the genus Cypricardia; but judging from the respective figures, I should be inclined to pause before uniting the two. 49. Modiola granulosa, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 23). Not in the Gilbertson Collection. ; 50. Modiola elongata, Phillips sp. (p. 210, t. 5, f. 24). If the figure is a correct representation of the original, the specimen is not in the Collection. 51. Cypricardia glabrata, Phillips sp. (p. 209, t. 5, f. 25). Not in the Gilbertson Collection. 52. Pleurorhynchus Hibernicus, J. Sowerby (Phillips, p. 210, t. 5, i 20). Phillips’s type of this species is not in the Gilbertson Collection. 08. Pleurorhynchus minax, Phillips (p. 210, t. 5, f. 27). Phillips remarks that the lower figure of Sowerby’s Cardium aliforme? is pro- bably his species, and this view has been adopted by Prof. Morris. On the other hand, Professors de Koninck* and M*Coy® wholly unite P. aliforme and P. minax. After a very careful and lengthened comparison of the types of both Sowerby and Phillips, I have to express my complete adherence to the views of these authors so far, leaving out of the question, for the present, the question of the Devonian P. minaz.® Extreme care should be taken in describing the surface characters in this group of shells, for I find that the shelly matter was of considerable thickness, and the various layers each possessed its own style of ornament. This has been noticed to a certain extent by Prof. M‘Coy;’ when perfect, Conocardium (Pleuro- rhynchus) aliforme has the valleys between the radiating ribs crowded with close undulating laminze resembling those seen on the surface ot Spiriferina laminosa. 54. Plewrorhynchus elongatus, J. Sowerby (Phillips, p. 211, t. 6, £ 28). An exceedingly well-marked and distinct form; it has been shown by Prof. de Koninck, who is followed by M‘Coy, to be only a synonym of Conocardiwm rostratum, Martin.’ I have compared Sowerby’s figured specimen, which was given to him by Mr. Martin, with Phillips’s shell, and find them to agree. 00. Pleurorhynchus armatus, Phillips sp. (p. 211, t. 5, f. 29). This specimen is not in the Gilbertson Collection, but I have little doubt that Prof. de Koninck is correct in referring? it to Conocardium (Pi.) aliforme, Sow. 06. Pleurorhynchus trigonalis, Phillips sp. (p. 211, t. 5, f. 80-32). I have examined in detail the only specimen of this species in the Gilbertson Collection, and which represents figs. 30 and 32 of the above plate, but somewhat on an enlarged scale. Prof. de Koninck has referred 1° this species to C. Hibernicum, Rowerby 5 in this I agree with him, as I believe it to be only the young form of the atter. d7. Unknown genus, Phillips (t. 5, f. 33). Not in the Gilbertson Collection. TY Loe: cit. p: 92, t. 3, f. 11. 2 Min.:Con. t. 552. 3 Catalogue, 2nd ed. p. 195. 4 Loe. cit. p. 88. ° Brit. Pal. Foss. p. 516. § Pal. Foss. Cornwall and Devon. 7 Loe. cit. p. 517. 8 Arcites, Pet. Derb. t. 44, f. 6. ° Loe. cit. p. 83. 10 Thid, p. 85. 166 W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. V.—Post-Tertiary GEOLOGY oF CoRNWALL.! By W. A. E. Ussuer, F.G.S. Part JIJ.—Tuse Rarisep Beacnes anp AssocrIATED DrEposits oF THE CorwnisH COAST. HE following observations of the Cornish Cliffs are given in order, proceeding round the coast from Plymouth. The num- bers and letters have been prefixed to facilitate subsequent reference. 1. Mount Edgecombe, near Plymouth. a. De la Beche (Geological Manual, p. 159) mentions the occur- rence of rolled shingles, covered by fragments of slate and red sandstone near Redding Point ; the height of the deposit is not given. b. Near Mount Edgecumbe Obelisk I noticed brown and reddish coarse-grained sand filling an inequality in the limestone at about 30 feet above the river; this is probably a trace of contemporaneous deposition with the Hoe Raised Beach. 2. Looe Island. Mr. Pengelly (Trans. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. vii. p. 118) noticed the occurrence of layers of comminuted, and somewhat rounded, yellowish matter containing rather large rounded slate fragments and ordinary pebbles, on the northern cliffs of the island. Height above high water not given. 3. St. Austell’s s Bay. a. A point at which Raised Beach is engraved on the map, at Pol- kerris, is capped by 8 feet of Head of small angular killas fragments, occasional quartz pebbles were found, being either the relics of a raised beach, or hurled to a height of 30 feet. above high-water mark by storm waves from the beach below. This point is joined to the main cliff by a very narrow ridge of rock. b. Near Polmere the Head rests upon micaceous slates, and in places presents a rudely stratified appearance. c. Near the Par Inn, a stratified gravel of subangular grit, quartz, slate, and granite stones, and occasional boulders, 4 to 5 feet in thickness, occurs at about 20 feet above high water. d. On the south side of Spit Point, fine gravel with pebbles of quartz and boulders (one flint pebble found and a fragment of Car- dium, ? im sitéi) 8 feet in thickness, and at base 5 feet above high water, occurs on the low cliffs. e. Near the above the base of the raised beach is 10 feet above high water, it consists of fine gravel alternating with greyish sand upon large pebbles and unworn blocks of the subjacent rock. The deposit is 10 feet in thickness, the layers appear to dip seaward. 4. Gerran’s Bay. a. On the eastward side of the beach the section consists of— Brown soil with angular stones... sao co tis | Onn Brown loam with angular fragments of slate and ‘quartz ..- lOft. Oin. Beds of consolidated black sand and quartz gravel, lying unevenly on the Sy rock at about five feet above LV VyyALESI Ge Geni Be .. 4ft. 6in. De la Beche (Report, p. 430) mentions the consolidation of portions 1 Continued from the March Number, p. 110. W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. 167 of the raised beach in Gerran’s Bay by oxide of iron. Near Pen- dowa the beach is absent, and the Head rests directly on the slates. b. Mr. Trist (T. R. G. S. Corn. vol. i. p. 111) described the raised beach as a flat stratum of sand and pebbles, sometimes occurring as a black sandstone 2 feet in thickness, sometimes as a conglomerate of sand and pebbles 10 feet thick, resting on limestones and argil- laceous schists abounding in manganese, and capped by an argilla- ceous friable earth. c. Near Pendover (? Pendowa) beach, Mr. Trist noticed quartz boulders at the Carnes, wholly insulated, and of a different nature from the substratum (vide T. R.G.S. Corn. vol. vi. p. 91. Budge.) d. Dr. Boase (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. iv. pp. 270, 273) mentions the occurrence of “layers of different substances” in the cliffs to the east of Porthscatho and in Gerran’s Bay, the inferior 10 feet being much consolidated. One ferruginous layer resembled pudding-stone. The pebbles diminish upwards into pure sand, reddish brown and friable, in layers 8 or 9 inches thick. e. (op. cit. p. 275.) At Porth, one mile east of St. Anthony, Dr. Boase noticed beds of sand and gravel ; Porth farmhouses being built on diluvium of regular beds of sand and pebbles, the latter below ; shells, chiefly marine univalves, were found in parallel layers in the sand. The height above high water is not given. 5. Falmouth. a. Coast-section on the N.E. of Pendennis Castle. Head of angular fragments of slate and quartz with a tolerably regular horizontal lie, 40 to 50 feet in thickness, contains here and there a few pebbles at its base, which is from 5 to 10 feet above high water. Mr. Godwin- Austen mentioned (Q. J. G.S. vol. vii. p. 121) the occurrence of 30 feet of Head on the west of Pendennis Point. b. Near Cove Battery the Head is of a greyish colour in the upper part, brownish below; a line of larger fragments and a band of loam without stones occur in it. c. Mr. R. W. Fox (Phil. Mag. and Journ. Science, ser. 3, vol. i. for 1832, p. 471) describes the Falmouth raised beach as a horizontal bed of rolled quartz pebbles, gravel and sand (like the present beach), from 1 to 3 feet in thickness, and generally from 9 to 12 feet above the highest spring tides. The Head upon the old beach is described as earth, stones, and detached pieces of rock. The cliffs are from 80 to 60 feet in height. The old beach does not extend far from the cliff face, it was observed in one place at 8, in another at 20 feet, within it. Between the parishes of Budock and Mawnan the pebbles appeared to be cemented into a conglomerate, in places, _by the oxides of iron and manganese. d. Mr. Godwin-Austen (T. G.S. ser. 2, vol. vi.) describes the old beach and overlying Head at Swanpool as purely marine beds pass- ing up into fluvio-marine and fluviatile accumulations. e. Between Pennance Point and Maen Porth (Fig. 1), a bed of pebbles, chiefly quartz, with slate boulders, is visible, under Head of angular fragments in loam, at intervals. In one place the beach consists of quartz pebbles in grey and reddish brown sand, with 168 W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. large worn blocks of slaty rocks; 38ft. 6in. thick, and about 4 feet above high water at its base. Rock platforms are noticeable at about the level of spring tide high water. ae f i NMEA ANY (Vy WANN SAILS 4 /} NT Fic. 1.—The Coast toward Rosemullion Head; showing Rock Platforms and Cliffs composed of Head upon Raised Beach. 6. South of the R. Helford. a. At Ligwrath, between Nare Point and Porthalla, the Head con- sists of brown earth with angular stones, pebbles are met with in places at its base, at about 5 feet above high water. Boulders com- pose the present beach. b. South of the above, traces of a raised beach consisting of beds of coarse black and brown sand, with grit, slate, igneous rock, and small quartz pebbles, in places 2 to 3 feet thick, and at base about 8 feet above high water, are visible here and there under Head of grey and brown loam with angular stones. c. De ‘la Beche (Report, p. 481) figures part of a consolidated raised beach forming the roof of a cavern in the slates on which it rests, and supporting a Head of angular fragments, between Port- halla and the Nare Point. He also gives a sketch of the old beach at Nelly’s Cove and between Rosemullion Head and Mainporth (op. cit. p. 452). d. The Rev. H. Budge (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. vi. p. 1) mentions the occurrence of a raised beach, about 5 feet above high water, con- tinuing for some hundreds of yards from Nelly’s Cove (4 mile from Porthalla), and accessible only at low water; he observed traces of the old beach on steep rock ledges now overflowed by the tide. On the north of Nare Point, 8 to 10 feet of angular debris rested on the old beach. 7. Coverack Cove. a. The low cliffs to the east of Carnsullan are about 15 feet in height, and composed of brown earth with angular and subangular stones and boulders. b. The Rev. H. Budge (op. cit.) describes the cliff-section on the north side of the Cove as—Reddish-coloured marl or rubble upon a thick bed (12 feet) of fine ferruginous sand, consolidated in places, W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. 169 upon large rolled pebbles arranged in regular lines and about 0 feet above high water at their base. c. The same observer says that the whole of the outer portion of the Lowlands in St. Keverne parish (a flattish tract of 60 acres in extent) is formed of very fine sand (valued for constructing moulds for brass casting), so similar to that overlying the Coverack raised beach that he considered them contemporaneous. At and near the coast-line pebbles were occasionally met with in the sand. d. Mr. Budge mentions a rampart of large diallage pebbles round a low fortress of sand upon the present beach at Coverack. e. Dr. Boase (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. iv. p. 3829) mentions the occur- rence of diluvium of an ochreous colour consolidated toward its base, and containing small pebbles of quartz, compact felspar, and serpen- tine, resting on serpentine, near Coverack Quay. f. De la Beche (Report, p. 129) and Godwin-Austen (Q. J. G. 8. vol. vii. p. 121), comment on flints occurring in the Coverack raised beach. Flints also occur in the present beach at Porthbeer Cove, south of Coverack. 8. Gunwalloe. The cliffs are capped in places by a Head of light brown loam with angular stones. The Lizard District south of a line between Porthbeer Cove and Mullion was not observed by me, nor can I find any descriptions of Pleistocene phenomena on its sea-board. The low cliffs to the south of the Loo bar are capped by about 5 feet of brown loam with angular fragments of quartz, etc., under coarse brownish blown sand. 9. Coast from Loo Pool to Marazion. a. De la Beche (Report, p. 430) figures part of a raised beach be- tween the Loo Pool and Cove village, stained by black oxide of iron, and containing strings of the same substance, the prevalence of which in the rocks of South Cornwall is pointed out. b. Mr. Henwood (T. BR. G.S. Corn. vol. v. p. 54) noticed patches of granite and slate pebbles, from the size of a nut to a foot in diameter, in Tremearne Cliff. The deposits rested on slates at 14 feet above the present beach, in one spot, and at 30 feet in another, going eastward. c. (op. cit.) ‘At Wheal Trewavas, where the rock is wholly com- posed of granite, it is covered by a thick bed of transported frag- ments of micaceous slate.” d. On the west of Pra Sands, Mr. Henwood (op. cit.) noticed a bed of granite, elvan, and slate pebbles, at about 6 feet above the present beach, and covered by “a high bank of rubbish,” the debris of the adjacent rocks. e. Between Cuddan Point and Trevean Cove, the Head consists of dark grey loam with angular (local) fragments. f. The Perran Sands are bounded by cliffs from 5 to 20 feet high, partly composed of brown loam with angular stones and blocks of greenstone. _ g. In a cove west of Perran Sands and south of Perranuthno; in one part— 170 W.A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. Brown earth with large and small angular stones... ... ... 10ft. to 15ft. upon—large pebbles and subangular fragments of quartz and greenstone... lft. upon—brown loam with small angular quartz stones and large angular greenstone boulders. g. In another place— Soil ... wie baht ewe ait. tovertts Brown loam with ‘angular ¢ greenstone fragments Bog asp ag iis WO) (i: As above, fragments fewer, and, asarule, smaller ... ... 10ft. to 1dft. Pebbles, and “occasionally subangular fragments, of ‘quartz and greenstone ... ... . .. 2ft. (about). resting unevenly upon greenstone), ab from 8 to 12 feet above high water. h. Toward Marazion the cliffs average 20 feet in height, and are composed of a Head of angular slate, quartz, and greenstone frag- ments in brown loam. 10. South of Penzance. a. Mr. Carne (T. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. iii. p. 229) observed layers of pebbles and boulders from 3 to 6 feet thick, and 40 feet in length, at the junction of the slate and granite at Mousehole. Mr. Henwood gives the height of the above as a little above high-water mark. (Ibid. vol. v. p. 110.) The following are from Mr. Carne’s paper (op. cit.). b. At Carn Silver, boulders and pebbles were found in the end of a cavern, 8 feet wide and 12 feet high, once probably filled with them. c. In St. Loy Cove, under 30 feet of Head of granitic stones in clay, pebbles and boulders were observed, 4 to 8 feet in thickness, 150 feet in length, and at their base at high-water mark. (Present beach composed of granite boulders.—W.U.) d. Boulders were also observed at Polwarnon (? Polguaruon) Cove, Lean Scath, Pednvounder Cove (near the Logan rock), and at the Land’s End Hole, but their height above the sea is not given. e. Near Penberth on the east, I noticed a small patch of Head composed of brown loam with angular stones and angular and sub- angular boulders. 11. Land’s End. a. In Whitesand Bay, near Carn Aire, the Head consists of angular and subangular fragments and boulders of granite in coarse light buff- brown granitic debris (growan), becoming browner and more loamy near the base. The present beach is composed of granite boulders. b. Between Creagle and Aire Points, Mr. Carne (op. cit.) observed 6 feet of boulders and pebbles under 80 feet of clay with granitic fragments. Base of boulder bed at about spring tide high water. ce. On the south of the Nanjulian River (Carne, op. cit.) boulders and pebbles occur at 15 feet above high water. d. On the south of Pol Pry (op. cit.), a thin bed of boulders at 20 feet above high water. e. In an iron vein at Huel Oak Point (op. ct.) boulders were found at 8 feet above high water. 12. Pornanvon and Porth Just. W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. ii a. In Pornanvon Cove Mr. Carne (op. cit.) noticed 2 boulder beds (in a matrix of calcareous sand, granitic gravel and clay), separated by a mass of solid granite. The westernmost bed being 4 chains long, 10 feet thick, and overlain by 60 feet of granitic debris ; that on the east was found to be 9 chains long, 20 feet in maximum thick- ness, and surmounted by 20 to 50 feet of granitic debris. The boulders vary in size from that of a hazel nut to 3 feet in diameter ; no large slate boulders were noticed. The base of the deposit is about the level of very high spring tides. At Porth Just Mr. Carne found boulders at 15 feet above high-water mark. b. Mr. Henwood (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. v. p. 18) mentioned the oc- currence of rounded stones of granite, from the size of a nut to 2 or 8 feet in diameter, with a few slate pebbles, and with granitic sand filling the interstices, at from 15 to 20 feet above high water, at Porth Just and Pornanvon. He says that an adit at Wheal Besans Lode, Little Bounds Mine, was driven for several fathoms through one of these beds, which was found to be from 60 to 70 feet in thickness. (In this estimate the overlying Head was probably included.—W.U.) c. Miss Carne (T. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. vii. p. 371) stated that the adit of a mine south of Kennal Point enters the cliffs under a mass of pebbles and boulders. 13. Cape Cornwall. a. In the south part of Priest Cove I noticed a few pebbles and subangular stones (one of granite), in olive-brown loam, and, occa- sionally, greyish sand, under 5() to 60 feet of Head, which presents a stratiform appearance through unequal distribution of fragments, and different tints. b. In a little cove just north of Cape Cornwall I observed the following section (Fig. 2) :— i PRAM LALAD AY ATT he p ) CSEOTS Raised beach. Fie. 2.—Cape Cornwall on the North side. 1 Inch=24 Feet. Head, brown loam with numerous angular stones,containing larger fragments in the lower 5 feet, with pebbles here and there atand near the base... ..< ..- ss, --- -.- Leit. Qin. upon—gravel of pebbles and subangular fragments of slate (altered), quartz, greenstone, a few of flint, and rounded and subangular granite boulders, in coarse brown and black loamy, SANG Att MT scelP psi ween Yi encPacecrsont ccot ees snOkve) MOIS 172 Notices of Memoirs—Dr. O. Lenze—Geology of W. Africa. Base of the deposit about 6 feet above high water. Boulders on the present beach. Rock platforms are visible at about high-water mark. c. In Porthleden Cove the following section was taken :— Head, brown loam with small angular pieces of quartz, containing small fragments of slate, and, occasionally, granite, 12 feet thick ; upon yellowish-brown and brown loam with a few angular frag- ments; upon well-worn and subangular boulders with a few large pebbles, a few feet above high water. d. Mr. Godwin-Austen (Q. J. G.8. vol. vii. p. 121) notices the oc- currence of granite pebbles, under yellowish clay, with large and small angular stones, and from 5 to 20 feet in thickness, at Creek Tor, in the parish of St. Just, Penrith. e. On the north of Cape Cornwall, Mr. Carne (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. iii. p. 229) noticed a bed of slate boulders, 2 feet thick, and a chain in length, on greenstone at 10 feet above high water. The boulders were imbedded in clay and sand with small slate particles. 14. Pendeen Cove (op. cit.). Mr. Carne observed 3 feet of small pebbles in sand, made up of comminuted marine shells and pulverized granite, in one place capped by a bed of sand, overlain by 60 feet of Head. The base of the deposit is at about the level of spring-tide high water. The sand is in process of consolidation by iron oxide ; it appears to have been blown from the beach into the interstices of the gravel. (To be continued in our next Number.) IN(@ Abe eS) (Olay ViaeVE@ re Se I.—Gzronocican Norrs on Western Arrica. By Dr. O. Lenz.! {Communicated by Count Marscuatt, F.C.G.S.] 1. The Gabbro of Monrovia.—Gabbro appears near Monrovia in the form of irregularly fissured, isolated massives, rising above hills covered with the richest tropical vegetation. In its fresh condition it is dark green, distinctly granular, without any traces of schistose or porphyritic texture. Microscopical investigation proves a light-grey plagioclase to be its chief component, together with light-yellow tabular crystals of diallage, and interspersed particles of titanate of iron. ‘The presence of serpentine also is probable, although not ascertained by positive observation. 2. Polished Rocks in the Beds of Rivers.—Several of the West- African Rivers, opening into the Atlantic, force the lower portion of their course through a low and long chain of crystalline schists and quartzites, striking N.-S. Violent rapids, cataracts, and cascades, especially in the Congo and Ogowe, are serious obstacles to navi- gation. The rocks in the bed and on both banks, as far as they come in contact with the waters, are covered with a thin dark- brown varnish-like crust of extremely thin lamellee of oxyd of iron, whose uppermost surface, continually exposed to the action of water, 1 [Proceed. Imper. Geol. Instit. Vienna, January, February, and March, 1878. ] See also Grou. Mac. Dee. II., Vol. IV. p, 27, and Vol. V. p, 312. Notices of Memoirs—Dr. O. Lenze—Geology of W. Africa. 173 ‘assumes a metallic brightness. The crust is most conspicuous on the gneisses and on the mica-schists with garnets in the Apinshi region. It is absent as well on the portions above the contact of water as on the rocks along the banks where the water flows quietly. Similar facts have been ascertained on the Rapids of the Nile, on the Cataracts of the Congo (by Captain Tuckey), and on the syenite rocks along the Orinoco (by Alex. von Humboldt). Dr. Darwin observed a black crust, similar in appearance to graphite, on the banks of several Brazilian rivers which open into the Atlantic. Berzelius found this crust to be composed of oxyds of iron and manganese. The older crystalline rocks of North-west Africa are everywhere overlain by a (probably Diluvial) deposit of intensely yellow, loamy, and highly ferruginous sands, including large blocks of brown hydroxyd of iron. These blocks are aggregated concretions of the size of beans or peas, similar to the pisiform iron-ore of Europe. When such blocks are decomposed, the concretions, bearing distinct marks of having been rolled, are spread over an extensive surface. The rivers carry with them enormous quantities of fine white quartz sand, with flakes of mica, which every year during low water are deposited in enormous sand-banks, rising several métres above the sea-level. The waters, whirling violently against the rocks, keep in suspension the quartz grains and the concretions of iron-oxyd, and the last material, comminuted by the friction of the hard sand, is deposited on the surface of the rocks in the form of a thin crust. 3. Geology of the Gold Coast, Guinea.—The gold here appears in the shape of dust or granules, seldom of the size of a pea. The natives wash it out of the clays and sands in a most primitive way ; and they frequently adulterate it, by boring holes into the granules, filling up the cavities with copper or brass, and carefully closing them again. The primary locality of the gold is still unknown. It is washed everywhere also in the region of the Senegal and Gambia Rivers, as near Cape Palmas, out of a red clay, of probably comparatively recent origin, including layers of rolled ferruginous fragments. Near Accra, close to the sea-shore, there is a coarse- grained, intensely red, and somewhat argillaceous sandstone, with intercalated layers of large rolled fragments of quartz, and without any traces of organic remains. At first view it has a resemblance to some of the Triassic beds of Germany. Further inland are gneisses and granites; and in the Ashanti region and along the river Volta there are fine black amphibolic schists, abounding with garnets, locally of rather large size. Possibly, as in the Ural, these schists may be the primary locality of the gold. 4, Ttabirite (Iron mica-schist) of the Okande Region.—The Okande region is situated some sixty geographical miles inland, amidst the rapids of the Ogowe. This river breaks its way westward through a chain of schistose rocks, with a main strike N.-S., and with a very steep dip from W. to HE. The Itabirite rests on a very thick stratum of white and red quartz, the same which appears, at a lower horizon, intercalated among the mica-schists with garnets of the Apinshi region, In its upper horizons it passes gradually into quartz. 174 Notices of Memoirs—Dr. O. Lenz—Geology of W. Africa. The Okande Itabirite is hard and heavy, its colour is reddish- purple; its texture granular-schistose ; its components are quartz, specular oxyd of iron, and magnetic iron. The quartz is con- spicuously prevalent, in the form of whitish-grey granules, in coherent parallel layers. The specular iron-ore appears in bright black lamelle, scattered in the quartz, and frequently bearing a crust of red oxyd of iron. This oxyd appears, likewise, in coherent layers, parallel to those of quartz, and alternating with them. Thus a tranverse fracture offers an alternation of rather broad red and white stripes, interspersed with bright lamelle of iron-ore. Magnetic iron-oxyd is scattered in minute particles throughout the whole, so that large specimens of this rock cause a marked irritation of the magnetic needle. Atmospheric agents give rise to a thin out- ward crust of hydroxyd of iron, and make the surface irreguiarly rough, the quartz offering a greater resistance to these agents than the portions impregnated with oxyd of iron. The Itabirite of Okande differs from that of Brazil by not including such accessory minerals as gold, talc, chlorite, iron-pyrites, and actinote. Itabirite and analogous rocks, associated with Itacolumnite, were first found in the Schist-formation of Brazil, subsequently in South Carolina, the South-east of France (Département du Var), Portugal (Tras os Montes), and Germany (Soonwald). The Okande Itabirite is a normal and important constituent of the West-African Schist-formation. It assumes generally the shape of low and ragged cliffs in the river-courses. In the plain of Lope it disappears, almost entirely, beneath beds of Diluvial loam of com- paratively recent origin. 5. Geology of West Africa.—The islands in Corisco Bay, some- what north of the Equator, rise about ten métres above the sea, and are composed of a light-coloured calcareous sandstone, in horizontal strata, overlain with vegetable soil, and extending eastward as far as the mainland at the mouths of the Rivers Muni and Munda. These strata contain many casts of very large, inflated, knotted, and carinated Ammonites, closely allied to Ammonites inflatus, a character- istic fossil of the Upper Gault. A well-preserved fragment of this species has been found farther south, in Fish Bay (Benguela). Small, badly preserved Bivalves are of rare occurrence: and car- bonized stems of indeterminable plants are frequent. Numerous fissures in every direction are filled up with an uncommonly hard and solid ferruginous sandstone, occasionally also with oxide of iron. Near Gaboon, white limestones, about two métres thick, with many veins of calcite, and with local accumulations of Gasteropods, Bivalves, fragments of Crustacea, Hchinida, etc., rest on Cretaceous Sandstones. The above-mentioned deposits bear an Eocene facies, and are strictly local. The horizontal Tertiaries of the Loango Coast are overlain by an unstratified deep yellow loam, with nodules of white marl and hollow concretions of hydroxyd of iron, thus nearly resembling Loess. This loam, destitute of organic remains, extends along the Notices of Memoirs—Dr. O. Lenz—Geology of W. Africa. 175 coast of Gaboon, on both banks of the Ogowe, even to the outposts of the West-African Schist-formation. Its surface is covered with innumerable granules of pisiform iron-ore, resulting from disaggre- gation of the concretions of hydroxydated iron. The whole deposit may be compared with what is generally called Diluvium, and may be coeval with the origin of the Ogowe Lakes, on the withdrawal of the waters into their existing beds. Still, a number of larger and smaller lakes exist on both sides of the Ogowe, connected with it by channels, a narrow wall of loam, at most ten to fifteen métres in height, standing between lake and river. Many blocks of schis- tose rocks, probably transported by the waters once filling up the whole region from Gaboon to Neomi (Kamma), are spread over the surface of these natural dykes. The analogy of this loam with the Laterite of East India is conspicuous. At present the Ogowe, in its whole course, down to a few miles above its mouth, carries and deposits only enormous quantities of purest quartz sand, without any trace of loam; while the adjacent loam dykes are completely devoid of arenaceous beds. The foremost chains of an extensive range of crystalline schists, spreading from the inmost corner of the Gulf of Guinea, Southward to Angola, appear in the Okota region about forty miles inland. The range is composed of many parallel chains, dipping eastward with a steep angle. ‘The lowermost horizon (Okota) has a group of thin-bedded, light-coloured, fine-grained schists, with some mica, locally talcose, and in one place containing a great lenticular inter- calation of steatite. Subordinate beds of red and white quartz are not rare, both in the schists, and in the typical granatiferous mica- schists.. A ferruginous schist, closely resembling the Itabirite of Brazil, exists along the frontier of the Okande region. Great beds of black siliceous schists extend from the River Okne to the Cataracts of Ndume, at the commencement of the inner plain. Granite, in fine varieties, appears only in large erratic blocks, brought probably from the interior when the Ogowe had a far larger bed. The massif here described appears on the maps as Sierra Complida and Sierra do Crystall, and may be conveniently designated as the West-African Schist Mountains. Globular segregations, including fine crystals of yellow and reddish quartz, and covered on their surface with a peculiar network much resembling honeycomb, are found in both original and derivative situations, in the latter case having probably been transported out of the black siliceous schists mentioned above. The volcanic region of the Cameroon and Rumbi Mountains extends over more than 100 German miles; its highest summits, ascended by MM. Burton and Mann, exceed 13,000 feet. The existence of twenty-eight craters has been ascertained. All the lava-currents have gone southward; and, in this direction, the marginal ashes and slags of the craters are lower and are cut through. Emanations of smoke prove all this region to be still in the condition of a Solfatara. An eruption is said to have taken place between 1830 and 1840; details, however, are wanting. This region is south-westward of the volcanic islands of Fernando Po, Principe 176 =Notices of Memoirs—Dr. A. Nehring—Origin of Loess. Thomé, and Anobon; and a prolongation of the line connecting these islands reaches St. Helena. The Clarence Peak on Fernando Po has a height of above 10,000 feet ; smoke and fire are said to have been occasionally observed on it. The small island of Anobon seems to have been a single volcano, whose crater has become a lake. Dr. Pechsel-Lésche found on the coast of Loando (8° to 5° §. Latitude) a dark-brown very argilla- ceous rock of loose oolitic texture, containing Corals and many specimens of Leda, Mactra, Tellina, and Cardium. Near Landana, well-preserved remains of Fishes (among them the vertebral column and head of a large individual), teeth of Raize, palatal teeth, fin- spines, the tooth of a Crocodile, and a coprolite, were found, together with a large Nautilus, some small Gasteropods, and Bivalves. A light-coloured limestone along the coast south of Congo has abundant shells of Ostrea. Very little is known of the Geology of Angola and Benguela. Granites, schists with abundant copper-ores, volcanic rocks, rock- salt, and asphalt are said to occur there. _Limestones, in horizontal beds, possibly connected with those along the south coast, and prismatic basalt near Old Calabar, have been observed. The natives Oppose any approach of foreigners to the rock-salt deposits. IJ.—On THe QuaTERNARY Deposits AT WESTEREGELN AND THIEDE, NEAR BRUNSWICK ; IN ILLUSTRATION OF THE SUBAERIAL ORIGIN or Lorss. By Dr. A. Neurtne.' [Communicated by Count Marscuatu, F.C.G.S.] I. Westeregeln.—The Quaternary Fauna of this locality is cha- racterized as a “Steppe” fauna by the presence of remains of Alaktaga Jaculus, Spermophilus Altaicus, Sp. guttatus ; Arctomys Bobak, Lagomys jpusillus, several Hastern-EKuropean burrowing Muride, and Wild Horses, all of them having, apparently, lived in the locality where their remains are now met with. This is shown by the number of both young and adult individuals, and by their good state of preservation. Other species associated with the fore- going offer no objection to the “Steppe” character. Cheiroptera, Wolves, Badgers, Hares, Bustards, Ducks, Larks, Finches, Swallows, Frogs, and Toads are not of rare occurrence in the Steppes of Hast Kurope and Asia. Pelobates fuscus is said to be frequent around Sarepta and other parts of the Steppes along the lower course of the Volga; and the Pike abounds in the waters of the Steppes. Similar animals have left their remains in the Quaternary deposits under notice. The local Fauna, like that now existing in the South Siberian Steppes, has mixed with it occasional visitors, such as came in summer from Central and South Germany, as Hyenas and Lions, or in winter from northern regions, as Reindeer, Arctic Foxes, and Lemmings. The presence of these last three indicates that the vicinity of what is now Westeregeln was not covered with forests. As to the extinct forms, such as Hlephas primigenius, Rhinoceros 1 Imper. Geolog. Institute of Vienna, Report of Meeting, July 31, 1878. Notices of Memoirs—Dr. A. Nehring—Origin of Loess. 177 tichorhinus, and Bos primigenius, they (with habits similar to those of their living congeners) may have visited the Steppes in those seasons when vegetation had come to its full development there. Il. Thiede——The Quaternary deposits of this locality may be divided into three horizons. The uppermost, about 14ft. thick, begins immediately beneath the vegetable soil, and has the aspect of a Diluvial loam (Loess). From 1 to 9 feet downwards it is more or less dark-coloured by the admixture of carbonaceous substances, and most of its lime has been washed away by percolating waters. Fossil bones are scarce. Remains of a large species of Bos have been found at a depth of about 7 or 8 feet; and the remains of Mammoth at 10 feet, close to where the skeleton of a Lion was met with, at a depth of 12 feet, some years ago. At about 12 feet the loam is very calca- reous, clear-yellow, fine-grained, and of tubular structure, without any trace of stratification or of plasticity. Not unfrequently it here con- tains Loess shells, as Pupa muscorum, Succinea oblonga, and species of Helix. This uppermost deposit is so situated that the nearest river (the Ocker) could reach it only when swollen exceptionally high ; and wind-action must have been essential to its formation, with occasional local floods after heavy rainfalls. In the second horizon, from about 14 to 22 feet depth, the material is, for the most part, a highly calcareous Diluvial marl. This in- cludes an abundance of flint pebbles, with both rolled and angular fragments of siliceous schist, Pliner limestone, granite, and quartz. A block of granite weighing about 20lbs. has been found at 16 feet depth,—a subangular fragment of Beyrichia limestone, bearing a distinct impression of Rhynchonella plicatella (Kloeden),—an Ostrea, possibly from the White Jura north of the Hartz,—and a number of small Belemnites (B. ultimus or B. minimus), much worn, are met with among these fragments. Most probably all these objects have been brought to their present situation, together with the flint imple- ments and fragments of charcoal,' by the swollen waters of the River Ocker. The rolled and angular fragments are derived from northern Diluvials, and in part from the Hartz and its outposts. The second horizon may be palzontologically designated as a “ Mammoth-deposit,” from the frequency of generally well-preserved remains of Hlephas primigenius. ‘These and the bones of Rhinoceros tichorhinus are fre- quently incrusted or agglutinated with calcareous concretions. Remains of Hyena spelea and of Cervus tarandus are scarcer than those of Equus caballus and of a species of Bos. The third horizon, called the “ Lemming-deposit,” from the preva- lence of the remains of this Rodent, reaches from 22 feet depth down to the clefts filled with gypsum, 30 to 35 feet, and at places 40 feet deep. The second and third horizons are connected by paleontological transitions. The prevalent fossil forms are Lemmings; in the upper portion Myodes lemmus, and in the lower part less frequently I/yodes torquatus. Arvicola gregalis is rather common. Bones of Reindeer 1 Rough stone axes under the soil, and flint implements and charcoal in the lower part of the Loess, were found at Thiede by Dr. Nehring, who also met with flint flakes, bits of charcoal, and split bones at Westeregeln. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. IV. ; 12 178 =Reviews—Geological Survey of England and Wales. and Arctic Foxes, both young and adult, are not rare, but much scattered. Remains of Equus, Arvicola ratticeps, A. amphibia (or Myodes Obensis), Lagomys sp., Lepus sp., Spermophilus sp., and of a species of Bat, seem to exclusively belong to the upper portion. The loam of this horizon contains a notable proportion of sand, and is divided into distinct horizontal strata, two to three centimétres thick, layers with coarse-grained sand generally alternating with beds either containing fine-grained sand, or quite loamy. Here and there large pebbles, up to the weight of 200 grammes, are found, but not so large nor so abundant as in the “Mammoth horizon.” The pro- portion of lime is rather considerable, and calcareous concretions are not of rare occurrence, especially in connexion with the fossil bones. III. Conclusions.—The ossiferous deposits of Thiede are essentially the result of violent currents of flood-waters. During the intervals between two inundations, winds, more frequent in the dry summer months, may have brought a considerable amount of sand and dust over this the exposed region, depositing these substances among the gypsum cliffs of Thiede. The effects of atmospheric currents are chiefly conspicuous in the upper horizon, less distinct in the lower- most, and not at all perceivable in the middle horizon. This assertion is proved, first, by. their high level above the present level of the nearest river ; secondly, by their petrographical constitution; thirdly, by their organic remains belonging nearly all to land-animals, and mostly to forms proper to Steppes, which are continually subject to subaérial accumulations of sand and dust, such as Von Richthofen has observed on a very large scale in the undrained Steppe-regions of Central Asia. The few traces of water-action may be explained by local inundations, in consequence of occasional heavy rains. If we suppose the “Lemming deposits” of Thiede to belong to the Glacial (and, if we admit two such periods, to the Second Glacial period), the middle and upper horizons at Thiede, as also the whole of the deposits at Westeregeln, should be ranked among those of the Post- _ glacial period, when Western and Central Europe had taken a more ue form, and certain regions were subjected to a dry Steppe- climate. d5% dah WE 26 IE WW SS - —_—_~>—_—_. I.—Tue GrotocicaL SurvrEy oF ENGLAND AND WALES. Tur Grotocy or THE N.W. Part or Essex, anp tHE N.B. Parr or Herts, with Parts oF CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND SurrFoLK. [ Ex- planation of Sheet 47 of the Geological Survey Map of England and Wales.| By W. Wuiraxer, W. H. Pennine, W. H. Datrton, and F. J. Bennett. 8vo. pp. 92. (London, 1878.) HE Geological Survey is gradually extending its labours over the northern and eastern counties; and there now remains not an English county which has not been partially surveyed, nor one of which some account has not been published “by order of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury.” Reviews—Geological Survey of England and Wales. 179 Two years ago we called attention (Gror. Mac. April, 1877) to a short memoir on the Geology of the eastern end of Hssex, by Mr. Whitaker ; we have now the pleasure of announcing the publi- cation of the above-mentioned work, by the same geologist, in conjunction with three colleagues. Most of the field-survey was done (we are told) by Mr. Penning; while Mr. Whitaker himself has performed the duties of editor, in his invariably careful and systematic style. ' Much of the country described is comparatively little known to geologists. It lies chiefly in Essex, including the towns of Braintree, Coggeshall, Dunmow, Halstead, Saffron Walden, Harlow, Thaxted, and Witham. In Hertfordshire is included the country around Bishop’s Stortford, Buntingford, Hertford, and Ware; in Cambridgshire, that around Linton and Royston; and in Suffolk, that around Haverhill, Long Melford, and Sudbury. The previous observers include the late Rev. W. B. Clarke, John Brown, of Stanway, J. Mitchell, Prof. Prestwich, and Mr. 8. V. Wood, Jun. Geologically the area consists of a great plain of Chalky Boulder- clay, beneath which, in the valleys, are exposed glacial sands and gravels, Tertiary deposits, and Chalk. In the north-western corner of the area a trace of Gault is exposed, and bordering this, near Royston, the Chalk stands out in comparatively bold hills: rising even to 550 feet above the sea-level at Tharfield, where capped by the Boulder-clay. About half the area beneath the Drift is occupied by Chalk, and nearly half by the London Clay, between which a belt of the Lower London Tertiaries, comprising Reading and Thanet Beds, has been traced, and not without considerable difficulty, owing to the covering of Drift. A detailed description of the various rocks in the numerous pits and cuttings examined, forms the main feature of this work; the initials of each observer being appended to his statements. Some disturbances in the Chalk are figured, in one of which cases the beds are tilted at an angle of 60°. Lists of fossils from the various pits are given on the authority of Mr. Etheridge. The account of the Reading Beds is partly re-printed from Mr. Whitaker’s Memoir on the London Basin. The description of the Thanet Beds is new, as they were only discovered in this area in 1878, during the progress of the Geological Survey. In the same year Mr. Whitaker also discovered traces of the Red Crag at Sudbury. A short description of these is given, with a list of the organic remains which were in the state of casts or impressions. Descriptions of the glacial deposits occupy about a third of the work. We should gladly have seen some more definite scheme of classification adopted for these beds, but we are told that “until the work of the Geological Survey in Norfolk and Suffolk is in a more advanced state, it is better for us not to commit ourselves to a scheme of classification, and to be content with the detailed mapping of the beds and their lithological description.” Such being the case, the work cannot possess so much interest for 180 Reviews—The Paleontographical Society’s Monographs. the general reader, but it comprises a valuable store of facts, supplemented in an Appendix with the record of a number of well- sections and borings; and these will be of both practical and scientific value to many living in the district, while they must also aid the theorist in his efforts to account for the formation of the deposits, more especially those belonging to the Glacial period. It will be remembered that in his Memoir on the Geology of the Fenland, Mr. Skertchly spoke with some confidence as to the classification of the Glacial deposits, and of the land-origin of the Chalky Boulder-clay. But we are not treated here to theoretical views. Mr. Penning tells us in regard to the Boulder-clay that it was evidently formed in one continuous sheet, that it rarely presents any signs of stratification, and that its main substance consists of material derived from the rocks at no great distance from the poimt where it may be observed—facts which coincide with those observed by Mr. Skertchly, and upon which, in part, he based his conclusions. TI.—MonoGRAPHS PUBLISHED BY THE PALHONTOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. Ato. vols. xxxi. and xxxii. 1877-8. N 1877 Mr. 8. V. Wood supplemented the Monograph of the Eocene Bivalve Molluscs, written by the late Mr. F. H. Edwards and himself, with valuable figures and descriptions, chiefly of Cyrene and Cyclades, so important in the history of the Woolwich and Reading beds. He also’added an instalment, unfortunately the last that he feels able to contribute, to the Monograph of the Hocene Gasteropods, commenced by the late Mr. Edwards, and continued by himself. Species of the genera Helix, Cyclostoma, Bulimus, Succinea, Bythinia, Planorbis, Limnea, Neritina, and Nerita, are the chief subjects of this memoir and its plate, which last has been well and characteristically drawn by Mr. G. B. Sowerby. Dr. Lycett continued his exhaustive Monograph on the Trigonie in 1877. Many of the Costate, and one of the Byssifere, together with several supplemental species, only lately come to hand, are described and beautifully figured in this part iv. Two specimens from Australia and Lebanon are given in woodcuts for comparison. The lithograph plates, by Lichtenbauer, are beautifully drawn, but give an unnaturally clean and smooth surface to the fossils. Dr. Traquair’s Monograph of the Carboniferous Fishes begins with the Palgoniscide for part i. (1877). It has an instructive Introduction, both geological and zoological; and treats of Cosmo- plychius striatus (Ag.); Elonichthys semistriatus, 'Traq.; HE. caudalis, Traq.; H. oblongus, Traq., and E. striolatus (Ag.) ; with seven most teaching and illustrative plates, lithographed from drawings made by Dr. and Mrs. Traquair. Professor Owen in 1877 enriched paleontology with a concise and masterly account of a great carpal spur or spine of the gigantic Omosaurus hastiger, from the Kimmeridge Clay, illustrated with large drawings ; and in 1878 he continued his Monograph on the Wealden and Purbeck Reptiles, with descriptions and numerous Reviews—The Paleontographical Society’s Monographs. 181 fine figures of remains of the Crocodilian genera Goniopholis, Petrosuchus, and Suchosaurus. ' Prof. A. Leith Adams supplied in 1877 the first portion of a much-wanted Monograph of the British Fossil Elephants. It consists of descriptions of the dentition and osteology of Elephas antiquus, Falconer; with a useful Introduction, and five excellent plates, by Griesbach. In 1878 Dr. T. Wright gave part viii. of his Monograph of the British Cretaceous Echinodermata, describing and figuring many species of Hpiaster, Micraster, Echinospatagus, Enalluster, and Car- diaster. Several of these are among our most common fossils, and have received so many dubious names and synonyms that both collector and student will now be delighted to have a definite system of nomenclature for use. The many figures in the eight plates are exquisitely, almost too delicately, rendered ; they were the last work of the lamented C. R. Bone. The Introduction, Index, and Title-page of Vol. I. of Dr. Wright’s Monograph of British Oolitic Echinoderms, began in 1857, also were issued in 1878. The completion of Dr. H. Woodward’s Monograph of the British Fossil Merostomata, in 1878, is a subject of congratulation to the _ Society, to the author, and to paleontologists. The comparatively rare occurrence of Pterygotus, Slimonia, Stylonurus, and Hurypterus, of their Limuioid allies, Bellinurus, Prestwichia, and Neolimulus, and of their obscure relation the Cyclus, all of Upper Paleozoic age, has been counterbalanced by the rather abundant specimens of distinctive fragments and even individuals of some of the species. © These precious evidences of extinct life happily attracted the attention of a Carcinologist who had opportunities and the will to study everything that had already been written on these fossils, and ‘to think and work anew among the increasing store of specimens brought under his notice, both in public collections, and by the courtesy and consideration of friends and fellow-workers. How freely some have helped, and how judiciously the author has availed himself of previous useful discoveries and labours, his Monograph clearly shows throughout; but more especially in the treatment and illus- trations of the larval Trilobites, after Barrande,—the larval Limulus, after Packard and Dohrn,—and the anatomy of Limulus, at large, after Owen. With this work off his mind, enriched with experience, and lightened with the pleasant thought of well-spent labour, Dr. H. Woodward will soon, we trust, contribute further Monographs on legions of Crustacean Fossils to the Paleeontographical Society. The willing concurrence of geologists in helping on the work of the Palzeontographical Society, so well shown, as above mentioned, in this Monograph, is equally apparent throughout all the Monographs yet published. The commencement of Prof. L. C. Miall’s Monograph of the Sirenoid and Crossopterygian Ganoids, in 1878, with 32 pages and six plates, Opens another pleasant vista to palichthyological students, like that promised by Dr. Traquair’s Monograph. The Introduction treats 182 Reviews—Dr. C. W. Giimbel’s Alpine Geology. of the real Ganoid Fishes, lucidly and systematically. The recent Lepidosiren and Protopterus are then described clearly and concisely. The study of the genus Ceratodus is taken up at page 18; and, after an illustrated account of the recent form, the fossil teeth from the Trias (one), Rheetic, and Great Oolite (one), (the plates for which hardly do justice to the specimens), are fully described and figured. Another valuable and longed-for Monograph had its commence- ment in 1878, namely, that on the Ammonites of the British Lias by Dr. T. Wright. Hight excellent plates of good specimens of the Ammonites, by A. Gawan, are published with this portion of the Monograph; but the text forms part only of the Geological Intro- duction, describing the succession and characters of the several strata, from the Rhzetic upwards. The Ammonites are referred to under the new generic names of Algoceras, Arietites, etc.; and the Lias is described according to its successional zones, as characterized by Ammonitic species, namely, Planorbis-zone, Angulatum-zone, Buck- landi-zone, Turneri-zone, etc. The Continental Lias is throughout carefully brought into comparison with that of Britain, and thus a vast amount of geological information is afforded. Additional Jurassic Brachiopoda have still turned up, and new observations on species already described have had to be made, so that the persistent energy and cultivated experience of our friend T. Davidson, F.R.S., had abundant matter at hand for the Sup- plement to his magnificent Monograph of British Brachiopoda ; and we have No. 2 of part ii. of vol. iv., with nearly 100 pages and 13 plates, in 1878. An elaborate Table (of nine pages) shows the dis- tribution of Triassic, Liassic, and Oolitic Brachiopoda in Britain ; and serves also as an Index to the Supplement, and in some measure to the Monograph also. These plates, like those already given, have been drawn by the accomplished author himself. “A Preliminary Treatise on the Relation of the Pleistocene Mammalia to those now living in Europe,” by Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, was published in 1878, as “ Part A” of the Monograph on the Pleistocene Mammalia of Britain, but a considerable part of it had been written in 1872. It is of very great interest, as well to the general reader as to the geologist. Chapter i. gives the definition of the successive ages, from the Historic back to the divisions of the Tertiary Period. Chapter ii. treats of the Wild and Domestic Animals of Great Britain and Ireland in Historic Times, especially the Cattle, and the effects made upon the inhabitants by changes in land, marsh, forest, etc.; a list of these Historic Mammalia is added. Chapter iii. notices the wild and domestic animals of the Continent during Historic Time, climatal changes, and conclusions.—T. R. J. JII.—A Snort Inrropuction to Aupinr Guronoey. By Professor Dr. C. W. Gimset, etc., etc. With numerous Illustrations. small 8vo. [Kurze Anleitung zu geologischen Beobachtungen in den Alpen; etc., etc. ] HIS very concise, clear, and yet fully expressive account of Alpine geology is really an admirable little geological manual, based on the structure and physical geography of the Alps. It is Reviews—Zittel’s and Schimper’s Paleontology. 183 the geological portion of the “Introduction to Scientific Observation in Alpine Journeys,” published by the German and Austrian Alpine Society. How to observe is the first thing taught, both as to rock-materials and the arrangement of strata in general, with their mineral veins, faults, and foldings, and their normal and abnormal successions. The relations of strata to the surface, the origin of springs, also glaciers, caves, etc., are duly noticed or referred to. Alpine structure is then entered upon; and the constituent groups of strata, from the “ primitive” or “archeolithic” upwards, with their chief characters and their leading fossils, are excellently well noted and illustrated. The specialities of Alpine rocks, strata, and fossils are next treated of, and shown by sections, etc., in order of stratal sequence from below upwards; so that nothing which a beginner, or even an advanced student, in geology ought to observe or look for, is omitted in this masterly résumé. We know that it is the work of an accomplished geological surveyor and experienced Alpine explorer. AW, Jt. Ue I1V.—Hanpsucu Der Patzontouociz. By Karl A. Zirren, Professor of Paleontology in the University of Munich, in conjunction with W. Ph. Scumpsr, Professor at the University of Strassburg, 8vo. vol. i. part ii. pp. 129-307, with 155 wood-engravings. (Munich, 1879.) r [ge second part of this excellent Manual of Paleontology will be welcomed by all students of the science, and the long delay in its appearance can be well forgiven when its cause is understood. The first part, dealing with the general principles of Paleontology, with the Foraminifera and with the Radiolaria, was issued in 1876, and there is thus an interval of between two and three years between the dates of publication of the first and second instalments of the work. The obstacle which gave rise to this apparently long delay is to be found in the fossil Sponges. When Prof. Zittel came to grapple with this portion of his subject, he found that it would be necessary either to content himself with a simple compilation of the known paleontological literature dealing with these organisms, or to attack this difficult group of fossils for himself, keeping his mind free from previous prejudices, and starting afresh upon a new basis of investigation. This latter alternative, fortunately for science, was the one finally adopted; and the re8ult is that the chaotic crowd of fossil sponges now stands ranked in regular series, their intimate structure more or less fully understood, and their relations ‘with living forms in many cases completely demonstrated. All zoologists will find cause, therefore, to rejoice that Prof. Zittel should have wisely decided rather to delay his work than to leave the sponges in the unsatisfactory condition in which he found them. From another point of view, it is interesting to note, as evidence of the rapid progress that Paleontology is making, that the author recognizes that the delay which has occurred has already rendered considerable alterations in the first part of the work a matter of necessity. Some of these alterations, such as those necessitated by 184 Reviews—Zittel’s and Schimper’s Paleontology. the appearance of Mr. H. B. Brady’s admirable monograph of the. Carboniferous and Permian Foraminifera, are so obvious as to call for no comment; but one might doubt the propriety of some of the others, in a work essentially professing to give only the generally accepted and settled facts of the science. One might doubt, for example, if Munier-Chalmas can be considered as having finally proved that Dactylopora, Gyroporella, and Acicularia, are really Alge; or if the researches of Mébius have conclusively demonstrated the mineral nature of Hozoén. There are, at any rate, very high authori- ties who would still be prepared to dispute both of these conclusions. The general plan of the present instalment of the work is pre- cisely the same as that adopted in the first part. Each group is considered first as regards its general characters ; then the classifica- tion and taxonomic divisions of the series are dealt with, all the genera being briefly but clearly defined, where their characters are thoroughly understood; and, finally, a short section is devoted to the subjects of geological range and phylogeny. No plan could be devised which would so largely meet the many wants of those who desire to enter upon a really scientific study of fossil organisms, and the manner in which it has been executed, as a rule, deserves the highest praise. The illustrations, without exception wood - en- gravings, are all good, and many wholly original ; and though some may miss the oveater delicacy and finish afforded by lithographs, most will appreciate the immense convenience of having the picture of the fossil side by side with its description in the text, and of thus being spared the labour of hunting up the figure in a remote series of plates at the end of the volume. The groups treated of in Part II. are the Sponges, the Corals, and the Hydrozoa. As regards the first of these, nothing need be said here, as all students of Zoology and Palzontology are already familiar with the beautifully illustrated memoirs on this group, which Professor Zittel has published in the Transactions of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the ‘Neues Jahrbuch fir Mineralogie”; and they know therefore how greatly they are in- debted to the author. Nor need much be said as regards the Corals ; the general treatment of which is in many respects greatly superior to anything to be found in previous manuals of Paleontology, and which has the merit of giving the student the most recent researches upon this subject in a condensed and readily available form. One cannot help recognizing, of course, that Professor Zittel is here not upon ground so thoroughly familiar to him as was the case with the fossil Sponges: and one may feel regret that in the laudable desire to embody the latest information in his work, he should sometimes’ have so implicitly relied upon writers whose investigations have not yet met with the general approval of their fellow-workers. One may, for example, doubt the propriety of admitting into a systematic work for general students the classification of the Rugose Corals proposed by Dybowski; while the total and absolute abolition of the old division of the Tabulata is certainly premature; and it would probably be difficult to bring forward any direct and positive scientific evidence in support of the definite reference of Syringopora, Reviews—Zittel’s and Schimper’s Paleontology. 185 Halysites, Aulopora, etc., to the Alcyonaria, and still less so if that reference places them in the Tubiporide. At the same time, it is quite unreasonable to expect that any writer of a systematic treatise on Paleontology should, now-a-days, possess an equal, detailed, personal knowledge of all the departments of the science, and with this consideration in one’s mind, it is impossible to refuse high commendation to the section of his work which Professor Zittel has devoted to the Corals. What has been said above as to the Corals will apply with equal cogency to the portion of the volume which deals with the Hydrozoa. The general treatment of the subject is excellent; and even an ill-natured critic would find it difficult to detect other fault than that the author, in accepting the results of the latest investigations, does not, perhaps, sufficiently indicate to the student that these investigations have by no means always received the general endorsement of other high authorities in the same field. For instance, it can hardly be said that Parkeria has been proved to be really of calcareous composition, and of Hydrozoal affinities. It is probable, at any rate, that well-known names could still be cited in support of an entirely opposite view; and in cases which no one but a specialist can decide, it would seem advisable to indicate that divergences of opinion still exist, and that the question ought to be looked upon by the student as one not yet finally solved. Again, the reference of the Stromatoporoids to the Hydrocoralline, in close association with Millepora, might have been more clearly indicated as a purely provisional arrangement, rendered unavoidable by the absolute necessity of placing extinct groups somewhere in the zoological series. No one, probably, would be more ready than the accomplished author to admit that, in spite of what has been done of late years, the entire subject of the structure and affinities of these obscure and difficult fossils has yet to be worked out to a fully satisfactory conclusion; and it would perhaps have been better if this admission had been explicitly made. Upon these and many other points of a like nature, wide differences of opinion will, and ought, to exist for a long time to come; and it is not altogether unreasonable to think that these differences might with advantage have been more fully recognized in the work before us. No impartial critic, however, can refuse his tribute of admira- tion in dealing with the work as a whole. It is only as a whole that a treatise of this kind ought to be judged, and from this point of view it would be difficult to award too great praise to the manner in which Professor Zittel has so far carried out his portion of the work. It will be, when completed, incontestably, the best systematic treatise on Paleontology, of its kind, in existence; and no paleon- tological or zoological student can afford to be without it, if he should wish to enter upon any serious investigation into his subject. From a patriotic point of view, one can only regret that the time has not yet come at which it would be possible to induce any British publisher, with any reasonable expectation of pecuniary profit, to undertake the publication of a similar work. EE AG Ne 186 Reports and Proceedings—The Geological Congress. ARIES OVSyeuS) ANAND) IS IsyO(Gsaapapo aes r= ———SSSS ].—Tue InTERNATIONAL GronocicaL Coneress, Paris, 1878. HE International Congress of Geologists held in Paris during the month of September last seems not to have attracted the amount of attention in England that it deserved ; the proceedings of the Congress were by no means devoid of interest, and, indeed, were of some considerable importance, inasmuch as several very valuable papers were read and discussed ; attention was also directed to cer- tain lines of geological inquiry now urgently requiring the earnest study and consideration of all geologists. On the whole, the Conference was very successful, and arrange- ments were made for holding such gatherings triennially, a great number of the members present pledging themselves to work at certain questions and to present reports embodying the results of their labours at the next Conference, which it was decided should be held at Bologna in October, 1881. The small amount of notice which the Congress here attracted was probably mainly due to the fact that it took place almost imme- diately after the meeting of the British Association, and at a time when many other gatherings of a somewhat similar nature were being held; many persons were doubtless surfeited with scientific picnics, and others were, at that time, compelled to start for their real holiday excursions, if they wished to take advantage of the short amount of autumn weather then remaining to them. The Congress was opened at the palace of the Trocadero on Thurs- day, August 29, under the Presidency of M. Bardoux, Minister for Public Instruction; there were from 350 to 400 persons present, including amongst their number many of the leading geologists from all parts of Europe and America; at this meeting the Council of Management was elected, with this was incorporated the members of the original committee, appointed at the Philadelphia Exhibition in 1876, viz. Messrs. E. De Baumhuer, J. W. Dawson, James Hall, C. H. Hitchcock, Sterry Hunt, T. H. Huxley, Lesley, J.S. Newberry, R. Pumpelly, W. B. Rogers, and Otto Torell. The following Members of the Congress, who were all present, with the exception of the English representative, were elected to serve on the Council, viz. : President: Pror. M. HEBERT, Parts. Vice-Presidents : For England ..» « Mr. THos. Davipson, F.R.S., Brighton. », Australasia ... ... Prof. Liversipex, Sydney. » Belgium... ... ... Prof. Dz Koninox, Liége. » Canada... ... .. Dr. Srerry Hunt, F.R.S., Boston. », Denmark ... ... Dr. J. SrEENstRUP, Copenhagen. 9» Spain ... ... «. Prof. Vintanoya, Madrid, », United States ... Prof. J. Hatt, New York. », France ... ... .«. Prof. DavBréxz, Ecole des Mines, Paris. Reports and Proceedings—The Geological Congress. 187 For France see ace Prof. A. GAupry, Mus. d’histoire Naturelle, Paris. » Hungary ... ... Prof. Szaso, Buda Pesth. » ltaly ... ... ... Prof. Carezyini, Bologna. » Netherlands ... ... M. van Baumuauer, Haarlem. », Portugal see eee M. Riperro, Lisbon. », Roumania ... ... Prof. SrepHanEsco, Bucharest. », Russia ... ... ... Prof. Dz Moruuer, St. Petersburg. », Sweden and Norway Dr. Orro Toretx, Stockholm. » Switzerland ... ... Prof. Favre, Geneva. Council : Messrs. BARRANDE, J., Prague, Bohemia. Briart, M.A., Pres. of the Geological Society of Brussels. CHAMBERLAIN, Dir. of the Geol. Survey of Wisconsin, U.S.A. Coox, G. H., Dir. Geol. Survey of New Jersey. DewatavE, Prof. of Geology, Liége. Drevrarait, Prof. of Geology, Marseilles. Duvont, Dir. Natural History Museum, Brussels. GossELET, Prof. of Geology, Lille. Hanxs, J., San Francisco. » Hantxen, Dir. Geol. Institute, Hungary. Hetuanp, Delegate from Norway. Inostranzorr, Prof. of Geology, St. Petersburg. JaccarD, Prof. of Geology, Newfchatel. Grorpano, Inspector General of Mines, Italy. Lenntrer, Dir. of the Museum, Havre. Lorton, Geneva. Lory, Prof. of Geology, Grenoble. LunpeRren, Prof., University of Lund. Mataiss, Delegate from the Royal Academy of Sciences, Brussels. Martueron, Marseilles. Maver, Prof., University of Zurich. Monrimre, Prof. of Geology, Caen. Pixar, Prof. of Geology, University of Agram. Prrona, Delegate from the Institute of Venice. ReEneEvIER, Prof. of Geology, Lausanne. Saporta (Comte de), Corr. Member of the Institute of France. Sea, late Minister for Public Works, Italy. Sretwyn, A., F.R.S., Dir. of the Geological Survey of Canada. Strovor, Prof. of Geology, Rennes. Wrykter, Dr. T. C., Haarlem. Secretaries—Messrs. Broccu1, DELAIRE, SAUVAGE, and VELAIN. Treaswrer—A. BIOcHE. General Secretary—A. JANNETTAZ. The propositions specially laid down, and previously published in the programme, for the consideration of the Congress, were the following :— 1. The unification of geological signs (é.e. colours and con- ventional signs). 2. The discussion of various questions relative to the limits and characters of certain formations. 3. The representation of faults and veins. 4, The respective values of the fauna and flora in defining beds. 5. On the value of the mineral composition and texture of rocks in determining their origin and age. Some thirty and odd papers bearing more or less closely upon the above propositions were read and discussed. 188 Reports and Proceedings—The Geological Congress. At the last meeting international commissions were appointed to consider certain propositions, and to report upon them at the meeting to be held at Bologna in 1881. Two of them are matters of the utmost importance to geologists, and if they be well and honestly worked out, the results should prove of the greatest use and benefit to Science. 1. An International Committee for the Unification of Geological Signs, composed as follows :— For England ..- w.» Prof. T. McKenny Hucuss, Cambridge. » Australasia ... ... Prof. Lryersipez, University of Sydney. » Belgium... ... ... M. Duponz, Dir. of Nat. Hist. Mus., Brussels. 5 Camack, ... Mr. Setwyn, F.R.S., Dir. Geol. Survey, Canada. » Spain and Portugal M. Rreerro, Dir. of the Geol. Survey of Portugal. », United States ... Mr. Lestey, Dir. Geol. Survey of Pennsylvania. » France ... ... .. M.D Cuancourrors, Ecole des Mines, Paris. », Hungary .- eo M. Dr Hanrxen, Dir. Geol. Inst. Hungary. » Italy ... ... ... M. Grorpana, Rome. » Russia ... ... .. M.D Moztusr, University of St. Petersburg. » Scandinavia ... .. M. Orro Torztt, Dir. Geol. Survey of Sweden. 5, switzerland ... ... Prof. Renrvrer, Lausanne. 2. The Committee for the Unification of Geological Nomenclature is as follows :— For England... ...... Prof. T. McKenny Hueuss, Cambridge. », Australasia ... ... Prof. Liversipex, Sydney. », Canada ... ... .. Dr. Srerry Hunv, Boston, U.S. », Spain and Portugal Prof. Viruanova, Madrid. », United States ... Prof. J. Haut, New Jersey. » France ... ... .. M. Hisert, Paris. », Hungary we ae Prof, Szaso, Buda Pesth. A italy fie ee eee a ecot CO keEnEiny wholosma: >», Roumania ... ... Prof. SrepHanzEsco, Bucharest. » Russia ... 2. «. Prof. INosrranzorr, St. Petersburg. », Scandinavia ... ... Prof. LunpGren, Lund. », Switzerland ... ... Prof. A. Favre, Geneva. The members of these international commissions are charged with the formation of local committees in their respective countries ; each committee is to have the power to choose its own president and secretaries. The reports of the committees are to be forwarded to the central committee at Bologna by January 1st, 1881, which is charged with the duty of printing and distributing the same before the opening of the Congress in the October of that year. The French Government has undertaken to print the Proceedings and Papers of the first session of the Geological and other Congresses (some 30 in number) held during the Paris Exhibition. The Geological Society of France threw open its rooms to the Members of the Congress, not only during the actual week of the meeting, but for some time both before and after. Arrangements were made also for several very interesting geological excursions, which were well attended, and went off very pleasantly and suc- cessfully. A very notable and useful feature in the arrangements for the Congress was the publication and gratuitous distribution of a very full and valuable “ Guide” to the Geological and Mineralogical Col- Reports and Proceedings—Geological Society of London. 189 lections at the Exhibition, and to the various public and private col- lections in Paris ; this book, consisting of about 160 pages, described the principal features of the different collections—the plan that ac- companies it indicated the positions of the geological exhibits in the building; without this “Guide” many of the collections scattered over the vast building on the Champs de Mars might easily have been overlooked even by the most careful. The book is divided into three parts,—the first part treats of the geological collections according to their range in time, or as it is headed—“ Stratigraphical Geology ;” the second part treats of the collections according to the countries from which they were sent ; whilst the third division of the book is devoted to the mineral collections and mineralogical apparatus. . The Organizing Committee for the next meeting at Bologna in 1881 is composed as follows : Patron—His Masesty tHE Kine or I[taty. Honorary President—M. Suwa, President of the Academy, Rome. Messrs. Caprtuini1, The Museum, Bologna. Gastatp1, Prof. of Geology, Turin. TaRAMELLI, Prof. of Geology, Pavia. Ompont, Prof. of Geology, Padua. Meneeurnt, Prof. of Geology, Pisa. Ponzi, Prof. of Geology, Rome. Giorpana, Chief Engineer of Mines, Rome. Guiscarp1, Prof. of Geology, Naples. GrEMMELLARO, Prof. of Geology, Palermo. Dz Prrona, Prof. of Geology, Venice. The Italian Government and the Municipality of Bologna have offered their assistance in making arrangements for the reception and convenience of the members of the Congress during their stay in Bologna. II. Gzoroeicar Socrery or Lonpon.—I.—Annual General Meeting. February 21st, 1879. Henry Clifton Sorby, Hsq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Reports of the Council and of the Library and Museum Committees for the year 1878 were read and ordered to be printed. The Wottasron Gold Medal was awarded by the Council to Prof. Bernard Studer, F'.M.G.S., “the father of Swiss Geology.” The Murcuitson Bronze Medal to Prof. M‘Coy, of Melbourne University. The Lyrtt Gold Medal was awarded to Prof. E. Hébert, of Paris, for his investigations of the Cretaceous formation, ete. The Brespy Gold Medal to Prof. E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia. The “ Wollaston Donation Fund” was awarded to Mr. Samuel Allport, F.G.S., of Birmingham, in aid of his researches in the Microscopical Structure of Rocks. The ‘Murchison Geological Fund” was awarded to Mr. J. W. Kirkby, of Leven, Fife, N.B., in aid of his researches in the faunas of the Magnesian Limestone and the Carboniferous strata. The “Lyell Fund” was awarded in equal moieties to Prof. H. Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., F.G.S., of St. Andrews, for his various 190 Reports and Proceedings—Geological Society of London. and important researches in Paleozoic Paleontology : and to Dr. H. Woodward, F.R.S8., in recognition of his work on Fossil Crustacea, ete. The President then proceeded to read his Anniversary Address, which was devoted to the examination of the structure of limestones, and the means presented, especially by optical investigation, for determining the origin of their constituent particles. II.—February 26, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Hsq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.— The following communications were read :— 1. A copy of a Letter from the late Acting Governor of the Falkland Islands, relating to the overflow of a peat-bog near Port Stanley, in Hast Falkland. Communicated by H.M. Secretary of State for the Colonies. 2. “Note on Poitkilopleuron Bucklandi, of Kudes Deslongchamps (pere), identifying it with Megalosaurus Buckland.” By J. W. Hulke, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. The author stated that the genus Potkilopleuron was founded by Deslongchamps, after much hesitation, to receive some Megalosauroid fossils found in a quarry near Caen; and that he gave them the specific name “‘ Bucklandi”’ with the view of facilitating the union of the two genera, should this be found necessary. ‘The author reviewed the evidence on which the genus Pozkilopleuron rests, indicating the close resemblance of the remains to those of Megalosaurus, and showing that a medullary cavity exists in the vertebre of the latter, thus getting rid of the most important difference between the two supposed genera. The author’s con- clusion was that Poikilopleuron and Megalosaurus Bucklandi were identical. 2. “Note on a Femur and a Humerus of a small Mammal from the Stonesfield Slate.” By H. G. Seeley, Hsq., F.L.8., F.G.S., Professor of Geography in King’s College, London. The author described a small femur and humerus preserved in slabs of Stonesfield Slate in the collection of the British Museum, to which they were presented many years ago by Mr. Pease Pratt. The bones nearly correspond in size, and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the author preferred to regard them as possibly be- longing to the same animal. From their characters the author was inclined to associate them with the jaw known as Phascolotherium, and to believe that they represented a special, probably insectivorous, monotreme type, with indications of marsupial tendencies, such as, on the hypothesis of evolution, might well be expected to occur early in the development of the Mammalia. 3. “A Review of the British Carboniferous Fenestellide.” By G. W. Shrubsole, Esq., F.G.S. In this paper the author gave the results of his investigation of the Fenestellide from the upper beds of the Carboniferous Lime- stone on Halkin Mountain, in Flintshire. He stated that the de- scribed Carboniferous species of Fenestella now number 24, of which Correspondence—Mr. James W. Davis. 191 he has been able to examine 19, and finds that they have been needlessly multiplied, owing especially to the neglect on the part of describers to allow for difference in the structure at various stages of growth and in different parts of the polyzoarium. His investiga- tions led him to refer the forms known to him to only 5 species, namely, Fenestella plebeia, M‘Coy, F. crassa, M‘Coy, F. polyporata, Phill., F. nodulosa, Phill., and F. membranacea, Phill, CORRES PONDHNCE. — THE CALDER VALLEY. Sir,—Will you permit me to thank my friend Mr. Dakyns for drawing the attention of your readers to two or three particulars having reference to the physical forces which have caused the con- figuration of the Valley of the Calder. He is puzzled by the statement that heather and peat are found above sandstones, and that the heather does not grow on limestones or shale or clay, further observing that he has generally noticed the peat underlain by a bed of yellowish clay, very similar to the underclay of a coal-seam. Of course, Mr. Dakyns is correct. I do not suppose any one would expect to find any plants, except lichens, growing on a bare mass of rock. The disintegration of the sandstone by atmospherical agencies, and the decay of organic matter, will tend to form a soil in which the heather can take root, and which may eventually assume the appearance indicated by Mr. Dakyns. Taking the facts, however, in the broad sense which I intended in the paper, we do find that the heather grows only on the moorlands constituted of sand or gritstone. I-could quote numerous instances where a sharp line can be drawn between the sandstones and shales which form the surface stratum, by the occurrence or otherwise of heather growing above it, and I am sure it is unnecessary to remark that heather is not a characteristic plant on limestones. I did not intend that any geological beginner should imagine that the present faces of the corresponding escarpments of the Yorkshire and Lancashire grits were ever in contact, and I venture to think that the purport of the paper will show that a constant change of form is in progress, and that the rock escarpments are always subject to the disintegrating action of water or frost. There can be little doubt, also, that the original faces of the rocks would be borne further and further from the centre of operations at the time that the elevation took place, and that some part of the distance by which the opposing escarpments are separated at present is due to this cause. I am afraid my reasons for considering that the drift or gravels in the Valley of the Calder have been transported to their present position during a period of submergence would occupy more space than could be devoted to a letter, and with your kind permission I _ will defer stating them to some future time. Cuzvinepce, Hauirax, February 19th, 1879. James W. Davis. 192 Correspondence—Prof. Edward Hull. THE DEVONIAN QUESTION. Sir,—It is with much pleasure I have read Mr. Champernowne’s communication on “The Devonian Question” (Gro. Macazine, March, p. 125). Knowing how sedulously he has been studying the Devonshire rocks for some years past, 1 regard his opinion as of great value; and, therefore, when I find it to be confirmatory of the views I ventured to suggest, J am strengthened in the belief that they are (to use Mr. Champernowne’s own words) “in the main legitimate deductions from the facts, and not mere theory.” The evidence which Mr. Champernowne has adduced of the Silurian affinities of the Foreland Sandstones is of much importance at the present time—because it bears by a reflex process of reasoning on the question of the age of the supposed representative beds—those of the Glengarriff and Dingle series in the South of Ireland; a question which is still sub judice. As regards the suggested unconformity at the base of the Pickwell Down Sandstone, it is in no way necessary to my argument; and I am quite content to abandon the idea on the statements of two of my friendly critics. But I would suggest to Mr. Champernowne, in reference to the difficulty he feels regarding the S. Wales district (Professor Geikie’s ‘“ Welsh Lake’), whether there may not be a break between the “Pebbly beds and Conglomerate” and the «‘ Cornstone ” series, etc., of Monmouthshire (‘“Siluria,” 4th edit. p- 245), the former of which I cannot but regard as the equivalent of the Pickwell Down Sandstone. As Mr. Champernowne has anticipated my reply to Mr. Hall and Mr. Ussher (though probably the latter has by this time discovered that he had entirely misunderstood the purport of my paper), it is scarcely necessary that I should add anything to his statements. I will, therefore, only ask him in conclusion to weigh the evidence I have adduced in the same number of the Gron~ogicaL MaAGaziInE, p- 129, for believing that the Red Sandstone and Conglomerate of the South of Ireland, which passes up into Griffith’s “‘ Yellow Sandstone,” is really the representative of the true “Old Red Sandstone” of other districts, and not merely the base of the Car- boniferous Series. Epwarp Hutt. Dus, 10th March, 1879. MIiISCHiIDAN HOUS. —~+.__—_ Fosstts FRoM THE Diamond Freips, Sourn Arrica.—Mr. George J. Lee, of Kimberly, Griqua-land West, has forwarded, through His Excellency Colonel Lanyon, the Governor of the Colony, to Sir Joseph D. Hooker, C.B., for presenta; tion to the British Museum, part of a carbonized! branch of a Coniferous tree (found 195 feet below the surface in Claim 196); a fragment of a fossil fish (Paleoniscus) of Triassic age; and four casts of portions of the vertebral columns and ribs, and a foot of small Dicynodont reptiles, preserved as hollow moulds, in finely laminated and friable shale. Also numerous pyritised bodies, possibly replacing some organism. The Reptilian remains have been submitted to Prof. Owen, C.B., who will notice them more fully hereafter. ‘The fossil wood will be examined by | Mr. W. Carruthers, F.R.S. 1 Resembling charcoal in its mineral condition. THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. NEW SERIES. DECADE II. VOL. VI. No. V.—MAY, 1879. (Disa MCIN (Ya, Sy any Galas ed T.—On tHe Discovery oF A SPECIES OF JGUANODON IN THE KIMMERIDGE CLAY NEAR OXFORD; AND A NOTICE OF A VERY FosstLtirERous BanD OF THE SHOTOVER SANDS. By Prof. Prestwicu, M.A., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., ete. N interesting discovery has just been made in this district. A i short time since some workmen from Cumnor brought to the Museum a basketful of bones which they said they had found in digging the clay at the brick works, now in course of large exten- sion, at Cumnor Hurst, three miles west of Oxford. On cleaning the specimens, the characteristic vertebre and teeth of Iquanodon were recognized. A large number of the vertebre are entire, but the jaw is in fragments, with many teeth, however, in position. The skull is wanting, except a small fragment. One of the feet, with the claws, is almost complete. The larger bones are almost all broken, but we hope to be able to reunite many of the fragments, as there is reason to believe that the skeleton was entire or nearly so. The smaller bones and the extremities of the larger bones are in a beautiful state of preservation. It is a smaller animal than the Wealden Iguanodon Mantelli, but whether owing to age or difference of species remains to be determined. It seems to me to indicate a different species, with smaller and more delicately-formed bones.! On visiting the place, I found that the specimens had been met with in driving a tramway into the side of the hill, where new pits are being opened out. Consequently a cutting only a few feet wide was made, and which, at the spot where the bones were found, was about seven feet deep. The clay was bare at the top, though a little dis- turbed. ‘The bones were found at a depth of about four feet, in a thin seam, two or three inches thick, of yellow sandy clay, and they had extended part of the way across the cutting. A further portion of the skeleton may therefore remain in the undisturbed beds on one side. There is reason to believe that some portion of the bones were carted away, but I hope these may yet be traced ; while, with the obliging assistance of the manager of the works, a watch will be kept on the clay at the sides when it has to be removed. 1 The Scelidosaurus Harrisoni, Owen, from the Lias of Lyme Regis, is closely allied to Iguanodon, but is much smaller; so also is the Acanthopholis horridus, Huxley, from the Grey Chalk of Dover. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. V.. 13 194 Prof. Prestwich—Discovery of Iguanodon in Kimmeridge Clay. The thin sandy seam, being very conspicuous in the dark clay, can be traced on the side of the cutting (which deepens gradually as it proceeds further into the side of the hill) in a position nearly horizontal but slightly waved, until it is lost under about ten feet of the clay. In the part over the bone seam, where the men are now digging, I found a few perfectly characteristic shells of the Kimmer- idge Clay, such as Ewxogyra virgula, Cardium striatulum, Thracia depressa, Ammonites biplex, together with Lima pectiniformis, and Serpule. A pit a few yards further on showed an additional six feet of clay, overlaid by the ferruginous sands, the equivalent of the Shotover beds, but without any organic remains. There can be no doubt, therefore, of the position of this remark- able fossil, which shows that the Iguanodon, or some closely allied Dinosaur, was not confined to the Lower Cretaceous and Wealden beds, but existed during the period of the Kimmeridge Clay. Nothing else besides a few fragments of drifted wood indicates the neighbourhood of dry land, unless the thinning off of this formation to less than 100 feet in this district be due to the approach to an old shore-line, and not to the removal of higher beds by denudation. With the later setting in of the Shotover sands, with their shells (Unio, Paludina, Cyrena) and plants (ferns and numerous remains of reeds and grasses), we pass into well-marked land and freshwater conditions, but at Shotover the sands of the Portland series inter- vene between the two. It is probable, however, that the same old land surface, indicated by the latter, was, during the Kimmeridge period. only a short distance further off, and that its gradual rise finally displaced the Portland sea in the Oxford area. We might therefore have had continuity of land conditions and consequently of the land fauna from the Kimmeridge to the Lower Greensand period. I may take this opportunity to mention, for the information of any geologists who may be visiting the classical district of Shotover Hill, that the above-named freshwater mollusca, which are so rare in the old pits above Headington at the west.end of the hill, occur abundantly at the east end of the hill near Wheatley. About three years since, a pit was opened for the extraction of yellow ochre and iron ore, some 200 or 300 yards west of Wheatley windmill. It was twelve feet deep, and consisted of beds of rubbly iron sandstone, impure limonite, and yellow ochre. At the depth of about seven or eight feet a thin seam of iron sandstone, at the base of the main bed, six to eight inches thick, was literally full of casts and impressions of » these shells—chiefly Cyrena and Paludina; while another thin band ~ was covered with ripple markings and matted with indeterminable plant impressions. Soon afterwards, however, owing to the fall in the value of iron and the other products, the pit was, unfortu- nately for geologists, closed, and has since been filled in; but there still remains on the opposite side of the lane an old pit in which the same shelly seam may be found, though not so well developed and continuous. The only addition to the fauna of these Shotover Sands made since the publication of Prof. Phillips’ “ Geology of the Neigh- Dr. Lycett—On Trigonia Elise, from the Greensand. 195 bourhood of Oxford,” etc., is by Prof. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., who found inasmall slab of the Ironstone a few bivalved Entomostraca, which he refers to a species of Candona, and four species of Cypridea. They are described in the Grou. Mac., 1878, Decade II. Vol. V. pp. 100 and 277. They are Wealden species. P.S.—Since writing the above, I have taken a few of the remains up to the British Museum, where they have been submitted to ex- amination and comparison by Mr. William Davies, F.G.S., who has kindly pointed out to me that there are, among these, portions of jaws with successional teeth; dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebra, scapula, humeri, pelvic bones, portions of femora, fibule, astragalus, phalanges; and other bones not yet determined. Mr. Davies has no doubt that the remains are those of a young Iguanodon, the epiphyses of the limb-bones being unanchylosed.—J.P. If.—On Teiconia Etis%z#—Cornet AnD Briart.! By Dr. Lycert. HE Whetstones (Meule) of Bracquegnies, Belgium, are upon the _ same geological horizon (zone of Ammonites inflatus, Sow.) and are identical lithologically with the well-known Whetstones of Blackdown ; like to the latter deposits they are characterized by the prevalence of Trigonie which are allied to, but are for the most part not strictly identical with the species of Devonshire. The Trigonia Hlisg, Cornet and Briart, herewith figured, is allied to and equals in Trigonia Elise, Cornet and Briart.—Greensand, Bracquegnies, Belgium. i {ape sah pobrite Fic. 1. Side view. Fic. 2. Umbonal view. abundance the well-known T. aliformis, Park., of Blackdown, and is the Belgian representative of that group of Trigonig. Like the Devon species it is remarkable for the great length of the hinge- border, and the produced, attenuated posterior side, with its short siphonal border; but is without the anteal inflation of the valves and the peculiarities of the eoste which distinguish T. aliformis, Park. For the latter, see Monograph of British Fossil Trigoniz, Palzontographical Society, 1877, pl. 28, figs. 5, 5a. : Another abundant Trigonia at Bracquegnies is the T. dedalea of Cornet and Briart. This differs from the well-known common 1 Cornet and Briart, Description de la Meule de Bracquegnies, Mémoires Couronnes et Mem. des savant Etrangers, Acad. Royal de Belgique, t. xxxiv. 1868. 196 Dr. H. Woodward—On Eurypterus Scouleri, Hibbert. Blackdown form bearing the same name, but is identical with a large variety of that species which has occurred rarely in the Whet- stones of Little Haldon, figured as T. dedalea, var. confusa, in the Monograph above quoted, pl. 23, fig. 1. Fine examples of the latter form are exhibited upon the tablets of the British Museum as T. dedalea, Park. Other Trigonie occur in the Belgian beds, but the two here alluded to are the most abundant and characteristic species. III.—Norers on Patmozoro Crustacea. Euryerervs ScouLeri, HiBBErt. By Henry Woopwarp, LL.D., F.R.S., etc. (PLATE YV.) MONG the many relics of Paleozoic life-forms which the Carboniferous formation has yielded to the palontologist, none is more remarkable than ‘“Scouler’s Hidothea,” or the Hury- pterus Scouleri of Hibbert. This fossil Crustacean is of itself sufficiently bizarre in aspect to arrest the notice of even the most casual observer, whilst its geo- logical history is equally curious. The Carboniferous epoch, however, is rich in interest; for it is, above all others, that, at which the ideal boundary-line for the Biologist should be drawn, which marks more clearly than any other the incoming of the recent, and the outgoing of the extinct faunas of our globe. As we scan the record of these old Carboniferous rocks, so rich in organic remains, we seem to stand on some lofty beacon-hill, whence | we can cast our glance upwards and downwards along the stream of Time. Beneath our feet lie buried the last representatives of those aboriginal races, now quite extinct, the Trilobita and the Eurypterida, whose ancient hosts peopled the seas of the Devonian and Silurian ages, and reached far away into the Cambrian epoch. Beside them lie the earliest representatives known of our modern Decapoda, Stomapoda, and Isopoda, then but few and feeble, but now the dominant races of the Crustacean class. Eurypterus Scouleri is the last representative of the extinct Eury- pterida—probably the only order in the class Crustacea which have really died out. For the modification necessary to convert the extinct order Trilobita into its modern representative order, the Tsopoda, seems a far lesser metamorphosis of organs than that needed to transform the aquatic branchiated order Eurypterida into the . terrestrial pulmonated Arachnida (Scorpionide) ; yet not only these, but many other similar modifications, resulting in the extinction of the older type and the extension of the newer form, have doubtless taken place since the Carboniferous epoch. This last species of Hurypterus, of which our plate affords an at- tempted restoration, has been fully described, so far as the materials existing admitted, in a Monograph on the Merostomata, by the writer. (See Pal. Soc. Mons. 1866-78. Part IV. 1872, pp. 133-189.) GEOL. MAG. 1879. New SERIES. Dec. II. Vou. VI. Pl. V. NSS ss Hurypterus Scoulert, Hibbert, 1836. (Restored.) Lower Carboniferous Freshwater Limestone. KIRKTON, NEAR BATHGATE, WEST LOTHIAN. Fig. 1. Dorsal view. Fig. 2. Side view. cig uM nll , a aya cad a Sam b on be (a ), AN vegies Be Ok gag Th spire CQ Re Fh indy Te tinct ; ys mong | Lae PS ARR Nae Ry 4 i he aaa i E Uo ah way ae a aes bas a \ AY a) by 5 . 1 Gatien AEST ORD gS NR Bh ate Dr. H. Woodward—On Eurypterus Scouleri, Hibbert. 197 Fic. 3. Euryprerus Scoutert, Hibbert, 1836. (Under side restored.) Fig. 2. Antenne. 3. Mandibles. 4. Ist Maxille. 5. 2nd Maxille. 6. Maxillipeds; serving in this order as the chief locomotory organs. m. The metastoma or post-oral plate. 7. The thoracic plate or operculum, covering the branchie. Figs. i-vii. The head-shield.! Figs. viii. and ix. are concealed by the operculum. Figs. x.—xix. Thoracico-abdominal somites destitute of any appendages. Fig. xx. The telson; or tail-spine. For dorsal view, see Pl. V. 1 As the antennules in the Eurypterida are, theoretically, considered to be aborted, the head- shield would be really composed of the 7 cephalic and the Ist thoracic somites; but the Roman numerals only indicate the number of somites coalesced in the head-shield which are actually represented by paired appendages, reckoning the optic segment as the first, and the thoracic plate or operculum as the seventh, 198 Dr. H. Woodward—On Eurypterus Scouleri, Hibbert. It was pointed out at that time (1872) that this singular species: “presents many anomalies and considerable divergence from the type-form of Eurypterus remipes,” De Kay, from the U. Silurian of New York. “Tn the curious form of the eyes, elevated above the carapace, upon a round base or peduncle, and in the singular bifurcating median ridges, or crests between the eyes, we are reminded of Stylonurus Scoticus; but the rounded, almost hemispherical head- shield, finds its analogue alone in the carapace of the modern Limulus. In point of size, HE. Scouleré claims a place among the largest of the Meroestomata.” (op. cit. p. 138.) : Our restoration is based upon an acquaintance with two separate heads—one of which is almost completely perfect, and has the two most anterior segments attached to it; and a body, made up of the eight hindmost body-rings, all duly united and showing both upper ‘and lower surface entire, and preserved in the round. Of the mouth organs we only know the basal joints imperfectly, from a specimen of a head in Mr. James Powrie’s collection, which we were permitted to develope upon the under side; but from the entire absence of appendages to the body-segments, we are justified in concluding that its mouth organs also subserved the office of locomotory appendages, as in the rest of this singular order. From the form of its body there can be little doubt that its habit was aquatic and not terrestrial, for we have detected the thoracic plate which must have covered the branchiz, and there is no evidence of trachzeal openings in the body-segments. But, on the other hand, there seems good geological evidence for concluding that Hurypterus Scoulert was an inhabitant of freshwater. The following description of the locality whence it was derived is most suggestive :— The specimens are from a quarry at Kirkton, near Bathgate, West Lothian, which, it would appear, is not in the Coal-measures proper, but in the Carboniferous Limestone. The bed is described in a Memoir by Dr. Hibbert, upon certain freshwater limestones (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinb., vol. xiii. 1836). ‘“‘ A mile or two to the east of Bathgate, at Kirkton, we find that a very considerable outbreak of Greenstone has occurred. Close to it on the west appears the limestone of Kirkton. By this contiguity, we are assured that the limestone must have been elaborated within _ the immediate sphere and influence of an extensive volcanic eruption. The consequence has been that one of the most unique formations of which Great Britain can boast has been formed, indicative of thermal waters, belonging to the Carboniferous epoch. “A decidedly freshwater formation is thus exposed, which is characterized by the absence of all marine shells, corallines, etc., and the presence of the well-known vegetable-remains of the Coal forma- tion. “ But the remarkable circumstance in this limestone is its minera- logical character, indicative of the very powerful chemical action under which it was elaborated. This chemical action appears to Prof. T. G. Bonney—On Dana’s Classification of Rocks. 199 have been so energetic, as to have caused such miscellaneous earthy matters as are found to enter into the composition of an impure limestone, like that of Kirkton, to separate into laminz, and to assume a sort of striped disposition (rubané as it is also named), resembling what I have occasionally noticed in Auvergne, where Tertiary strata have come into contact with volcanic rocks. The strata, for instance, of Kirkton quarry, are composed of distinct and alternating thin laminz, some of them being of remarkable tenuity, variously consisting either of pure calcareous matter, of translucent silex, resembling common flint, or of a mixed argillaceous substance, which approaches to the character of porcellanite, or of ferruginous, or even of bituminous layers, originating probably from vegetable matter. | “Upon one of these very thin aluminous folia, which I have compared to porcellanite, I observed the impression of a Fern, apparently of a Pecopteris, which was delineated upon it like a painting upon porcelain.” This fern, which has been named Sphenopteris affinis by Lindley, is associated with stems, leaves, and fruits of Lepidodendron, Calamites, and many other plants. Entomostraca are also abundant. Our restoration of the appendages made (in 1872) after the American species, H. remipes, figured by Prof. James Hall, may possibly need modification when more materials for their better reconstruction are available. Meantime we venture to draw the attention of Scottish geologists to this very interesting and classical locality in the hope that new light may be afforded thereby as to the nature and affinities of this singular Freshwater Crustacean. IV.—On Proressor Dana’s CLASSIFICATION OF Rocks. By Professor T. G. Bonnry, M.A., F.R.S. HE two important papers by this accomplished veteran of science, which have appeared in the American Journal of Science (vol. xvi. November and December, 1878) [noticed in this present number of the GroLtogican Macazine pp. 222-225], though, as might be expected, of the highest value, are in one or two respects, as it seems to me, open to question. Professor Dana approaches the subject as a chemical mineralogist: I venture to criticize as a field geologist who checks his conclusions by using the microscope. There is, however, one point on which I would first venture to express my hearty concurrence with his remarks—namely, upon the impossibility of drawing hard and fast lines of distinction between rocks belonging to different geological ages. Lapse of time of course will bring about certain mineralogical changes, such as the forma- tion of epidote, viridite, chloritic minerals, and various carbonates, or of hornblende in augitic rocks; or again, under certain circum- stances, the production of tourmaline, lithia mica, etc. ‘ In short, the present condition of a rock may be said to be the result of two inde- pendent variables—external agents and time—and (within limits) the same result may come from either of these being large in com- 200 Prof. T. G. Bonney—On Dana’s Classification of Rocks. parison with the other. For instance, I have examined rhyolites, felsites, basalts and serpentines of very different geological ages, and have found it impossible to draw any important lines of distinction between them. Still, while granting this, there may be advantages in retaining such a term as diabase, though we admit the rock’s former identity with dolerite, and cannot draw a hard and fast line between the two. The latter difficulty does not meet us here only in Lithology, and it is convenient to have a term to denote varieties which have under- gone marked alteration. Some geologists, I have observed, seem to forget that igneous rocks, as well as sedimentary, have their meta- morphic representatives, and as a rule text-books do not sufficiently call the student’s attention to this point. With reference to Professor Dana’s remarks on trachyte and felsite, it seems to me that, while admitting the chemical identity and common origin of both, we may conveniently take the presence of a glassy base as characteristic of the one, and of a micro- or crypto-crystalline ground-mass of the other. It is true that the latter may have resulted from subsequent devitrification, and a rock once glassy may have become cryptocrystalline. In that case, however, where we are convinced of the fact, we may either call the rock a devitrified rhyolite, and place it among the metamorphosed igneous division, or coin a single name to express the fact of change. Professor Dana criticizes the use of the term ‘gabbro.’ It is quite true that there has been some uncertainty in this, and that the Italian petrologists call ‘granitone’ the rock to which the Germans apply the name gabbro. It is also true that gabbro is closely allied to dolerite, and that diallage is only a variety of augite; still, as this gabbro is a rock of a very definite appearance in the field, and seems to be of rather a different habit from dolerite,! which shades off through anamesite into the finer crystalline basalts (I think a revision of terminology needed here), the name appears to be useful. As regards euphotide and the so-called saussurite, I cannot altogether agree with Prof. Dana. I have examined a good deal of this rock in the field and microscopically, and have no doubt the mineral is only an altera- tion product from labradorite or anorthite, and the rock simply an altered gabbro. In the field (and under the microscope) the felspar may be seen gradually altering into saussurite, and the pyroxenic constituent into some form of hornblende. It seems, then, to me that gabbro may conveniently be retained for the name of a rock closely related to dolerite, and euphotide applied to the metamor- phosed variety. Professor Dana is very severe on geologists (especially micro- scopists) for their use of the term plagioclase. I venture to think we have a defence. Doubtless plagioclase is only a synonym for triclinic felspar, but I think that its correspondence in form with orthoclase renders it a more convenient term. We do not regard a 1 | have never seen gabbro except under circumstances which suggested deep-seated intrusion ; it seems to be the analogue of granite. Prof. T. G. Bonney—On Dana’s Classification of Rocks. 201 rock as perfectly defined when we say it consists of “ plagioclase and augite,” and so forth; but we not seldom find that we must be satisfied with this; because even Professor Dana himself could give us no better definition. Let us grant that there be a typical albite, oligoclase, labradorite, and anorthite ; that there may be rocks in which each one of these felspars alone occurs ; still 1 maintain that they have a frequent habit of intergrowth, as in perthite, bytownite, microcline with albite, etc., and that in many cases they thus occur in rocks. Examination also of the analyses given by Professor Dana himself! shows that even among the type felspars there is great variety; and that when a felspar is a rock constituent we have no security against variation or intermixture of species; while in many cases the felspars occurring in rocks are so minute that it would be impossible for the chemist to separate them for analysis. Analysis of the rock as a whole often fails to give the desired response, because the chemical constituents which it reveals may enter into the composition of more than one of the minerals already known to be present; so that the investigator is in the position of a mathematician who is asked to solve an indeterminate equation. Under certain circumstances we can, indeed, feel sure that the plagioclase is either albite or oligoclase or both, under others that it is labradorite or anorthite or both; and it would perhaps be expe- dient to add after the term “doubtless a or b or a mixture of them,” but we may be pardoned for avoiding the monotony of this constant repetition, and leaving this to be supplied by the intelligent reader. Our position then, as workers with the microscope, is that while thankfully acknowledging the aid of chemical analysis, we do not feel bound to spend much time or money in determining the precise character of the felspar in every case, because we know from experi- ence that not seldom the oracle gives an ambiguous response, or at best leaves us very nearly where it found us. Accordingly we use the term plagioclase” (with the understood limitation) as the most definite permitted by the present state of science. It may be that ultimately we shall be able to form a rock group correspondent with each of the species of plagioclastic felspar ; but I doubt it, and expect that we shall not do more than separate those containing albite and oligoclase from those containing labra- dorite and anorthite; though even then it is not impossible that the second and third of these may sometimes be associated. My most essential difference, however, from Professor Dana relates to his proposed classification of rocks. In this he passes over the question of the origin of the rock, by adopting a purely chemical or mineralogical basis, and grouping metamorphic clastic with true igne- ous rocks. He also justifies this method of classification by pointing out that true massive crystalline rocks need not necessarily be igneous, 1 A System of Mineralogy, pp. 337-361 (ed. 1868). 2 It is no doubt inconvenient that the species microcline has been discovered since the adoption of the term plagioclase; but we may avoid this difficulty by agreeing that the term plagioclase shall be used as a symbol for the group of soda and lime felspars—the character of the other species being so exceptional, and its relations to orthoclase being in most respects close. 202 Prof. T. G. Bonney—On Dana’s Classification of Rocks. and schistose rocks not necessarily metamorphic clastic. Within’ limits there is truth in this statement; but the qualification is all- important. I venture then to inquire whether Professor Dana has carefully studied the microseopic structure of these two groups and found that there is no difference in this respect between massive igneous and massive metamorphic clastic rocks, or between schistose igneous and schistose clastic rocks. This is a question to the study of which I have devoted much time both in the field and with the microscope; and mostly with this result—that in the former case not seldom the distinction was plain enough when sufficient pains were taken in looking for it; in the latter it was usually very marked. Hence, notwithstanding the weight of Professor Dana’s authority, I venture to protest against any system of classification which sets at: naught the distinction between a sedimentary and an igneous rock. There may be cases where metamorphism has been carried so far that the distinctive characters of the former rock are lost, but the evidence in favour of this is certainly far less satisfactory than it is commonly asserted to be, and (in the present state of our know- ledge) to assume that such cases exist will, I think, encourage sloth in research and be a backward rather than a forward step in science. There is also, from his own point of view, another serious objection to Professor Dana’s classification. He draws a very marked dis- tinction between the potash-felspar series (including leucite) and the soda-felspar (including nepheline). But while not denying the utility of this, in part, we must remember that there are few potash- felspar rocks in which there is not some soda-felspar (including oligoclase), and that cases are not uncommon in which the one about equals the other in quantity. Hven Professor Dana, by his remark on the nepheline rocks (phonolites, etc.), virtually admits that the distinction can hardly be maintained ; and further, what are we to say of the association of leucite and nepheline, and of the occurrence of these minerals with both orthoclastic and plagioclastic felspars ? Again in Professor Dana’s classification we have lherzolite grouped with eclogite, and serpentine with chlorite schist; simply because they contain no felspar, notwithstanding their great mineralogical and chemical differences.” 1 It is not seldom hard to say (even after chemical analysis) whether a rock should be called a syenite or a diorite, a minette or a kersantite. 2 Analysis of eclogite (garnet and omphacite, with quartz, disthene and mica) from Eppenreuth. Si 02=57:10 Al, 03=11:66 Fe, O,=2°84 FeO=3:22 MnO=0-°31 Mg 0=637 Ca O=13'80 K, O=0°81 Na, O=2'21 H2 O=0°54. Analysis of lherzolite (olivine, enstatite and diopside with picotite) from Kalohelmen. $i O2=37-42 Al, O,=0:°10 Mg O=48:22 Fe O=888 MnO=0°17 NiO=0:23 H, O=0°71. (Von Lasaulx, Elem. der Petrog.) Analysis of Serpentine (from Cornwall). Si 0,= 38°50 Al, O3=1:02 Mg O=36°40 CaO =1:97 Fe, 0;=4:66 Fe 0 =3-31 NiO =0°59 Hz O=12°35 Fe S=0'41. Undecomposed residue =1:37. (Q.J.G.S. xxxiii. 925). Analyses of Chlorite schist variable; these are two given by Zirkel (Petrog. i. 311) (1) Si02=31-54 Al,0,=544 Fe,03=10:18 Mg 0=41:54 H,0=9°32 (2) Si 0,=4208 Al,O3=3°57 Fe 0=26'85 Mn O=0-59 Ca O=1:04 MgO= 17:10 Hz O=11:24. In such a grouping, even chemistry, as it seems to me, is fairly thrown overboard. W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. 203 In short, as it seems to me, the classification of rocks must not be attempted by relying on evidence obtained in the field, with the micro- scope, or from the laboratory alone. Sometimes, it is true, the first will teach all that it is really important to know; commonly, however, we shall have to appeal to the second source of information, and not seldom we shall obtain from the third the solution of a difficulty which the other methods have failed to answer; but this last is rather a court of appeal than a court of first instance, and one which will not so much reverse the judgments of its predecessor as decide points which had been of necessity reserved. Or, to put it other- wise, and perhaps more accurately, the chemist is called in, like an expert, to settle certain questions, but there are many others with which he is not competent to deal. Professor Dana, as I venture to think, notwithstanding his own extensive learning as a geologist, places too much reliance on chemical evidence; and thus, while aiding in the destruction of certain idols which have a detrimental effect in Science, has set up others in their stead which would be as hurtful to its progress. V.—Post-Trrtiary GEOLOGY oF CoRNWALL.! By W. A. E. Ussusr, F.G.S. ' (Part III.—Continued.) Tur RaiseD Bracues AND AssoctaTED Dsposits oF THE CoRNISH Coast. 15. St. Ives. a. On the east of Carrack Olu Point, a bed of pebbles, 1 foot thick, is shown under Head, at from 2 to 5 feet above high water. The greenstone composing the Point is capped by a Head of yellowish- brown loam with angular fragments of greenstone. b. In the bay east of the above, near the north part of St. Ives, the section is as follows :— Head, with large angular fragments ... ... ... -. «. Off. Oin. Impersistent strip of yellowish-brown loam. Head, loam with a tew subangular fragments, and boulders tomjardythebasel sis.) Wissel Mal: ou Nesstilidesy biswiod fant .2ech iSite, aa,0im. Olive and yellowish sand with occasional pebbles... ... ... 10ft. Oin. At base about 5 feet above high water; resting upon dark bluish slaty grit with numerous joints. c. On the north part of St. Ives Island, the greenstone is capped by a Head of angular greenstone fragments from 10 to 16 feet in thickness. d. Mr. Whitley (Journ. R. Inst. Corn. No. 11, p. 184) gives the following section of the raised beach in Porthgwidden Cove, St. Ives : Greenstone soil, upon Head of large angular blocks of hornblendic \ : 5 2 About rock. Fine sand and loam ; upon pebbles of hornblendic rock, { 56 foot quartz, granite, and a few worn flints, mixed with sand, and( 44-4 containing layers of fine brown sand coo eco cad ga0” 6c0 ; The base of the deposit is given as 5 feet above high water. 1 Continued from the April Number, p. 172. 204 W.A. HE. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. 16. Gwythian and Godrevy. a. Near the southern end of Black Cliffs the slates are capped by a Head of brown clay with angular stones, and a few quartz pebbles at its base. b. South of Ceres Rock, greenish grey slates are capped by a Head of greenish grey clay, probably resulting from their decomposition. c. West of Gwythian ; cliff-section— ROSSOW q UNICSISIR WIAD Le a 2 \ 5 ag A eae Nexo Er wOeCO VG 6 5 SS > \ OM tes inhe: So o .c —_ <—— (OnE °) SABES eoSe of-= ———— ———— DUET TL fa: MIATA] Fie. 3.—Near Gwythian. Vertical scale 1 inch = 12 feet. Lo ABO an BEI! Go cody cop sg 000 005, 0G) c0o, coc. cad Ah Oia, 2. Brownish loam with angular slate fragments ... ... ... ft. in. 3. Agglomerate of angular slate and quartz stones in a con- solidated matrix of small angular pieces of slate ... ... 3ft. Oin. 4. Fine brownish sand, consolidated in places, containing a few pebbles abl Nebel, Coeet Gas (eROS eae eee sad ce enOits One 5. Three beds of pebbles and subangular stones of slate and quartz, with occasional pieces of flint in the lower bed. The beds are 4in., 1ft., and 2ft. in thickness, respectively 3ft. 4in. d. Near the above, the Head consists of grey loam with angular slate stones of small and average size. The pebble deposits occur in two layers, separated by a seam of brown sand. The base of the gravel is about 5ft. above high water. The following observations of the Cliffs of Godrevy commence at a point about three-quarters of a mile to the south of Godrevy Island. e. The section, partially obscured by sandy debris, consists of — Head, yellowish and grey loam with small angular stones, and occasional large angular quartz fragments, resting unevenly oe to 20ft it. upon——tinexolive) brown sand gis -mieee tee ene ace aanece Coarse grey sand with pebbles and subangular fragments of slate and quartz, the former sometimes large ... ... ... oft. Consolidated coarse blackish sand with small pebbles and subangular fragments, and a few large pebbles... ... ... variable. At base 5 to 8 feet above high water. jf. The pebble band is stained blackish, it is from 6 inches to 1 ft. thick, and about 6 feet above high water. At this point angular and subangular fragments, some large, are associated with the pebbles in a coarse impure sand matrix. g. ‘Two beds of coarse blackish and reddish-brown consolidated sand, containing pebbles, etc., of slate and quartz, 3 feet in maximum thickness, and 6 feet above high water at their base, are capped by W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. 205 angular Head. The upper bed forms the roof of a cavern in the slates. (Fig. 4.) SA IO ay, uy avs we Se ~ a 220 S = Raised Beach. A AM Fic. 4.—Godrevy. Vertical scale—1 inch = 2¢ feet. h. A portion of the consolidated raised beach is visible on the fore- shore resting upon two bosses of a waterworn slate reef. The denu- dation of the reef has scarcely affected the unsupported part of de under surface of the beach. (Fig. 5.) SSS Fie. 5.—Godrevy Beach. Portion of Raised Beach resting on bosses of Slate isolated from the main cliff. i. Toward Godrevy Island the beach consists of coarse blackish consolidated sand with pebbles, more gravelly at the base, 4 feet thick, under thick beds of consolidated buff and grey sand with pebbles disseminated through the lower parts. j- Dr. Paris (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. i. p. 7). noticed a mass of sand near Godrevy Island, containing whole shells and slate fragments, 12 to 20 feet thick, and 100 feet in length. k. Dr. Boase (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. iv. p. 469) described a bed of pebbles above high water, at Godrevy Point and around Fistral Bay, overlain by a bed of testaceous sand ; under ‘transported but un- altered debris,” in one place (op. cit. p. 809) described as 20 feet of ferruginous clay with angular fragments (local), thinning out land- wards as the ground rises. 1. Mr. Whitley (Journ. R. Inst. Corn. No. 11, p. 184) gives a sec- tion of the cliffs under Godrevy Farm from top to base. Brown loam soil... Secor SOl a LOmMonne Clay and loam with numerous ‘angular fragments ‘of quartz... 6ft. to 16ft. Sandy loam mixed with siliceous sand, and portions of a bed 206 W.A.E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. of contorted slate (believed by Mr. ianiley to have been pressed into the bed by ice). fs Red and white siliceous sand, of quartz grains "partially younded. Boulders of blue grit, granite, quartz, ‘vesicular trap (as at St. Minver). Slate and a few worn flints in sand cemented by the oxides of iron and manganese. m. De la Beche notices (Report, p. 426) the old dunes of consoli- dated sand, between Gwythian and Godrevy Head, which he distin- guished from the underlying raised beach. 17. Observations of the Fistral Bay Cliffs made here and there proceeding northward. a. South end of the Bay (section obscured in places). Coarse brown semi-consolidated sand, with planes resembling bedding and false bedding, containing occasional lines of small angular slate and quartz fragments, 20 feet thick, seems to underlie Head, shown in a reced- ing part of the cliff. At the base of this old blown sand, a trace of blackish coarse consolidated sand binding pebbles of slate and quartz is visible at from 4 to 5 feet above high water. b. The basement beds consist of gravel of small quartz pebbles, with fair-sized quartz and slate pebbles, and large subangular slate fragments in blackish sand, 1 foot to 18 inches thick, with few peb- bles and of a brick-red colour in places ; overlain by fine blackish and reddish brown sand with a few pebbles through it, from 2 to 3 feet in thickness. c. The basement beds are represented by two beds of small quartz and slate pebbles and subangular stones, 6 inches and from 6 inches to a foot thick, respectively, separated by 18 inches of coarse blackish sand. d. Coarse consolidated sand of slate and quartz and comminuted shells rests on a pebble bed 2 feet thick, and at base 5 feet above high water. The pebbles are of slate, quartz, and occasionally flint ; quartz predominates ; the matrix is coarse grey sand. e. Cliff-section toward the north of the Bay— Recent blown sand ... boo") Geb), can) con. Gully | Oning Sandy soil with angular fragments OE lated yk eel eee nosy Buff loam with angular stones and boulders... ... ... .. 2. Oin, Buffsand ... ... lft. Qin. Coarse and fine gravel of quartz, dark srey sri slate and occasionally flint ... ... .. 4ft. in. f. Near the above old blown sand is shown consisting of brown consolidated sand in laminz about one-eighth of an inch | thick, con- taining pebbles for 4 feet upwards from its base, which is about 10 feet above high water. g. About 100 yards from the above a trace of consolidated sand binds pebbles at about a foot above high water. Old consolidated blown sand is shown in the cliff above; overlain by Head, capped by recent blown sand. ‘Two whole shells of Patella were found near the base of the old blown sand, which forms a tough, bedded rock, hardening on exposure to the weather. h. Dr. Paris (i. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. i. p. 7) described the old beaches of Fistral Bay and New Quay as a horizontal bed of pebbles, 10 to W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. 207 12 feet thick, containing whole shells and slate fragments cemented in sand, resting on slates, and supporting immense heaps of drifted sand. i. De la Beche (Report, p. 427) describes the Fistral raised beach as rolled pebbles, often large, mixed with smaller gravel and sand, overlain by alternations of fine gravel and sand (the layers being unequally consolidated), capped by sand, becoming mingled with rock fragments, near the extremity of the dunes on the north and south. j. Mr. Pattison (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. vii. p. 50) mentions the inter- section of the Fistral raised beach by a lead lode, in the middle of the Bay. He describes the present beach as ‘fine sand and an abundance of shells; it exhibits no pebbles save those derived from the ancient beach.” 18. New Quay. a. On the east side of Towan Head, a trace of black consolidated sand with pebbles is visible at about 6 feet above high water. b. On the west of New Quay Pier, the section consists of coarse yellowish-brown consolidated sand, chiefly made up of comminuted shells, with a few shells of Helix, containing angular, subangular, and rounded stones and boulders of quartz and slate (a granitoid fragment was found) at the base; upon coarser sand with well- rounded fragments resting on a narrow rocky platform 6 feet above high-water mark. c. Dr. Boase (T. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. iv. p. 259) noticed a bed of shelly sandstone, on the north of New Quay signal station, contain- ing fewer shells than at Fistral Bay ; the lower part, just above high- water mark, being consolidated into a conglomerate. d. De la Beche (Report, p. 427) gives a section on the east of Look-Out Hill, New Quay, of an ancient beach of rounded slate pebbles agglutinated by consolidated sand, some feet above the sea- level; capped by layers of sand of comminuted sea-shells con- solidated in the lower parts; under a Head of angular fragments from the rocks of the hill above. 19. Between New Quay and Padstow. a. A thin capping of Head visible on part of Trevelga Head Island. b. To the west of Tregurrian, Head of angular and subangular slate and quartz stones is shown in the cliffs, under greyish sandy soil. c. West of Trenance (N. of Mawgan Porth) the Head consists of brown loamy clay with large quartz boulders, and small slate and grit stones. d. At the north end of Treyarnon Bay the low cliffs are capped by 6 inches of angular quartz and slate stones, under brown clay, one foot thick. e. The cliffs bounding Constantine Bay, for about three-quarters of a mile, seldom exceed 7 feet in height. Opposite Constantine Island the cliff is composed of— Blown sand with a layer of broken Mytili, and whole Patella, finer in the lower part, and containing angular pieces of slate, and fragments of shells, as above rae aie a A a hsy de Oe upon—coarse quartzose sand with rounded grains ... ... Lft. to 2ft. resting on slates at 6 feet above high water. 208 W. A. HE. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. jf. Near the centre of Perleze Bay a few quartz and slate pebbles are present, under blown sand, at about five feet above high water. g- The cliffs of the cove north of Trevone (2 miles west of Pad- stow) are from 5 to 15 feet high, and occasionally capped by coarse brownish sand, giving place to dark brown clay with angular slate fragments, and an occasional quartz pebble. The ground slopes upward for a quarter of a mile very gradually. 20. Between Padstow and Tintagel. a. On the cliffs of Bray Hill, near St. Enodock, yellowish and grey, thin bedded, consolidated sand of comminuted shells, con- taining shells of Helices, is visible, at base 5 feet above high water. b. In one place the following section occurs under 2 feet of recent blown sand: Consolidated sand... 6in. Dark brown loam, containing angular f ‘fragments of quartz, slate and grit ets Seo) o00 0g. Ali, a) Bhs Upon greenish grey slates with quar rtz veins. c. Near the mouth of the St. Enodock Valley, a bed of consolidated sand, one foot thick, containing land shells and angular fragments of slate, is capped by recent blown sand, and rests on red and green banded slates at 8 feet above the present beach. d. At the stream mouth between Porteath and Trefan Head, Head, of angular stones in brown and yellowish loam, has a stratified appearance in the distance, owing to the sizes and dispersion of the fragments and their partial absence in places. The stream has cut a steep bank at the mouth of its gorge, which exposes 20 feet of Head—brown loam with angular slate and quartz stones, roughly horizontal in arrangement. e. By the mouth of the stream west of Port Isaac, between Roscarrock and Lobber Rock, 20 feet of Head is shown, consisting of angular fragments of slate and quartz in brown loam. f. Near Chapel Rock the slates have been cut into reef platforms or shelves, in places, at about high-water level. g. At the mouth of the stream gorge west of Dannon Chapel, 10 feet of Head is shown, consisting of brown loam with angular slate and quartz stones. 21. The Scilly Isles. Mr. Carne (Trans. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. vii. p. 140) mentions the occurrence of redistributed granitic matter, called “secondary granite,’ on Rat Island, at Piper’s Hole in Tresco, and Piper's Hole in St. Mary; in both the latter caverns it forms the principal part of the roof, and contains boulders or rounded masses of perfect granite, some rather large. GuNERAL CoNCLUSIONS. Head.—The position of the stony loam or Head in sites where no modern talus could rest; the denudation it has undergone, and its frequent presence on the cliffs; prove its accumulation to have taken place subsequent to the formation of the raised beaches, yet considerably anterior to the prevalence of the present climatal con- ditions. It marks, as Mr. Godwin-Austen (Q.J.G.S8. vol. vil. p. 122) W. A. E. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. 209 says, “A time when the degradation of the surface proceeded much more rapidly, and when fragments of rock far exceeding the motive power of any rainfall were conveyed down slopes along which only the minutest particles of matter are now carried” (vide 9c). Such conditions of long-continued subaerial waste are likely to have prevailed, as Mr. Godwin-Austen suggests (Q.J.G.S. vol. vi. p. 93, etc.), during a greater elevation of the (South) West of England. The rough appearance of stratification sometimes noticeable in the Head [(1) through the horizontal lie and apparent regard to gravity in distribution of its contained fragments, vide 3b; 5b; lda; 20d; (2) through strips of loam or clay without stones. as in the higher cliffs bordering Pra Sands, and 156; (8) through percolation of water carrying down overlying substances to a certain horizon, as 17 e; (4) through distribution of colouring matter, as 5 b, 18 a] may in many cases be due to fluviatile deposition, to which Mr. Godwin- Austen referred the Head at Swanpool (5 d) and other places. We cannot suppose that no fluviatile deposits were formed during this period of subaerial waste; judging from the pell-mell distribu- tion of angular fragments in the torrential gravels of the present streams, in their higher reaches, it is only reasonable to expect that similar deposition would then have taken place on a much larger scale, and that its traces would be found in the present area of the county which would only represent the highlands of its former extension. Raised Beaches.—The general consolidation of the old beach mate- rials, occasionally into a very hard rock (vide 6c; 169, h; 18), renders their detection, even as fragments on a level with the surface of the present beach, comparatively easy ; where, however, the process of consolidation was interfered with by the accumulation of the Head, the beach material seems to have been swept away, and in some cases to have left traces in occasional pebbles at or near the base of the Head (vide 5a; 6a; 164; and perhaps 19g). Even where the raised beach is well developed, the upper part has been sometimes mingled with the base of the overlying talus (186). Angular frag- ments are occasionally found in the raised beaches (16/). The above observations serve to explain the appearance of beach material on Head, S. of Perranuthno (9 g), as, in an adjacent section (9 9’), the Head is represented by pebbles and subangular fragments. On Bray Hill (20 6), 6 inches of consolidated sand rests on 2 to 3 feet of Head; but the latter is represented in an adjacent spot by con- solidated sand with angular fragments of slate, and land shells (20 ¢) ; so that the old sand drift may have taken place on the beach plat- form after a little talus had been shed upon it during the earliest symptoms of elevation. It is often difficult, where old consolidated blown sands occur, to distinguish their junction with underlying raised beaches, as pebbles and fragments of Mytili, Patelle, etc. (167; 17f,g; 18) may have been cast upon the dunes by storm waves; for their presence and linear arrangement in recent blown sand (19 e) would seem to be due to protracted gales from the same quarter. DECADE I1.— VoL. VI.—NO. V. 14 210 W. A. EH. Ussher—Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall. Being chiefly composed of comminuted shells, the percolation of water through the old dunes would best explain their consolidation. Dr. Paris (T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. i. p. 7), in addition to this, gives two other possible modes of consolidation, viz., by water charged with pyritical substances, or by ferruginous infiltration. The absence of organic remains in the majority of the Cornish raised beaches has been ascribed to Arctic currents (Godwin-Austen, Q.J.G.S. vol. vi. p. 87), which I think very probable. It also suggests the possibility that many of them may have been deposited by rivers, or in estuaries, whose seaward banks have been swept away. Some of the boulder beds mentioned by Messrs. Carne and Henwood are at too great heights to be regarded as raised beaches, and may more reasonably be referred to far older fluviatile deposi- tion. If the adit mentioned by Mr. Henwood (12 6) cut through a continuation of the worn boulder beds of Porth Just and Pornanvon to a thickness of 60 feet, the boulder beaches of these localities must be regarded as anterior to the raised beaches. In the formation of the old beach cliffs at the termination of a long period of subsidence, fluviatile deposits (thrown down before, and during, the initiation of the present lines of drainage) would have been truncated, so to speak, and exposed at different heights upon the cliffs, just as we find old river gravels exposed on the secondary cliff-line of Devon. Again, during the elevation of the old beaches, the existing river channels would have been deepened, and river deposits formed in the breaches of the old cliff-line, to be redistributed by the sea in its recent advance. How far boulder gravels and unfossiliferous raised beaches (provisionally so called) may be referred to either of these periods of fluviatile action it is impossible to say, without a searching investigation of each particular deposit with references to its surroundings. The local elevation of the raised beaches cannot be correctly measured by the height above high water of their remains. For such an estimate ignores the original thickness of the beaches, and postulates an identity in the local rise of tide during the raised beach formation and at present. The latter supposition is im- probable when we take into account— Istly. The destruction by the sea during elevation (of the old beaches) of such inequalities as may have proved obstacles to the stream of tide. 2ndly. The modification the raised sea-bed would have undergone through subaerial agencies. 3rdly. The probably different relations of land and sea in other parts of England, and on neighbouring coasts during the formation of raised beaches in the 8.W. counties. 4thly. The subsequent modification of the old coast-line. Mr. Pengelly (Trans. Dev. Assoc. part v. p. 103) points out the fallacy of supposing—that all contemporary raised beaches are on the same level, and the converse—that raised beaches on the same level are necessarily contemporaneous. The cautions given show G. H. Morton—Geology of the Isle of Man. 211 the danger of laying stress upon individual observations which may be taken where the beach was left very thin, or at different parts of its seaward slope. The base of the Cornish raised beaches above high-water is shown by observations to average 5 feet: such cases as Pendeen Cove (14); Tremearne (9 6); Nanjulian (11 ¢); Porth Just (12 a); being exceptional. ‘Taking the thickness of the old beaches at 15 feet as a maximum, the average subsidence indicated by them would be from 12 to 20 feet below high water. De la Beche (Geological Manual, p. 157) gives a section of the successive faces (indicated by dotted lines) that the degradation of a cliff composed of Head upon raised beach would be likely to exhibit (see Fig. 6). Sea-level. Fie. 6.—H, Head, concealing a raised beach, resting upon slate, S, above the sea level. The raised beach platform has been cut too far back to allow of such cliff faces as 1 and 2. Exceptions to this rule may be furnished by the low tract at Spit Point near Par; the lowlands of St. Keverne (7c); the flattish tract covered by blown sand between Constantine and Perleze Bays, if the waterworn sand (in 19 e) isa trace of raised beach, or rests. on an old beach platform ; the gently sloping tract bordering the coast near Trevone (19 g). The cliffs bordering a part of Pra Sands are wholly composed of Head to a height of 60 feet from the present beach; but as Head rests on a portion of raised beach on an adjacent promontory, on a platform 5 feet above high water, the old beach platform may in this instance have been broken up by fluviatile agencies prior to or during the accumulation of the Head; or the original surface of the platform must have been most irregular. Such cliffs as Nos. 3 and 4 are by far the most general sections on the Cornish coast, which has been in very many places cut too far back to show either raised beach or Head. (To be continued in our next Number.) VI.—Grotocy or THE Is~e or May. By G. H. Morton, F.G.S. N the Gxotoercan Macazine for 1877, Dee. II. Vol. IV., pp. 410, 456, there is an article on the ‘‘ Geology of the Isle of Man.” by Mr. Henry H. Howorth, to which I desire to call attention. Most geologists are aware that the late Rev. Joseph G. Cumming, M.A., F.G.S8., wrote a work entitled ‘The Isle of Man,” in 1848, and that it contains a geological description of the island. In this work, and 4 212 G H. Morton—Geology of the Isle of Man. in a paper by the same author, published in the “Journal of the Geological Society” for 1846, vol. ii. p. 317, there is a minute description of the Carboniferous formation developed at the south of the island, near Castleton, illustrated by maps and sections. Mr. Cumming gives the order in which the subdivisions occur from the top downwards as follows :— Posidonian Schists. Poolvash Limestone. Lower Limestone. Old Red Conglomerate. He describes each of these subdivisions, the volcanic ash inter- stratified with the Poolvash Limestone, and gives a list of 222 fossils found by him in the Carboniferous Limestone, showing the range of each species. The Old Red Conglomerate at the base of the limestone is minutely described, and the area it covers is shown on the geological maps. Several papers have since appeared on the geology of the island, but one entitled, ‘‘A Sketch of the Geology of the Isle of Man,” by Mr. John Horne, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Scotland,! includes a concise account of the Carboniferous Lime- stone, and confirms the arrangement of the subdivisions adopted by Mr. Cumming; indeed, no one, excepting Mr. Howorth, has challenged the correctness of his conclusions, which have the appear- ance of being the result of long-continued and careful observations. Mr. Howorth states that he spent three long days in examining the deposits in the south of the island, but principally the Old Red Con- glomerate. That Mr. Cumming was “‘entirely erroneous,” and that the Old Red Conglomerate does not underlie the Carboniferous Limestone, but is simply an overlying deposit of Boulder-clay, and remarks that « A conglomerate consisting almost entirely of limestone boulders, imbedded in a matrix of pulverized limestone, lying immediately in contact with beds of limestone, cannot well by any process of reasoning be made into an Old Red Conglomerate.” Mr. Howorth | searched carefully the various points where the deposit occurs at Langness, but could find no evidence of it being overlain by the limestone; and at Cushnahavin he says he actually saw the latter reposing on the underlying Silurian strata. He concludes the con- glomerate to be a consolidated Boulder-clay, and that the trap-dykes with the volcanic vent at Scarlet Point were posterior to the Con- elomerate, and finally remarks that ‘“‘ We thus add another. remark- able example to the list of volcanos active within the British seas in Post-Tertiary times.” During last summer, I, like Mr. Howorth, had three days in the Isle of Man, which JI devoted to the examination of the Carboniferous Limestone and the Conglomerate at its base. Having read Mr. Howorth’s paper in the Grou. Macazine, I at once endeavoured to ascertain the stratigraphical position of the Conglomerate, and I found the difficulty of doing so somewhat over-estimated, although the shore along the outcrop is only exposed at low water and some- 1 Trans. Edin. Geol. Soc., vol. ii. pt. 3, 1874. G. H. Morton—Geology of the Isle of Man. 213 what obscured by stones and sea-weed. I, however, found without difficulty a spot on the shore, north of the copper mine, where the Old Red Conglomerate clearly dips below the Carboniferous Lime- stone, and trap-dykes traversing both alike. I found the boulders and pebbles in the Conglomerate to be quartzite instead of limestone —at least all I could find were quartzite, and many I tried with acid so as to be perfectly sure about them. In colour they certainly resemble the limestone in the vicinity, but they still more nearly resemble the quartzite interstratified with the Silurian in close proximity. Mr. Howorth says he found no Old Red Conglomerate, but the limestone resting directly on the Silurian at Cushnahavin, but Mr. Cumming describes how the limestone is faulted against the Silurian at that place so that the appearance may easily be explained, and he states that the Conglomerate occurs at a little distance, about 10 feet below high-water mark. I found the top of it under the limestone just as described, and have great confidence in the correctness of Mr. Cumming’s sections, though I had not time to follow them across the whole area. I need scarcely remark on the improbability of trap-dykes intersecting Boulder-clay, and volcanic vents in the British Seas in Post-Tertiary times. Mr. Howorth says he was not at Peel, and that his arguments only apply to the south of the island; but I visited that locality and found the Old Red Sandstone to be interstratified with a conglomerate in steep cliffs dipping towards the sea at a considerable angle. Mr. Cumming refers to numerous blocks of limestone thrown up by the waves along the shore, and concludes that there are beds of it on the dip at no great distance from the land. He also states that limestone was formerly obtained and burnt in kilns, though unable to determine whether it was an interbedded, cornstone or an overlying limestone. However, there seems no doubt that the Red Sandstone with conglomerate at Peel is of the same age as the Conglomerate about Castleton. Mr. Howorth states that he is only an amateur geologist, and had only three days in the district ; but Mr. Cumming resided in the island, being Vice- Principal of St. John’s College—within gun-shot from the Old Red Conglomerate—and it is very improbable that he made any mistake in its geological position—however nearly it may resemble some local Boulder-clay. It is surprising that Mr. Howorth’s paper has not been noticed; for, being the most recent communication on the subject, it tends to throw doubt on the stratigraphical order of the Carboniferous series in the Isle of Man—and the Old Red Con- glomerate must be considered to be the base of it. In conclusion, I recommend those interested in the subject to read Mr. Horne’s paper, for he very fully describes the Old Red Sandstone of Mr. Cumming, which he considers to represent the Calciferous Sandstone series of Scotland, and consequently can entertain no doubt as to its position being beneath the Carboniferous Limestone. Liverpoou Gzot. Soc., Fd. 10, 1879. 214 #. T. Hardman—Fossiliferous Beds of Lough Neagh. VIl.—Tur Fossinrrerous Cray Bens overtyine Basar, Loucu NEAGH, AND THE GrEoLoGICAL AGE oF THAT LAKE, By Epwarp T. Harpman, F.C.S., etc. REGRET that I have not had an earlier opportunity of replying to a paper in the GroLocicaL Magazine for February, p. 62, by Mr. William Swanston, F.G.S., on the above subject. I shall now try to compress my remarks into the smallest possible space. 1. With regard to the Fossiliferous Clays in the Crumlin River :— Mr. Swanston is mistaken in supposing that the discovery of shells in these beds “ proved to the satisfaction of the author (myself) and Professor Hull, F.R.S.,,. . . that the beds were undoubtedly of Pliocene age.” Here Mr. Swanston has reversed matters. On the contrary, this conclusion had been arrived at two years before, and at the Belfast Meeting of the British Association I stated my con- viction, chiefly from stratigraphical evidence, that the Lough Neagh Clays were of Pliocene age, and the similarity of the beds led us to the conclusion that the shells nught be of Pliocene age. 2. I never led it to be believed that I was “convinced” that the shells in question ‘“ belonged to a species of Unio.” And even before suggesting that “they appear to belong,” etc., I had consulted Mr. W. H. Baily, F.G.S., whose authority as a Paleontologist I need not here enlarge upon. Moreover, not being convinced by the examina- tion of a few mutilated specimens, I even pointed out the necessity for a thorough examination of the specimens on the spot, to which hint doubtless Mr. Swanston is indebted for his collection. 3. I am ata loss to know if the opinion of Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., is positive or conjectural. Such a phrase as “‘I can come to no other conclusion” is somewhat ambiguous. There could be but little difficulty in determining absolutely the common mussel as it occurs in drift. 4. Here it occurs to me: Can Mr. Swanston and I be referring to exactly the same locality ? In the section I described there occurs positively no Boulder-clay whatever; though there is abundance of it both higher up and lower down the river, from which Mr. Swanston may have obtained his shells. But the clays resembled in every respect many of the beds of undoubted lacustrine clay of Lough Neagh, and were perfectly similar to those found not far distant on the Glenavy River; and also to many of the beds used for pottery manufacture to the south of the lake. Furthermore, the shells I noticed are extremely thin and fragile, hardly thicker than a piece of notepaper. They appear in every way suited for the quiet waters of a lake, but seem ill-fitted to resist the stormy buffetings of a sea-shore. The clays in which they occur are deposits ‘clearly formed on the ancient margin of the lake, as denoted by old shore-cliffs of basalt close by. Even granting that the shells be Mytilus, it would not be outside the bounds of possibility that the lake might formerly have communicated with the sea, as it is now only 48 feet higher; thus the shells might be true lacustrine fossils deposited before the Glacial period. E. T. Hardman—Fossiliferous Beds of Lough Neagh. 215 Although drift deposits are well exposed in the vicinity and along the shores of the lake, no similar clays are to be seen amongst them. And on the whole, without further investigation and more con- vincing proofs, I am unwilling to admit that the deposit I described can belong to the Glacial period, seeing that it resembles in every respect the lacustrine clays, while totally differing from the drift beds. 5. Age and Mode of Formation of Lough Neagh.—Kiven if we should be obliged to reject the lacustrine origin of the Crumlin deposit, I confess I -cannot follow the argument by which as a sequitur Mr. Swanston endeavours to quash the theory formerly proposed by me with respect to the age of the lake. This particular deposit cannot affect that theory one way or the other. If there is anything geologically certain, it is that Lough Neagh occupies a depression primarily caused by large faults which occurred after the latest sheets of basalt we are acquainted with had been poured forth... This is sufficiently clear from the fact that the upper basalt is brought down against the lower, as at Templepatrick and Shane’s Hill. It is also capable of proof that the Lough Neagh clays (the lacustrine origin of which has never been doubted) are later than the basalt, and older than the drift, which covers them in many places. Also that they are the delta of one or more rivers flowing from the southwards after a considerable area of country had been denuded of the basalt which formerly extended at least as far as Slieve Croob and the Mourne Mountains. Mr. Swanston, however, prefers to consider the lake as of intra-Miocene age; and as a consequence of the supposed Glacial age of the Crumlin deposit —but why, I am unable to conjecture—places the Lough Neagh. pottery clays as contemporaneous with the lacustrine iron-ore deposits of Antrim, ete. He forgets that first the Lough Neagh deposits are proved to be 300 feet thick. 2nd. That the depression of Lough Neagh is more than 1,700 feet, and that it would certainly have been filled up by the next flow of basalt. 3rd. That the faults around it, some of 500 feet, which must have altered the face of the country considerably, are post-basaltic. And last, but not least, that the Lough Neagh deposits are totally different in every respect from the ferruginous deposits of Antrim. The iron-ore beds of Antrim were formed in a series of shallow depressions by the denudation of the basalt itself. By a well-known series of chemical changes the basalt yielded soluble carbonate of iron, which, being carried into these shallow “broads,” was oxidised and deposited as hydrated oxide of iron, subsequently dehydrated. According to the freedom or otherwise of the lake from silt or mud, rich iron-ore, lithomarge or aluminous ore was produced. All these deposits are rich in iron, and are not of great thickness. With these the Lough Neagh clays have nothing in common. They consist simply of clay, more or less sandy, usually very light 1 For full details on this and the following statements see ‘‘ On the Age and Mode of Formation of Lough Neagh,” Brit. Assoc. Rep. 1874, and Journ. Roy. Geol. Soc. of Ireland, vol. iv. pt. i. new series. 216 Dr. C. Callaway—On Plagioclinal Mountains. grey or nearly white, occasionally dark grey or purple, from organic matter or the material, probably Silurian slates, from which they were derived. Although they contain a few nodules of siliceous clay ironstone in some places—very sparingly—and not unlike those of the Coal Measures, the small quantity of iron the clays contain will be inferred when I mention that all qualities are largely used for the manufacture of tiles and coarse pottery; for which, of course, ferru- ginous clays would be utterly useless.1_ Yet of these clays Mr. Swanston pens the following remarkable passage, on the assumption that they are of the same age and origin as the Antrim iron-ores :— “Should subsequent researches prove these to be the same, it may safely be inferred that one reason why the Lough Neagh beds still retain their clayey character is owing to the simple fact that the later outflows of Miocene basalt did not reach them, and convert them into iron-ores, etc., similar to those so largely developed to the east and north of Antrim” (!). The simpler fact that they are non- ferruginous clays is the easier mode of explanation. Hx nihilo nihil fit. If the Lough Neagh clays were of intra-Miocene age, and formed in the same way and time as the Antrim ore deposits, they would be found resting only on basalt, or absent where basalt does not occur. They however overlap the previously denuded basalt, and their continuation is found in several places resting on Triassic rocks. Mr. Swanston is doubtless unaware of these facts, which are, I need not observe, completely antagonistic to his doctrine as to the age of the clays. And but that I fear to trespass on the kindness of the Editor of the GrotocicaL Magazine, whose space is valuable, it would be easy to give numberless other facts as overwhelming proofs of the post-Miocene age of the Lough Neagh clays, and of the lake itself. Returning to the Crumlin shells. I must now, at the cost of repetition, point out that even if they are hereafter proved to be Glacial fossils, such a matter can hardly be evidence in favour of the intra-Miocene age of the lake: yet this is apparently the conclusion to which Mr. Swanston’s arguments would lead us. With regard to the silicified wood, I can only say that it has never been found in any of the numerous clay-pits to the south of the lake. And in the only case where Barton records its existence in sitd, it may have belonged to the drift. Excavations and borings in the same locality in the true lacustrine clays revealed none of it; and the origin of this wood is a matter still enveloped in great obscurity. VIII.—On Praciocrinat Movuntatrns. By Cuarires Cattaway, M.A., D.Sc. (Lond.), F.G.S. NHE object of this paper is to show that the received explanations of the structure of mountain chains will not account for the formation of certain Precambrian ranges, and to state facts in sup- port of a new theory of the origin of some mountains. A brief summary of the ordinary views of the subject will first be necessary. 1 The analysis of these clays, given by Sir Robert Kane, shows them to be remarkably free from iron. Dr. C. Callaway—On Plagioclinal Mountains. 217 Most mountain chains are produced by the puckering of the earth’s crust into parallel flexures, and the greater systems consist of a combination of these earth-waves. Hach wave usually rises higher, and the crests approximate more closely, towards the axis of the chain. The Alleghanies of North America well illustrate this structure. Towards the east, the anticlinals are squeezed up to such a height by lateral thrust that they sometimes fall over on one side, like an ocean wave rolling in upon a shallow shore. But, towards the Mississippi Valley, the waves gradually flatten out into low broad undulations. Of course, denudation has acted powerfully upon the flexures, by marine action during their emergence from the ocean, and by sub-aerial forces since their elevation. No trace of the original curved outline of the earth-waves appears in the shape of the ground. ‘The tops of the anticlinals were planed off by the waves of the sea, and rivers have since scored and fretted the surface into a seemingly lawless irregularity. But amidst this apparent disorder, one law is clearly seen. This law is that primary mountain ridges run parallel with the geological strike. A range sometimes consists of a denuded anticlinal; some- times of a synclinal converted into a prominence by the erosion of the anticlinals on each side ; sometimes of combinations of both, or parts of either. But in all these cases, the strike of the mountain chain corresponds with the strike of the beds of which it is com- posed. Amongst examples of this law which will at once occur to. geologists, are the Pennine chain, the Cotteswolds, the North and South Downs, the Swiss Alps, and the Andes. The normal structure of mountains may be called orthoclinal. The reason of this correspondence between geographical and geological strike is not far to seek. ‘Take the case of an anticlinal mountain. Here the ridge is simply the upper half of a mutilated earth-wave. During the emergence of the land, the anticlinals were first exposed to the action of the sea. Notwithstanding the erosion of the ocean-waves, the anticlinal axes succeeded in raising them- selves, though in a very mutilated state, into dry land. Subsequent sub-aerial action would score and carve the slopes of the saddle into ravines and valleys, but it would not interfere with its strike. Synclinal ridges are formed in a similar manner; but with one difference. During emergence, the waves plane off the top of the anticlinal, and expose softer strata which lie beneath. The anti- clinals thus become lines of weakness, along which denudation works with great rapidity till it reaches a lower level than the synclinals, which stand up as ridges. ‘The alternative between anticlinal and synclinal ridge is, then, mainly determined by the relative hardness of the strata. In both cases, the strike of the chain will be parallel to the original earth-waves, that is, to the geological strike. In reconstructing portions of the geology of Shropshire, the writer has observed some remarkable exceptions to the above rule. The southern half of the county is grooved by a series of parallel valleys trending to the §.W. The intervening elevations, of course, strike in 218 Dr. C. Callaway—On Plagioclinal Mountains. the same direction. These, taken in order from KH. to W., are the Clee Hills, Wenlock Edge, the minor ridges of Chatwall and Hoar Edge, the Wrekin and Caer Caradoc chain, the Longmynd, and the Stiper Stones. Most of these elevations form parts of a great broken §8.W. anticlinal, of which the Caer Caradoc and Wrekin chain is the axis. The escarpments to the E. of the axis face, of course, to the N.W.; the escarpments to the W. of the axis break down to the S.E. All the ridges follow the ordinary rule, except the Wrekin and Caer Caradoc chain, to which attention is specially directed. This chain is nearly 30 miles in length, and is broken by three broad gaps of from 4 to 8 miles in breadth. The chief elevations, taken from the N.E., are Lilleshall Hill, the Wrekin range, Caer Caradoc range, and Wartle Knoll. The last, being of inconspicuous elevation and of doubtful structure, may be neglected. The other three agree in displaying the same peculiarity of structure. The beds of which they are composed strike across the axis. Tilleshall Hill is one mile in length by one-sixth of a mile in breadth at the base. Its trend is $.S.W. The beds of volcanic ash of which it is composed strike W.S.W. The difference between the geographical and the geological strike is about 45°. The Wrekin chain, consisting of four elevations, the LHrcal, Lawrence Hill, the Wrekin, and Primrose Hill, is three miles in - length by half a mile in its greatest breadth. It consists of alter- nations of lavas and tuffs dipping to the N., the ridge trending to the 8.W. In this case also the divergence of the two strikes is about 45°. An inconspicuous elevation, lying two miles W. of the Wrekin, named Charlton Hill, ranges due N. and 8. In this ridge is a band of conglomerate striking EH. and W., the divergence of strike amounting to a right angle. The Caer Caradoc chain is about six miles long by about half a mile in its greatest breadth. Its chief summits are the Lawley, Caer Caradoc, and the Ragleth. Its strike is to the S.W. The average strike of the grits, tuffs, and felstones which make up the chief part of the range is HE. and W.; intrusions of greenstone sometimes twisting round the strike 20° to 30°, and, on the 8.H. side of the Ragleth, causing it to coincide with the trend of the ridge. These disturbances are only local, the usual E. and W. strike being resumed at a distance from the disruptive masses. A great spur which springs from the §.E. side of the range, and juts out for two miles to the E., is composed of beds of grit, breccia, and felstone, which strike in the same direction as the spur. It is clear that, with local exceptions, the bedded rocks of the Wrekin and Caer Caradoc chain strike across the axis at angles varying between 45° and 90°. It would be evident, a priori, that such a mountain range could not be formed on the normal plan. The geographical strike bears no causal relation to the original earth-waves. It has been deter- mined not by axes of upheaval, but by parallel faulting. A great §.W. line of dislocation commences near Lilleshall Hill Dr. C. Callaway—On Plagioclinal Mountains. Pa llis, on the N.E.; passes through the Wrekin and Caer Caradoc chain ; is continued to Stanner Rock and Hanter Hill, W. of Kington ; passes under an anticlinal N.W. of Brecon; appears to sweep round to the W., and to be connected with the Precambrian ridge of St. Davids. In Shropshire it is a complex system of faults. There appear to be in all about six primary dislocations parallel to each other and to the mountain ridges. For our present purpose, we shall not require more than a pair of these. Commencing with Lilleshall Hill, we find that it is bounded by faults on both sides. On the §.H., the Hollybush Sandstone (Caradoc in the Survey) has been thrown down; on the N.W., the lower beds of the Trias. The structure of the ground is the same in the Wrekin range, save that faulted bands of quartzite are interposed between the axial rocks and the Hollybush Sandstone and the Trias on either side. The Caer Caradoc chain is in like manner bounded by two nearly parallel faults. On the N.W., the lower slates of the Longmynd series rest against the axis; on the 8.E., the Shineton Shales, the Hollybush Sandstone, and the Caradoc Sandstone are successively thrown down. It is evident that in each case a wedge of the solid crust has been separated from the main mass by two nearly parallel faults, and thrust up through overlying Cambrian and Silurian strata. Or it is probable, in the case of the Wrekin at least, that the wedge was first pushed up in Pre-Cambrian times. As the rocks of this chain consist, not of eruptive greenstones (according to the late Sir R. Murchison and the Geological Survey), _ but of bedded lavas, tuffs, grits, conglomerates, and other stratified material; and as they are flanked on each side by strata, some of which are at least as old as the Lower Cambrian; it is clear that these mountain ridges are of Precambrian age. The writer has been greatly interested to find that certain other Precambrian elevations, described in recent times by Prof. Phillips, Dr. Holl, and Dr. Hicks, display a similar abnormal structure. The Malvern Hills trend N. and S., but the schists and granitoid rocks of the chain strike across the axis in a 8.H. direction. A great dislocation throws down Triassic sandstones against the eastern flank, and the author is convinced from a personal examination that the ridge is also bounded by a fault on the W.side. These rocks are still more ancient than those of the Wrekin chain. The range has evidently been formed in the same way. A solid slice seven miles long, composed of strata striking to the S.E., has been isolated by two parallel N. and S. faults, and pushed up as the original ridge out of which the Malvern Hills have been sculptured by frost and rain. A third Precambrian ridge exhibiting a similar structure occurs at St. Davids, and has been described by Dr. Hicks. It extends for about two miles from the city to the S.W., and has an average width of rather less than a mile. It consists of quartziferous and granitoid rocks distinctly bedded, and striking across the axis to the S.E., that is, at about a right angle with the strike of the ridge. 220 Dr. C. Callaway—On Plagioctinal Mountains. This series has been named the Dimetian. It is flanked on both sides by a younger Precambrian formation, the Pebidian. In Dr. Hicks’ sections in the Quart. Journ. of the Geol. Soc. 1877 and 1878, the junction between the two groups is not represented by a fault; but it is difficult to explain the vertical and sometimes inverted position of the lower beds of the Pebidian without the aid of such an hypothesis, and a recent inspection by the writer con- firms this view. But this is only a minor point. In any case, the Dimetian ridge is on the type of the Shropshire and Malvern chains. The same peculiarity has been noticed in North Wales. Professor T. M‘Kenny Hughes, in describing certain Precambrian rocks near Bangor, observes that ‘the bedding is generally in an easterly direction, sometimes a little S., sometimes a little N. of H., but always oblique to or across the trend of the hills.” No information is given on the influence of faults in determining the structure of these ridges. In summing up these facts, it has been shown that, in the three cases examined by the writer, the trend of the elevations has been deter- mined by parallel faulting; in the other example, the influence of faults has not been ascertained; in all four, the strike of the beds is transverse to the strike of the ridge. On the hypothesis of parallel faulting, it is not difficult to suggest a reason why these transverse strikes should be found only in Precambrian mountains. In every observed case in Britain, there is a great interval between the newest Precambrian and the oldest Cambrian. The marked discordance of strike is one proof of this. An equally emphatic evidence is seen in lithological characters. The Precambrian rocks are everywhere intensely altered, and the alteration in many instances took place before the Cambrian epoch. But the overlying Cambrian strata are frequently as unaltered as ordinary Tertiary beds. It is highly probable that the fragments of Precambrian land which jut up here and there through newer for- mations represent a succession of epochs perhaps as long as from the Cambrian to the present day. Paleontological facts point in the same direction. The gap between the simple Protozoan of the Laurentian and the highly organized Trilobites of the Lower Cam- brian is perhaps as wide as the hiatus which stretches between the Trilobite and the Mammal. It follows from this that Precambrian formations have been sliced up by faults much more frequently than younger deposits. It is not necessary to assume, though the assumption would not be rash, that faults were more frequent in Precambrian times than they are at the present day; but it is evident that the Precambrian crust was traversed by Precambrian faults in addition to those from which it has suffered in common with newer deposits. In Precambrian times, the surface of the earth was ridged by mountains as at present, and it is fair to assume that they were formed on the normal plan. But during an immense succession of epochs, they have been partially worn down, and the chief part of the Precambrian surface has been buried beneath great accumula- Notices of Memoirs—E. Stohr—Sulphur Deposits of Sicily. 221 tions ; which, in their turn, have been puckered into earth-waves which bear no relation to the old strikes of the crust. Faults, as might be expected, display a tendency to run parallel with earth-waves. When the crust is being forced into sharp curves, eracks will naturally occur at right angles to the lateral pressure. Hence the faults which traverse Cambrian and Postcambrian strata, being parallel to the newer flexures, will be transverse to the under- lying Precambrian strikes. It is now easy to see how a pair of parallel faults traversing at the surface rocks of (say) Silurian age, and cutting down through Cam- brian and Precambrian strata, will account for the origin of Pre- cambrian ridges with transverse strikes. The upheaval of the isolated wedge, and the denudation of the overlying Cambrian and Silurian beds, require no explanation. The continued prominence of the ancient ridge would be secured by the superior induration of its metamorphic or altered volcanic constituents. To distinguish mountains of this type from anticlinal and syn- clinal ridges, the term plagioclinal’ is suggested. This peculiarity of structure may prove to be of practical aid in detecting Precambrian formations. A plagioclinal axis is not neces- sarily Precambrian, but its transverse strike should suggest inquiry. The facts here announced militate against an extreme school of geologists, who deny that faults have had any perceptible share in shaping the landscape. They have certainly very largely contri- buted to determine the scenery of South Shropshire. That the original surface produced by great dislocations has been modified by subsequent denudation does not materially affect the question. It would be equally just to argue that, because the Romance words in the English language have been modified by time, the Norman Conquest has not affected our modern tongue. IN @ pian @ se) Ora eh iaka he @ aes Ss — SS I.—Tuer Turo anp TripoLt oF THE SULPHUR ZONE OF SICILY.” WO years ago Sig. E. Stohr, when placing the sulphur deposits in the Messinian II. of C. Mayer, and the ‘tufo” in the Messinian J., remarked that perhaps this last should be removed lower down, and in the December number of the Bolletino R. Com. Geol. d'Italia he says, that the discovery of fossiliferous beds in a sulphur mine, near Grotte, in the Province of Girgenti, has confirmed this opinion. Immediately below the sulphur beds is a bituminous schist, then the tuff and tripoli, and in this “tufo,”’ which is described as an almost plastic clay, are a great number of Foraminifera, the subject of Sig. Stohr’s paper. Of the 115 species found, 28 are new, and are mostly described and figured by Dr. Schwager in an appendix. 1 From mAd-yios, oblique, and KAlvw, to incline. 2 Sulla posizione geologica del tufo e del tripoli nella zona solfifera, per E, Stohr. Boll. R. Comit. Geol. d'Italia, vol. ix. No. 11-12, 1878. 222 Notices of Memoirs—Prof. J. D. Dana—On Lithology. Of the remainder, the absence of Milliolidea (of Spiroculina tenuis one example was found), Amphistegina, Heterostegina, and Polystomella is noticeable, while the quantity of Rhabdoidea (88 species), Cristel- larotdea (14), Globigerinidea (17), not only in the number of species, but also of individuals, is striking, and a deep sea is indicated, and is confirmed by the Radiolarian fauna, though the Radiolaria are only found scattered in the clay. Of the Foraminifera 63 are found at Baden, near Vienna; 388 are known living; and 52 are supposed to be extinct. The Molluscan fauna is also very similar to that of the Baden beds. The tripoli beds, which are below the ‘‘tufo,’ were evidently deposited in a still deeper sea, as shown by the rich Radiolarian fauna of 109 species, studied by Mr. Stohr. It most nearly resembles the tripoli of Caltanisetta, from which Ehrenberg described 31 species; but the Grotte beds furnish 68 new species, which will shortly be figured and described, and of the rest 29 are known living, about half of these in the Mediterranean. Some families and genera, hitherto unknown in the fossil state, are now described ; for instance, the genus Huchitonia, which was previously only known as recent, furnishes several species, some identical with those found in the sea near Messina. The author says that this genus is sometimes so abundantly represented at Grotte that we might almost call this tripoli a mass of Euchitonia. The conclusions arrived at are that both tripoli and “tufo” belong to the Tortonian (Miocene), and were deposited in deep water ; after- wards there was elevation of the land, and lacustrine conditions supervened, when the deposits which now yield the sulphur were formed, during the Messinian I. II. and probably III. (of Mayer), after which sinking of the land and marine conditions followed. A. W. W. TI.—On Some Potnts 1n Lirnotoey. By Prof. J. D. Dana. NDER the above title Prof. Dana has recently published! a suggestive paper, which will be perused with much interest by those engaged in the study of rocks, and may possibly call forth a few remarks or further observations on some points discussed in the paper”; the object of the author being to consider the value of some of the distinctive characters which are generally accepted at the present time in defining certain kinds of rocks. As some of our readers interested in petrology may not have ready access to the original communication, we have reproduced the summary, by Prof. Dana, of the principal points with regard to rocks which have been brought out in this paper, together with his proposed classification of the crystalline rocks. «1, The necessities of the science of Geology constitute the most prominent motive for distinguishing finds of rocks; and they should determine to a large extent upon what characters distinctions should be based. 1 Amer. Journ. of Science and Arts, vol. xvi. Nov.-Dec. 1878. 2 See Article in the present Number, by Prof. Bonney, M.A., F.R.S., ante, p. 199. Notices of Memoirs—Prof. J. D. Dana—On Lithology. 223 “2. In determining the rocks to be grouped as one in kind under a common name, near identity in the chemical and mineral composi- tion of the chief constituents is the main point to be considered ; not near identity in their crystalline forms, for isomorphism presupposes diversity of composition. ©3. Distinction of kind should be based on difference in chemical and mineral constitution as regards the chief constituents. When such difference exists, rocks are different in kind, and need, for the purposes of geology, distinct names. If it does not exist, the dis- tinction is only that of variety ; unless (asin the case of trachyte and felsyte), the very wide extension of the rock under persistent characters makes a distinction of name important to geology. “4, It follows from the preceding, that differences in texture: as coarse, or fine, or aphanitic ; porphyritic, or non-porphyritic ; stoney throughout, or having unindividualized portions among the stoney grains ; and differences in microscopic inclusions ; are no basis for a distinction of kind among rocks, but only of variety; and that porphyritic structure is of hardly more consequence than coarse or fine granular. “5. No marked change in the constituents of the earth’s erupted material occurred after the close of the Cretaceous period, or just before the commencement of the Tertiary era ; and, hence, no ground exists for the distinction of ‘older’ and ‘ younger’ among eruptive rocks. The ‘ younger’ eruptive rocks are essentially like the ‘older’ in chemical composition and their chief mineral constituents; and they differ when at all only in texture and some other points of as little importance—qualities that distinguish merely varieties, and which have proceeded from greater prevalence in these later times of subaerial eruptions. “6. Since ‘plagioclase’ is not the name of a mineral species,— several minerals, of widely different compositions, being embraced under it—it is a confounding of differences and resemblances to speak of it as a constituent of a rock. And since it now includes, through the defining of the feldspar microcline, a large part of potash feldspar, which had been supposed to be orthoclase, it has become almost synonymous with the term feldspar. The ‘simplicity ’ its adoption has been supposed to give to lithological system would be greater if ‘feldspar’ were substituted, and with its present range of constitution, the evil would be hardly less. “7. Rocks differing mineralogically, and not chemically, like re- lated hornblendic and augitic rocks (the minerals hornblende and augite being dimorphous), are rightly made distinct rocks, since the difference has depended, to a large extent, on wide-reaching geolo- gical operations or conditions, and is, therefore, of great geological significance. “8. Since quartz is the most widely distributed and therefore the least distinctive of the minerals of rocks, it may rightly be regarded as of subordinate importance in the distinguishing of rocks, and hence not only such names as dioryte and quartz-dioryte, trachyte and quartz- trachyte, etc., are acceptable, but also syenyte and quartz-syenyte. 224 Notices of Memoirs—Prof. J. D. Dana—On Lithology. “9. Biotite being closely like muscovite in composition, and not less common than it in granites, gneisses and mica schists, and being, moreover, unlike the mineral hornblende in chemical con- stitution and formula, the rocks in which biotite isa chief constituent cannot rightly be put in the same group with hornblende rocks; or those in which hornblende is a chief constituent in a group of mica- bearing rocks. Consequently the name ‘mica-dioryte,’ for a rock containing no hornblende, and the name ‘hornblende-granite’ for a rock containing no mica but hornblende instead, imply alike false relations. “The discussion suggests the following additional remark : “The incapabilities of the microscope and polariscope have favoured the use of the term ‘plagioclase,’ and have led some investigators to overlook or slight distinctions in chemical constitution. Lithology is to receive hereafter its greatest advances through chemical analyses; for chemistry alone can clear away the doubts the micro- scope leaves, and so give that completeness to the Science of Rocks which geology requires for right and comprehensive conclusions. ‘‘Moreover the researches made in the laboratory to be of real geological value should be, if possible, supplemented by investiga- tions in the field as to transitions among the rocks, and as to other kinds of relations. This field-work has often been well done, but not so by all lithological investigators. “The principles presented lead to the following subdivisions in an arrangement of crystalline rocks, exclusive of the Calcareous and Quartzose kinds. Since leucite is a potash-alumina silicate, like orthoclase and microcline (it affording twenty per cent. or more of potash), it is here referred to the same group with the potash feldspars; and nephelite, sodalite, and the saussurites being eminently soda-bearing species, they are included with the soda- lime feldspars (anorthite to albite). This reference for lithological purposes of these minerals is sustained by their resemblance to the feldspars in constituents, and also in the quantivalent ratios between the alkalies, alumina and silica, this ratio being in leucite 1:3: 8, as in andesite, and in sodalite and nephelite 1 : 3: 4, as in anorthite. The term potash feldspar, as used in the headings below, is hence to be understood as covering orthoclase, microcline and leucite ;. and soda-lime feldspar, as including the triclinic feldspars from anorthite to albite, and also nephelite, sodalite and the saussurites. “The arrangement is as follows. In the first series, the rocks graduate into kinds which are all feldspar, and into others that are all mica; and yet the amount of potash present is approximately the same. I. Tar Mica anp Porasu FELpspar Sxries: including Granite, Granulyte, Gneiss, Protogine, Mica schist, etc., Felsyte, Trachyte, etc., and the Leucite rock of Wyoming. Il. Tue Mica anp Sopa-Lime Fernpspar Series: including Kersantite, Kinzigite; and the nephelitic kinds Miascyte, Ditroyte, Phonolite, etc. (These nephelitic kinds belong almost as well in the preceding series.) III. Tut HornsienpE AnD PorasH Fripspar Series: including Syenyte (with Quartz-syenyte), Syenyte-gneiss, Hornblende schist, Amphibolyte, Unakyte Reviews—C. Struckmann—The Upper Jura of Hanover. 225 (this last containing epidote in place of hornblende); and the nephelitic species Zircon-Syenyte, Foyayte. TV. Tue Hornsienpe anv Sopa-Limz Feipspar Series: including Dioryte (with Propylyte), Andesyte, Labradioryte (or Labrador-dioryte), etc., and the saussurite rock, Kuphotide. V. Tue Pyroxene AND PorasH FELDsPAR Serres: including Amphigenyte. VI. Tue Pyroxene anp Sopa-Lime Fextpspar Series: including Augite- Andesyte, Noryte (Hypersthenyte and Gabbro in part), Hypersthenyte (containing true hypersthene), Doleryte (comprising Basalt and Diabase), Nephelinyte, etc. VIl. Pyroxrens, Garnet, EprpotreE anp CuHRyYSOLYTE Rocks, CONTAINING LITTLE OR NO FrLpspar: including Pyroxenyte, Lherzolyte, Garnetyte (Garnet rock), Eclogyte, Epidosyte, Chrysolyte or Dunyte (Chrysolite rock), etc. VIII. Hyprous Macnesian anp ALuMINoUS Rocks, CONTAINING LITTLE OR no Fretpspar: including Chlorite schist, Talcose schist, Serpentine, Ophiolyte, Pyrophyllite schist, ete.” IJJ.—A New Orper or Extinct REPriLEs. ROF. O. C. MARSH has recently described! a genus of reptiles from the Jurassic formation of the Rocky Mountains, which he considers to represent a new extinct order—the Sauranodonta. ‘The genus Sauranodon is closely related to Ichthyosaurus, and presents, in most of its skeleton, the characteristics of that genus, but is without teeth. 'The vertebre, ribs, and other portions of the skeleton preserved cannot be distinguished from the corresponding parts of Ichthyosaurus, and many features of the skull show a strong re- semblance. The great development of the premaxillaries, the reduced maxillaries, the huge orbit defended by a ring of bony plates, are all present, but the jaws appear entirely edentulous, and destitute even of a dentary groove. This genus Sauranodon, from the absence of teeth, bears a similar relation to the Ichthyosaurs that Pteranodon does to the true Pterodactyls, and it is interesting to find the two highly specialized forms preserved in the same region. J. M. 15% Jaq WF JE JH WwW So ———_—— I.—Derr OBERE JURA DER UMGEGEND VoN HANNOVER EINE PALmON- TOLOGISCH-GEOGNOSTISCH-STATISCHE DARSTELLUNG, von C. StRUCK- MANN. (Hans’sche Buchhandlung, Hannover, 1878.) HILST the English Oolitic rocks are remarkable for the num- ber of their beds and the organic richness of their contents in the Lower and Upper Middle divisions of the series, the Oxford- clay, Kimmeridge-clay, and Portland beds have not yet afforded corresponding results to the paleontologist, and the student of Jurassic Geology has therefore to turn his investigations into other regions in order to obtain an insight into the condition of the shore life of Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian, and Portlandian strata. We therefore welcome the appearance of Herr. Struckmann’s beautiful Monograph on the Upper Jura of Hanover, and recom- mend its careful study to all students of Jurassic Geology. The formations described in this work are the Oxford; Coralline Oolite, 1 American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xvii. p. 85, January, 1879. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. Y. 16 226 Reviews—F. V. Hayden's U. S. Geological Survey Reports. Lower, Middle, and Upper Kimmeridge; the Under, and Upper Portland ; and Purbeck beds. The author gives first a short clear résumé of the Geological relations of each of the formations of the Upper Jura, and the paleontology of each of the groups into which he has subdivided them. The Coralline Oolite and the Kimmeridge exhibit a rich- ness in forms of life very different from anything these formations present in our English rocks of the same age. The catalogue of the fossils out of the Upper Jura beds is very instructive. The author has arranged the remains, consisting of 404 species, in a well-constructed table, which shows at a glance the name of the fossil, the literature of the species, its distribution in the different beds, and the locality in which it has been found. This section of the work has been most carefully executed, and conveys a large amount of information in a small compass. In the critical remarks upon the species enumerated in the catalogue, the author appears to have exercised considerable dis- crimination, and has pointed out his reasons for differing with many of the determinations. He has added several new species, and given beautiful figures of them in the eight plates which accompany the work. The concluding section is devoted to a review of the correlations of the Upper Jura of Hanover, to beds of the same age in the Swabian, Swiss, and French Jura, and the substance of the author’s inquiry upon this branch of the subject is embodied in a number of well-constructed tables, followed by a learned summary of the facts they disclose. AN: I1.—Pretiminary Report or tHe Firtp Work or THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL AND GoGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES FoR 1878. By F. V. Hayprn. (Washington, 1878.) ie pamphlet contains a brief summary of the field work by the Geological Survey of part of the Territories during the season of 1878, which, owing to the delay of the usual appropriation fund for the work of the Survey, was of comparatively short duration, never- - theless much additional material was obtained. Four parties were organized. To the first division was confided the primary triangula- tion of the area to be surveyed. ‘To the second was entrusted the making of a detailed survey of the Yellowstone Park. This Park is, in round numbers, 8,500 square miles. Its surface is in large part level or rolling, with several groups and short ranges of mountains diversifying it. In the eastern part, extending its whole length and forming the water-shed between the Yellowstone and the Bighorn, stand the rugged volcanic peaks of the Yellowstone Range. Nearly all of the park is covered with a dense growth of magnificent pine timber; indeed, west of the one hundredth meridian, there is no area so densely timbered with the exception of Washington Territory. The mean elevation of the park above sea-level is between 7,000 and 8,000 feet, which implies too cold a climate to admit of agriculture, save in certain very limited localities. Except along the northern Reviews—F. V. Hayden’s U. S. Geological Survey Reports. 227 border, grazing land exists only in small patches of a few acres each. There are not, so far as is known, any mines or mineral deposits within the park. The greater portion of the park was found to be covered with somewhat uniform flows of the ordinary volcanic rocks. Features of more than ordinary geologic interest occur, however, along the northern border of the park district. Here a small belt, not more than 15 by 30 miles in extent, contains a fair epitome of the geology of the Rocky Mountain region. The whole series of formations from the earliest to the most recent are almost typically developed. The only marked irregularity in the succession of geo- logic events occurred during the great mountain-building period of the Middle Tertiary. After that followed a number of inferior oscillations of the surface, during which an extensive series of recent Tertiary and volcanic rocks were deposited. Connecting this period with the present are the deposits of a number of great lakes, which at the present time have their chief representatives in the Yellowstone Lake. The third party surveyed the Wind River Mountains, the Wyoming and Gros Ventres ranges, and a large area of the Snake River Valley. Dr. Hayden accompanied the fourth or photographic division, and the route pursued gave him an opportunity to secure a very accurate general knowledge of the geological structure of a large area. The Wind River Range proved one of remarkable interest. It has a trend about north-west and south-east, with a length of about 100 miles. On the west side all the sedimentary belts have been swept away, down to the Archean, older than the Wahsatch, and the latter formation rests on the Archeean rocks all along the base of the range, seldom inclining more than 5° to 10°. On the east side of the range the seams of sedimentary formations usually known to occur in the north-west are exposed from the Potsdam Sandstone, which rests upon the Archean rocks, to the Cretaceous inclusive. Along the north-western portion of the range the Wahsatch Group only is seen for some distance, but as we proceed down the Wind River Valley the formations appear one after the other, until at the lower end the entire series is exposed. The Wind River Range may be regarded as originally a vast anticlinal, of which one side has been entirely denuded of its sedimentary series, except the Middle Tertiary. On the same side of the range the morainal deposits and glaciated rocks are shown on a scale such as we have not known in any other portion of the West. Three genuine glaciers were discovered on the east base of Wind River and Frémont Peaks, the first known to exist east of the Pacific coast. The morainal deposits are also found on a grand scale in the Snake River Valley, on the east side of the Teton Range. The numerous lakes have been the beds of glaciers, and the shores of the lakes are walled with morainal ridges. North of the Teton Moun- tains the prevailing rocks are of modern volcanic origin, and in the Yellowstone Park the hot springs and geysers are the later manifes- tations of the intense volcanic activity that once existed. 228 Reviews—F. Rutley’s Study of Rocks. _ Already has Dr. Hayden conferred a great boon on geologists by the results (published by the Department of the Interior) obtained by his colleagues and himself during their explorations for some years past of the Western Territories, one portion of which was examined and described by Dr. Hayden eighteen years ago. The publications of the Survey during the last year have been both numerous and important, including the magnificent Atlas of Colorado, in twenty sheets (noticed in Grox. Mac. Dee. II. Vol. V. 1878, p. 365). The tenth annual report of 300 closely-printed pages, with 80 maps, plates and sections, will soon be followed by the eleventh, a portion of which is already printed, and this again by the twelfth, for which the materials are ample and of great interest, embodying the full details of which the present pamphlet is only a preliminary report. Tt is to be hoped that no unforeseen circumstances will prevent the progress of the survey of this remarkable country, which even at present has been so graphically laid before us by Dr. Hayden, and that the liberal aid of the United States Government will be con- tinued towards the final completion of the work so ably begun and so energetically carried out,—a work, the value of which, whilst it is of such national importance, is also fully appreciated by Huropean geologists. J. M. JI].—Tue Srupy or Rocks. An Elementary Text Book of Petrology. By Frank Rorttry, F.G.S. 8vo. pp. 319. (London: Long- mans & Co., 1879.) BR the publication of this handy little volume, the author has supplied the want that has for some time been felt by all geologists, whether learners or workers, of a text-book comprising within a moderate compass the more essential information con- cerning the minuter phenomena of structure and association of minerals in rock masses, which it is now customary to distinguish as petrology or lithology, and which the student has had up to the present time to gather, often with considerable labour, from the volu- minous pages of Zirkel, Rosenbusch, and other Continental writers. Although the greater part of the work is devoted to the description of microscopic structure in minerals, the practical details of preparation of thin sections and other methods of manipulation, the larger aspects of the subject are not neglected ; the first forty pages being devoted to a brief but clear description of the phenomena observed on the large scale in the field—including well-illustrated definitions of the terms employed in geological surveying; the methods of representing formations upon maps; the rules to be observed in collecting specimens, and smaller details of outdoor work. The art of making thin sections of rocks is very completely described, several new points, the results of the author’s experience, being given for the first time. The descriptions of individual minerals, and the manner in which they group into rocks, are given in sufficient detail for all the practical purposes required by the Reviews—Macfarlane’s American Geological Railway Guide. 229 geologist. The forms assumed by skew sections of crystals, and the relation of the cleavages to the faces in crystals of hornblende, augite, and the allied species, being represented in large-sized diagrams. The manner in which the constituent minerals of rocks vary in deviations from the normal type is indicated in tables, and by a graphic method of considerable ingenuity. The weakest point of the book is in its chemistry, which is somewhat unsystematic, though such want of system may fairly represent the state of mind of many mineralogists trained in the older systems of notation, and hesitating between the many new ones. It would be well in this respect, for the sake of uniformity, if geologists were to agree to adopt the same standard system, preferably that of the new edition of Rammelsberg’s Mineralchemie. An example of eccentric etymology, on p. 101, millemeter, is calculated to add new horrors to the metrical system, and we trust that ere long the author may have an opportunity of correcting it in a second edition. We had intended to go into more detail in our notice of this very sterling work; but as the price is exceedingly low, we think it better to recommend our readers to become possessed of it, and study it carefully for themselves. Joly 1335 IV.—An American GeronocicaL RatLway GUIDE, GIVING THE GeEoLocicaAL FormMaTION AT EVERY Ratuway STATION, WITH Nores on tue Inrerestine Puaces on tue Rourss, etc. By James Macrartang, Ph.D. (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1879.) R. MACFARLANE is already known to the readers of this Magazine, by his work “The Coal Regions of America” (see Grou. Maa. 1874, Decade II. Vol. I. p. 37). Further anxious to render _ himself useful, he has published the above Geologists’ Railway Guide, which is both novel and instructive. The object of the author has been to place in the hands of the traveller a series of geological time tables indicating the formations which can be observed at the prin- cipal stations on the railways at present constructed throughout the States. Prefixed to each State is a list of the geological formations occurring in it, and which subject is further expanded by about fifty pages of prefatory matter, containing a general description of the various geological formations of North America, with tables showing their succession, and a geological sketch-map of the United States. There are also foot-notes directing attention to interesting geological places and objects on the routes of the railroads. Independently of his own geological knowledge and travelled experience, Dr. Macfarlane has been considerably assisted in the work by those geologists conversant with the different districts or states which he has not personally visited. This assistance has materially enhanced the value of the guide; and, while it is specially intended for the use of American travellers, yet the prefatory matter above referred to will afford much useful information to the 230 Reports and Proceedings—The Geologists’ Association. reader on this side of the Atlantic who wishes to become acquainted with the general geological features of the different districts traversed by railways in the United States and Canada, so clearly and concisely put before him. V.— PracticaL Grotocy. By W. Jerome Harrison, F.G.8., ete. Small 8vo., pp. 157. (London, Stewart & Co., 1878.) dea is a very clearly expressed and accurate guide to the main features of British geology, written with the object of tempting junior students to learn the science as much as possible out of doors. Descriptions of geological apparatus, and accounts of all the principal formations, are given, with which are interspersed many notes in explanation of phenomena to be observed. Ie e= Oissslis)) 7 AINpaD) ASO Capa Ds NK ers —————<>_—— Tur Gronocists’ ASSOCIATION. T a Meeting held at University College, on the Tth March last, Mr. H. Goss, F.L.S., F.G.8., etc., communicated a paper on “The Insect Fauna of the Primary or Paleozoic Period, and the British and Foreign Strata of that Period in which Insect-remains have been detected.” After making some introductory observations, and alluding to the rarity of fossil insects in the Paleozoic rocks of the United Kingdom, the author stated that on the Continents of Europe and America fossils of this class had been met with more frequently, especially in the Coal-measures, and that a few had also been obtained from the Permian rocks of Saxony, and from the Devonian rocks of New Brunswick, North America. The author then alluded to those geologists and zoologists who had determined and described fossil insects from Palaeozoic recks, calling special attention to the writings and investigations of Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.8., in England; of Prof. Goldenberg, Prof. Germar, Dr. Giebel, Prof. Oswald Heer, Dr. Dohrn, Herr Hugen Geinitz, Dr. Geinitz, Prof. Van Beneden, M. Preudhomme de Borre, M. Ch. Brongniart, and M. Coemans, on the Continent of Europe; and of Mr. 8. H. Scudder, Dr. Dawson, Prof. Dana, Prof. Leo Lesquereux, Mr. C. F. Hartt, and others, in America. The few fossil insects discovered in the British Coal-measures were then enumerated; they included a beetle and a locust from Coalbrook Dale, three Orthoptera, described by Mr. Kirkby, from the neighbourhood of Sunderland, and one insect of that order from the Scotch Coal-measures, which had been described and named by Dr. Henry Woodward. The Permian strata of Continental Europe, in which fossil insects had been detected, were next noticed, and attention was called to a remarkable fossil insect obtained from the neighbourhood of Birken- feld, which belonged to an extinct order, and combined some of the characteristics of the Newroptera and Hemiptera, and was supposed Reports and Proceedings—The Geologists’ Association. 231 by Dr. Dohrn to have been descended from a common ancestor of both those orders. About 12 other species from the Permian of Saxony, including 2 Hemiptera, and 9 Orthoptera (Blattide), were then enumerated. The Coal-measures at Wettin and Lobejiin, in Westphalia, and at Saarbriick, near Tréves, were then referred to; from these Coal- fields a considerable number of insects had been discovered, the majority of which had been referred by Prof. Germar and Dr. Goldenberg to the orders Orthoptera and Neuroptera, and a few to an extinct order, which had been named by Dr. Goldenberg Palgo- dictyoptera. A number of other insects from Loebjiin, Mannebach, Erbignon, Valais (Switzerland), Saarbriick, and elsewhere, which had been described by Prof. Heer, Dr. Goldenberg, Dr. Dohrn, Herr HE. Geinitz and others, were then alluded to. One insect (Blattina Helvetica), from Erbignon, was of especial interest as being, according to Dr. Heer, the oldest Swiss fossil animal known. Amongst the most interesting of the fossil insects obtained from the Belgian Coal-fields was one described by Prof. Van Beneden and M. Coemans, and which had recently been referred by Dr. Gol- denberg to the extinct order (Paleodictyoptera) before mentioned. Another specimen from the same Coal-fields had been referred by Dr. Breyer and M. Preudhomme de Borre to the Lepidoptera. This supposed butterfly had been recently examined by Mr. R. M‘Lachlan, F.R.S., who had decided that the fossil was that of a Neuropterous insect belonging to the Ephemerina, and a note of his opinion to this effect had been read in August, 1877, by the Baron de Selys- Longchamps, before the Entomological Society of Belgium. The various localities in the Coal-fields of North America in which insects had been found were then enumerated. It appeared that all the insects discovered in the American Coal- measures were either Orthoptera or Neuroptera, though some three or four of the latter order had lately been referred by Dr. Golden- berg to the extinct order before mentioned. The six oldest fossil insects in the world had been obtained by Mr. C. F. Hartt, in rocks of Devonian age, in the neighbourhood of St. Johns, New Brunswick. They were all representatives of the order Neuroptera; though most of them were synthetic, combining characteristics of two or more families or groups. The author stated that altogether about 113 species of fossil insects obtained from Paleozoic rocks had been named and described, 5 of which were from the United Kingdom, 80 from the Continent of Europe, and 28 from America; and that they included 3 species of Coleoptera, 3 Hemiptera, 66 Orthoptera, 27 Neuroptera, and 14 of the extinct order Palcodictyoptera. These fossils were geologically distributed as follows, viz. 138 from the Permian, 94 from the Carboniferous, and 6 from the Devonian. The author then proceeded to summarize the facts which he had ~ brought under notice in this and his two preceding papers on the subject. After quoting Prof. Hickel, Dr. Fritz Miller, Sir John Lubbock and others, as to the supposed origin of insects, and re- 232 Reports and Proceedings— marking on the vast antiquity of many of the family types of this class of the animal kingdom, and calling attention to the fact that the fossil species, even from the very oldest rocks, had, with very few exceptions, been referred to existing orders, the author observed that it was evident that the geological record was not nearly old enough or perfect enough to afford much direct evidence in support of the theory of the evolution of the existing orders of insects from inferior organisms. ‘The best evidence afforded by Paleontology in support of this theory seemed to him to be, that some of the species from the older rocks were synthetic, combining essential characters of two or more orders, and that it was probable, therefore, that if insects should be detected in still older rocks, they might be found to depart still further from existing types. Attention was then called to the antiquity of many of the existing genera, and the very small amount of change, as compared with that of some other classes of the animal kingdom, which had taken place in many of them during the geological record. Mr. Goss then referred to the dates of the apparition of the various orders of insects on the geological horizon. It appeared that the extinct order Palgodictyoptera and the Neuroptera were the oldest orders; that they were followed by the Orthoptera, and that those orders included, with three or four exceptions, all the Insecta of the Palzeozoic period, towards the close of which the Coleoptera and Hemiptera appeared. Harly in the Mesozoic period the two last-named orders began to be abundant and widely distributed, and somewhat later were followed by the Diptera and certain families of the Hymenoptera, and that towards the close of this period other families of the Hymenoptera, including the bees, appeared; and about the same time, or early in the Tertiary age, succeeded the Lepidoptera. Attention was then called to the important deductions which might be drawn from a study of fossil insects, as to the probable state of the vegetation prevailing during the period of their existence. The author also observed that a comparison of Huropean fossil species with those now existing in Europe, furnished satisfactory evidence of the fact that the temperature of the Continent had undergone many changes, and that the size of the species, the distribution of genera, and the numerical relations existing between various groups indicated the former prevalence of warmer climates than those now existing in the same latitudes. Gerotocican Society or Lonpon.—I.—March 12, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.—The following communications were read :— 1. «On Perlitic and Spherulitic Structures in the Lavas of the Glyder Fawr, North Wales.” By Frank Rutley, Hsq., F.G.S. The rock, to the eye and under the microscope, has all the appear- ance of a felstone, but in the latter also exhibits perlitic structure as clearly as one of the Saxony perlites. Some of the other felstones of the Glyder Fawr show numerous spherulites. These felstones have been determined by the Survey to be lavas of Bala age. Geological Society of London. 233 _ 2. “The Gold-leads of Nova Scotia.” By Henry S. Poole, Esq., M.A., F.G.S., Government Inspector of Mines. The author remarked upon the peculiarity that the gold-leads of Nova Scotia are generally conformable with the beds in which they occur, whence Dr. Sterry Hunt and others have come to the conclu- sion that these auriferous quartz veins are interstratified with the argillaceous rocks of the district. With this view he does not agree. He classified the leads in these groups according to their relations to the containing rocks, and detailed the results of mining-experience in the district, as showing the leads to be true veins by the following characters :—1. Irregularity of planes of contact between slate and quartz; 2. The crushed state of the slate on some foot-walls ; 3. Irregularity of mineral contents; 4. The termination of the leads; 5. The effects of contemporary dislocations ; 6. The influence of strings and offshoots on the richness of leads. The author further treated of the relative age of the leads and granite, and combated the view that the granites are of metamorphic origin, which he stated to be disproved by a study of the lines of contact. He also noticed the effects of glaciation on the leads, and the occurrence of gold in Carboniferous conglomerate. 3. “On Conodonts from the Chazy and Cincinnati groups of the Cambro-Silurian, and from the Hamilton and Genesee-Shale divi- sions of the Devonian, in Canada and the United States.” By G. Jennings Hinde, Hsq., F.G.S. After a sketch of the bibliography of the subject, the author described the occurrence of Conodonts. In the Chazy beds they are associated with numerous Leperditie, some Trilobites, and Gasteropods ; in the Cincinnati group with various fossils; and in the Devonian strata principally with fish-remains; but there is no clue to their nature from these associated fossils. They possess the same microscopic lamellar structure as the Russian Conodonts described by Pander. The various affinities exhibited by the fossil Conodonts were discussed; and the author is of opinion that though they most resemble the teeth of Myxinoid fishes, their true zoological relationship is very uncertain. The paper concluded with a classifi- cation of the Conodonts from the above deposits. 4. “On Annelid Jaws from the Cambro-Silurian, Silurian, and Devonian Formations in Canada, and from the Lower Carboniferous in Scotland.” By G. Jennings Hinde, Esq., F.G.S. After referring to the very few recorded instances of the discovery of any portions of the organism of errant Annelids as distinct from their trails and impressions in the rocks, the author noticed the characters of the strata, principally shallow-water deposits, in which the Annelid jaws described by him are imbedded. A description was given of the principal varieties of form and of the structure of the jaws. They were classified from their resemblances to existing forms under seven genera, five of which are included in the family Eunicea, one in the family Lycoridea, and one among the Glycerea. The author enumerated fifty-five different forms, the greater pro- portion of which are from the Cincinnati group. 234 Reports and Proceedings—Geological Society of London. II.—March 26, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Esq., F.R.S., Presi- dent, in the Chair. The following communications were read :— 1. “ Results of a Systematic Survey (in 1878) of the Directions and Limits of Dispersion, Mode of Occurrence, and Relation to Drift-deposits of the Erratic Blocks or Boulders of the West of England and East of Wales, including a Revision of many years’ previous Observations.” By D. Mackintosh, Hsq., F.G.S. The author’s researches lead him to the following conclusions :— Boulders from the North-Criffell range and Lake-district can be traced from the Solway Firth to near Bromsgrove (about 200 miles), and over an area in greatest breadth (from near Macclesfield to Beaumaris) of 90 miles, those from Criffell being particularly abun- dant near Wolverhampton. Boulders from the Arenig occupy a triangular area, limited by a line drawn northward from Chirk to the Dee estuary, and to the south-east of that town are found as far as Birmingham and Bromsgrove. The dispersion of the more distant Criffell Boulders would require submergences of from 400 to 1400 feet ; of the Lake-district a little deeper ; while the distant dis- persion of the Arenig Boulders took place at submergences between 800 and 2000 feet. The author describes several of the more local drifts, and correlates the Lower Boulder-clay of the North-west with the Chalky Boulder-clay of the Hast of England. He considers floating-ice, not land-ice, to have been the agent of dispersion. 2. “On the Glaciation of the Shetland Isles.” By B. N. Peach, Hsq., F.G.S., and John Horne, Esq., F.G.S. After an account of previous opinion on the subject, the authors proceeded to describe the different islands, reviewing in succession the physical features, geological structure, the direction of glaciation, and the various superficial deposits. From an examination of the numerous striated surfaces, as well as from the distribution of Boulder-clay and the dispersal of stones in that deposit, they inferred that during the period of extreme cold Shetland must have been glaciated by the Scandinavian Mer de Glace, crossing the islands from the North Sea towards the Atlantic. In the island of Unst, blocks of serpentine and gabbro are found in the Boulder-clay on the western shores derived from the rock-masses occurring on the east side of the watershed. Moreover, on the mainland between Scallo- way and Fitful Head, blocks derived from the Old Red Sandstone formation on the eastern sea-board are abundant in the Boulder-clay on the west side of the watershed. The relative distribution of these stones in the sections on the west coast is in direct proportion to the relative areas occupied by the rocks on the east side of the watershed. It was likewise pointed out that after the period of general glaciation Shetland nourished a series of local glaciers, which radiated from the high grounds, the direction of the striz being at variance with the older system, while the morainic deposits also differ in character from the Boulder-clay produced by the great Mer de Glace. The authors described the order of succession in the Old Red Sandstone formation in Shetland, and referred to the discovery of an abundant series of plant-remains in rocks which have hitherto been Correspondence—MUr. Horace B. Woodward. 288 regarded as forming part of the series of ancient crystalline rocks. The plant-remains are identical with those found in the Old Red Sandstone rocks in Caithness, Orkney, and Shetland, from which it was inferred that the quartzites and shales in which the fossils are imbedded must be classed with this formation. The authors also described the great series of contemporaneous and intrusive igneous rocks of Old Red Sandstone age, adducing evidence in proof of the great denudation which has taken place in the members of this for- mation in Shetland. ; 3. “On the Southerly Extension of the Hessle Boulder-clay in Lincolnshire.” By A. J. Jukes-Browne, Esq., B.A., F.G.S. The southern boundary of the Hessle Clay has not hitherto been satisfactorily determined. The author traces this deposit along the border of the flat fen land in South Lincolnshire, near Burgh, Steeping, etc., and the east and west Fen. He concurs with Mr. Searles Wood in believing the clay to be the product of shore-ice along a coast-line, and that the materials were in great part derived from the older “ Purple Clay.” He differs, however, from that author as to the correlation of the Hessle series, thinking this more probably older than the oldest river-gravels of the South-east of England. In an appendix a deep well-section at Boston is discussed, and reasons are given for assigning the greater part of the beds in this to the Jurassic Clays, not to the Glacial. CORRESPONDENCE. THE MAMMOTH NOT PRE-GLACIAL IN BRITAIN.! Srr,—Many will regret that Prof. Dawkins has lent the authority of his name to the opinion that the Mammoth is pre-Glacial in Britain, but perhaps few may take the trouble to point out how very unsatisfactory is the evidence he brings forward (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., Feb. 1879). His evidence that the Mammoth is pre- Glacial in the South of England rests upon the assumption that the gravel beneath the Boulder-clay at Bricket Wood, between Watford and St. Albans, is pre-Glacial. There is no proof that it is older than the Lower Boulder-clay or Cromer Till of the Norfolk coast; on the contrary, it may be newer. And this being the case, the evidence is of no value whatever in assigning a pre-Glacial age to the animal- remains found in it. Mr. Clement Reid pointed out in a recent number of “ Nature” (vol. xix. p. 122) that there was no evidence to show that any single specimen of the Elephas primigenius had been obtained in situ from the pre-Glacial or Forest Bed series of the Cromer coast—a conclusion which only bore out the repeated statements of Mr. Gunn and others. As the subject is one of great interest, perhaps Prof. Dawkins will kindly state where are to be seen those specimens upon which he founds his opinion that the Mammoth has been found in the Forest Beds. Horace B. Woopwarp. AyisHam, Norwicu. 1 The publication of this letter has been unintentionally delayed.—Epir. Gzou. Mac. 236 Correspondence—Rev. H. H. Winwood. GEOLOGY OF NORTH DEVON. Str,—Mr. Kinahan has made a statement in his communication to you, in February, which I cannot allow to remain any longer un- noticed. At the end of his “Note in Press,” p. 74, whilst attributing but little value to the fossil evidence as determining the position of the North Devon beds, he writes, ‘The species have been collected without that care and precision which can alone render them of use in marking horizons. The localities assigned to the specimens, in the collections chiefly relied upon, are such as Torquay, Chud- leigh, etc.; where two, if not more, distinct groups of rocks are developed.” Now, I must leave the South Devon geologists to defend themselves, and the care with which their collections have been made, and the localities properly assigned ; they have plenty of hard work before them in their attempt to correlate these extremely puzzling beds with the Northern beds. A recent visit to Torquay strengthens my view of this; but so far as the fossil evidence affects the question of the regular sequence of the beds, from the Foreland Sandstones to the Pilton beds, I venture to think nothing can well be clearer. As to the care and precision with which the collections have been made, I boldly assert none can be greater. I need only refer to those of Mr. Townshend Hall and Mr. Valpy; and to the Catalogue of North Devon Fossils published by the former in Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1867, p. 376. Mr. Hall’s accuracy and know- ledge of the North Devon strata will not be questioned by any one who knows him. And to Mr. Valpy’s keen eye for fossils, his care in assigning the proper localities to them, and his intimate knowledge of the coast-line from the Foreland to Baggy Point, I, who have spent many a long and pleasant day with him, can most fully testify. A word as to the stratigraphical position of the beds. If “ Jukes’s fault” has not been sufficiently disposed of by Mr. Etheridge, I invite my friend Mr. Kinahan to attend the approaching Meeting of the Devonshire Association at Ilfracombe, where he, with his fellow-countrymen, who have looked at the Devon geology across the water from an Irish point of view, will have a hearty welcome; and I ask him to prove then to the satisfaction of the Secretary, Mr. Pengelly, the disproof of an “hypothetical” fault, which has never yet been proved. Can he do it? ‘The coat has been trailed: let him take up the challenge. H. H. Wriywoop. Batu, March 21st, 1879. KINAHAN’S GEOLOGY OF IRELAND. Srr,—In Mr. Kinahan’s Manual of the Geology of Ireland (p. 315), I find a reference to Mr. Jukes’ explanation of the formation of the valleys in 8.W. Ireland, accompanied by the following footnote: “Jukes at the time considered that the Cork rocks were once covered by the Carboniferous Limestone of the central plain. Subsequently he had to allow that this was incorrect, and his theory formed on the supposed Limestone hills therefore falls to the ground, although it is still quoted.” Correspondence—Ir. Jukes-Browne—Mr. Kinahan. 287 In Mr. Kinahan’s former book, “‘ Valleys and their Relations to Fissures, etc.,” the following passage occurs: ‘‘ The first of these pro- positions [that limestone once existed over the whole of S.W. Ire- land] Mr. Jukes subsequently gave up. ... This, however, does not much affect the present subject [7.e. formation of river-valleys], as some of the other rocks are nearly as easily denuded as limestone.” I should feel obliged to Mr. Kinahan if he would explain the full meaning of the extraordinary statement contained in the first of the above quotations, and also how the latter passage is to be reconciled with the former. I entirely fail to see how Mr. Jukes’ theory depends on the supposition that the Carboniferous Limestone once extended over the South-west of Ireland, and if Mr. Kinahan will carefully re-read the original paper in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xviii., I think he will see that he has been under a misapprehension regarding the “supposed Limestone hills.” There is only one passage in which such hills are supposed, and this forms part of a hypothesis men- tioned only to be presently dismissed as leading to utter absurdity and confusion. The dominant ridges really involved in Jukes’ explanation are the great anticlinals of so-called Old Red Sandstone separating the synclinal valleys in Cork and Waterford ; he supposes the streams to have commenced the erosion of their channels along the surface of a plain of marine denudation which sloped southwards from these dominant ridges. I am aware that Mr. Kinahan has published his idea of the origin of these and other valleys, and I have no desire to enter into a dis- cussion regarding his peculiar views; but I must protest against so summary a dismissal of Jukes’ well-considered theory. I need only add that I am one of those who believe that it completely explains the courses of many river-valleys both in England and Ireland. Hieueats, March 10. A. J. JuKEs-Browne. PROF. HULL AND G. H. KINAHAN. Sir,—The statements of Prof. Hull in the Grotogrcat Macazine for March, 1879, being mostly personal, I cannot think my answering them would be any advantage to Science. My facts can- not be disproved, and any one interested in the question can judge which is right by examining the Irish rocks for themselves. As to the supposed Permian, if Prof. Hull is mistaken, I am not bound blindly to follow him; and my opinion as to the age of the rocks is backed by the opinions of Griffith and others, also by the fossils found in the rocks. G. Henry Kinanan. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY oF IRELAND. OCCURRENCE OF EURYNOTUS IN THE CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONE OF BELGIUM. Str,—Prof. de Koninck has, in the recently published first part of his new great work on the ‘“‘ Faune du calcaire Carbonifére de la Belgique,” p. 25, plate iii., described, under the name of Platy- somus (2) insignis, De Kon., a fish from the Carboniferous Limestone 238 Correspondence—Dr. Traquair—Mr. Dakyns. of Viesville, a query being appended to the genus on account of want of evidence as to dentition. An inspection of the figures by which Prof. de Koninck’s descrip- tion is illustrated at once convinced me that not only was the query justifiable, but that the fish in question could not possibly belong to the genus Platysomus, the scales being represented as strongly denticulated on their hinder margins, besides being more obliquely arranged and differing essentially both in sculpture, and in the position of their articular spines, from those characteristic of the above-named genus. I accordingly wrote to Prof. de Koninck, expressing these convic- tions, as well as my desire to see the specimens; whereupon my distinguished friend, with great kindness and courtesy, at once communicated my wish to the authorities of the Royal Museum of Natural History in Brussels, to whom I am much indebted for the opportunity of examining one of the specimens referred to. As I had suspected, I find that it belongs to the genus Hurynotus, and to a species closely allied to, if not identical with, the well- known EHurynotus crenatus, of the Scottish Lower Carboniferous rocks. This genus has hitherto been found only in Scotland (Agassiz’s “ Hurynotus” tenuiceps, from the American Triassic rocks, having turned out to be an Ischypterus), and the Viesville specimens are therefore the first veritable examples of Hurynotus which have been discovered elsewhere. In geological range, it remains, how- ever, still confined to the Lower division of the Carboniferous formation, not a scale of Hurynotus having been as yet found above the horizon of the Millstone Grit. R. H. Traquair. EpinspureGH, 14th April, 1879, THE BRIDLINGTON AND SEWERBY GRAVELS. Sir,—The gravels overlying the Purple Boulder-clay at Bridling- ton Quay have been generally considered as decidedly Post-glacial, if not quite recent. I cannot now enter into a full discussion of the age of all these gravels; but a careful examination of the cliff has convinced me of the Glacial age of a portion of them. IJ made some sketches of the coast section last November, which I hope some day to publish; and these will, I think, convince any one of this; but at present I must confine myself to saying this much. On the north side of the town the Purple Boulder-clay is overlaid by gravels, which are shown to be of Glacial age by their contorted bedding, and by the way in which they are jammed into and against the Boulder-clay. These crushed and crumpled gravels occur where the cliff is low, extending about as far as Sands Lane. North of this point the cliff rises at Potter Hill and continues to rise towards Sewerby ; and along this part of the cliff the Boulder-clay is overlaid by gravels evenly bedded, which I call the Sewerby gravels. I shall not now discuss the question of the relation of these to the previously mentioned gravels. I will merely say that these Sewerby gravels, though as a rule evenly bedded, do exhibit in some places near their base contortions and Oorrespondence—Mr. J. R. Dakyns. 299 erushings, such as bespeak ice-action, or inclose small masses of Boulder-clay in their lower layers; so that I consider it established, independently of further considerations, that these gravels at all events date back to glacial times. I have other reasons for thinking so, but content myself at present with the above. I would only add that it by no means follows, because these gravels began to be deposited before ice-action had ceased in this area, that their deposition did not continue down to Post-glacial times. In other words, while their lower part is of Glacial, their upper part may be of Post- glacial age. South of the town is a corresponding cliff, consisting of current bedded sand and gravel, and finely laminated sandy clays (Phillips’ Warp Beds). These do not show any undoubted signs of ice-action ; they would seem, however, to have once been continuous with the Sewerby gravels, but to have had their continuity interrupted by the denudation of the valley by which the Gypsey Race escapes to sea. In none of the above-mentioned beds have any shells been found as yet; this, though it proves nothing, is quite in keeping with the idea of their being of Glacial age, and is possibly due to their having been deposited in shallow seas freshened by the melting of the great ice-sheet; the current bedding, dipping now in one direction and now in the opposite, bespeaks tidal currents in shallow water, and the warp-like character of the laminated clays is equally suggestive of a tidal estuary. I may mention that I have found fragments of marine shells in sand-beds in the interior in localities where they have not been noticed before—viz. in the remarkable series of sand-hills running south from Harpham Moor and at Brigham. These, I suspect, will turn out to belong to the set of beds described by Phillips at pages 61 and 62 of his work on the Yorkshire Coast. It is right to add that the gravels at Bridlington mentioned above are here and there overlaid or replaced by more recent fresh-water deposits, gravels, and marls. This, of course, is well known. BRIDLINGTON Quay. J. R. Daxyns. GLACIAL TROUGHS BENEATH THE GLACIER DES BOSSONS. Str,—Glacial grooves and furrows are always described in geological works as running in the direction of the ice-flow which formed them. That this should, perhaps generally, be the case, is so obvious that it may seem superfluous to give proofs thereof; nor are such far to seek; they are these: the direction of the grooves is often found to coincide with that of glacial striz, with that of the transport of erratics, and with the direction of motion indicated by crag and tail, and by the forms of roches moutonnées. Yet it is not always so. In many cases grooves and furrows, such at least as are broad and shallow, must have been formed by ice moving not along but across the direction of the grooves. This would be apt to be the case especially on steep ground, and such I would call troughs. I saw a very good instance of this in the year 1873, in the case of the Glacier des Bossons. From a point in the hill-side beyond the 240 Correspondence—Mr. William Vicary. pavilion of the Pierre Pointue, and on the right-hand side of the Mont Blanc route, as you ascend, I got a capital view of the glacier’s rocky floor, partly laid bare; and made a rough diagram of the form of the ground, which it is not necessary to reproduce. The bed of the glacier was seen to be scooped out transversely to the glacier’s length. It was evident that the rocky floor beneath the ice consisted of a wave-like series of ridges and hollows running along the hill- side across the line of ice-flow. The reason of this, and the mode of formation of the hollows or troughs, was obvious. ‘The rocks over which the ice is moving consist of a series of crystalline schists, of varying degrees of hardness, dipping into the hill at a high angle. Accordingly, as the ice descends, it will wear away the softer strata more than the harder, and thus scoop out a series of troughs along the strike of the schists. In the case of the Mont Blanc range this strike is across the glacier, and thus the latter’s rocky floor gets furrowed across the direction of ice-flow. In my sketch is represented in one spot a mass of moraine stuff caught in a deep hollow in the rocks below the ice. Another point interesting to geologists, which 1 may mention, is that the lateral moraines of the Glacier des Bossons are rudely but distinctly stratified. The layers, as might be expected, dip down the valley, very much with the fall of the ice. J. R. Dakyns. BRIDLINGTON QUAY. MIOCENE OR EOCENE? AGE OF THE BOVEY LIGNITES. Str,—If it be necessary to remove the Bovey beds from the Miocene to the Eocene, why not carry them back at once to the Cretaceous age ? According to Professor Morris, the Floras of the Tertiary and Cretaceous have been mistaken one for the other.! Dr. Duncan” says the mean temperature required for the growth of the Corals now found in the Haldon Greensand would be equal to 74° Fahrenheit, which must have been a climate equally favourable to the plants of the Bovey beds. In fact the Sequoia, a very characteristic fossil in these beds, also occurs in the Coral bed on Haldon. There would then be no need of going eighty miles for its nearest neighbour. Tur Priory, Corurron Crescent, Exerer, Wizitam Vicary. April 13, 1879. IMEI SG Ast ao wes oy sO OS) GxoLoGcicaL SuRvEY or THE TrRRITORIES.—The United States Congress has sanctioned a scheme for the reorganisation of the American Surveys. It is understood that the Geological Survey will be placed under the control of Mr. Clarence King, who has so long had charge of the Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel; but no details have yet reached us.— Nature, April 17th. CPSs PAstee pan We regret to record the death of James Nicol, F.R.S.E., F.G.S., late Professor of Natural History in the University of Aberdeen. He published a Guide to the Geology of Scotland; a Geological Map of Scotland; and is the author of many original contributions to its Geology. 1 Prof. Morris, on Cretaceous Flora, vol. xv. p. 47, of Popular Science Review. 2 Prof. Duncan, Journal Geol. Soc. Feb. 7, 1879, page 96. oT Ss, Tatas 44 Hi S al < 4 fy a E Ho (e) > H : (Se) fq: a fen SPT bOI male REIT SOSH OTE ARES Bee bC AP pen A A Eerste GEOL.MAG.1879. far owas oa ASFo ora ee , Caoradoe Corwen. N.Wales Ramipora Hochstetteri var. carinata, Eth. THE GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. NEW SERIES. DECADE II. VOL. VI. No. VI—JUNE, 1879. Oleg Geen ASE Astin aa a @ ae se Se —>—_—_ T.—On toe OccurRENCE oF THE GENUS RaurIPORA (Touna) nN THe Carapoc Breps or THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF CoRWeEN. By R. Erserince, Junior, F.G.S.; of the British Museum. (PLATE VI.) O the recently published paper by my father, “ Paleontology of the Coasts of the Arctic Lands visited by the late British Expedition,” ete.,* I contributed some notes on the Polyzoa obtained during the progress of the Expedition from the Paleozoic rocks of the regions visited. Amongst other forms I referred at some length to Dr. F. Toula’s genus Ramipora, and pointed out its affinities to various genera of Paleozoic Polyzoa, and more particularly to Synocladia, King, in the following words :—‘“ It appears to differ from the first of these” (i.e. from Synocladia) ‘in the absence of dichotomization of the stem and primary branches, so far as the remains of it are known to us; secondly, in the bilateral symmetry of the latter; thirdly, in the fact that the cells all open on the same plane on each side the median keel, whereas in Synocladia the stems and branches are divided longitudinally by several carinz, between which the cell apertures occur. Again, in Ramipora both aspects of the polyzoarium are carinate, but in Synocladia only one. Lastly, in Synocladia the dissepiments all appear to be regularly celluli- ferous, but in Ramipora this does not appear to hold good to the same extent.” Mr. G. J. Williams, of Tanygrisian, Festiniog, lately brought to the British Museum some really beautiful impressions, in a grey micaceous schist, of a Polyzoon found by himself in the neighbourhood of Corwen, and which constitutes, I believe, an undescribed variety of Toula’s Ramipora Hochstetteri. So far as I know, Ramipora has hitherto been met with in the Permo-Carboniferous beds of the Arctic regions only, and this extension backwards in time of a Synocladia-like type is a point of much interest. I am also acquainted only with one species, k. Hochstettert, which the Corwen form very closely resembles, in many points of detail. 1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1878, vol. xxxiy. pp. 668-639. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. VI. 16 242 Rh. Etheridge, jun.—On Ramipora in the Caradoc. A reference to the Plate will show that the habit of the polyzo- arium is clearly that of Ramipora, as distinguished from Synocladia, a central or chief stem from which are given off a series of straight non-bifurcating branches, without any separation by longitudinal ridges or keels, beyond that occupying the centre of each stem or branch, and the cells all opening much on the same level; instead of, as in the latter, a series of continually dichotomizing branches, longitudinally divided by several carinze separating the cells. The polyzoarium in this interesting Polyzoon was probably openly infundibuliform, or basket-shaped, there being a series of the princi- pal straight stems, all branching off at the base from a common root, or stolon, but in no way bifurcating or springing from one another. Four of these stems are shown in the larger specimen, each giving off laterally, and at subalternate distances, the secondary stems, which, as in the former case, in no way bifurcate or dichoto- mize, but proceed direct, and intact in themselves, to the periphery of the frond. Here and there however, between two of the secondary stems, similar short (or abortive?) ones arise from the main stem, which unite directly with the cross-bars or dissepiments. As in most of these frondescent Polyzoa, the common root is devoid of pores or cell-openings. From the secondary stems are given off the interstices, or cross- bars, by the union of which are formed the mesh-openings, or what in a Fenestella would be called the fenestrules. These dissepiments spring from opposite sides of each secondary branch at an acute angle, and on a level with one another, and uniting more or less in the middle line between every two contiguous secondary branches, with those arising from the latter give rise to the broadly v-shaped fenestrules. Asa rule, great regularity may be noticed in the form of these openings, taking the whole surface of the frond, but here and there an irregularly-formed one is to be met with. The section of the main stems, secondary branches, and dissepiments was bi- angular or diamond-shaped. The angular or apical ridge of the various stems and branches of the frond is devoid of any pores, or other features of interest; but on the sides of the main stems, immediately under the apical ridge, are two linear rows of contiguous pores or cells with round apertures, those of the one row being a little subalternate with those of the other. There may be a third row, but I have not been able to distinguish it, and from the width of the lateral portions of these stems I hardly think there is room for the expansion of the cell-mouths. The description of the arrangement of the cells on the main stems will also suffice for that on the secondary stems and the interstices—for I cannot detect any difference in their distribution. The reverse face of the frond is, as before said, angular, but non-celluliferous. So little has been done in this country towards the elucidation of Silurian Polyzoa, with the exception of the brief original descrip- tions, mostly by Lonsdale, and scattered through the works of Murchison,’ that there is always the chance of re-describing or re- 1 And those contained in Prof. M‘Coy’s Brit. Pal. Fossils. R. Etheridge, gjun.—On Ramipora in the Caradoc. 243 naming some already known form, which may have been noticed from a mere fragment, and that imperfectly—no matter how carefully the literature of the subject is searched. So far as my acquaintance with British Silurian Polyzoa goes, the only one which could possibly be, in fragments, confounded with that now under description is Glauconome disticha, Goldf. This error has been committed in specimens in the British Museum, and in the Museum of Practical Geology; but after Prof. M‘Coy’s clear description of G. disticha, an easy separation may readily be arrived at. Fragments of the latter may be at once distinguished from those of Mr. Williams’ fossil, by the rounded contour of the stems and branches on the reverse face, and their granular orna- mentation, whereas in the specimens now under consideration it is angular, and so far as known without granules or strie of any kind. Again, as regards the cell-bearing face; in G. disticha the pores are large, oblong, thick-edged, occupying the whole width of the face on each side the central keel, and their ends in contact. In Ramipora, on the contrary, the apertures are round, similarly placed, without elevated edges of any kind, merely forming a series of depressions on the interstitial surface, and separated from one another by an appreciable distance. It now only remains for us to consider how far this interesting Caradoc fossil agrees with the single species of Ramipora hitherto described, R. Hochstettert, Toula. The arrangement of the branches, primary, secondary, and ternary, is identical in both; the cross section of the latter appears to be the same. The chief points of difference appear to lie in the greater development of the central keel of the branches, and judging from Dr. Youla’s figure, a greater regularity in the disposition of the pores. Finally, taking the whole frond into consideration, the Caradoc form exhibits a tendency towards a less robust habit. Pending a more complete description of Rk. Hochstetteri, Toula, I fail to see the advisability of establishing a new species for this interesting fossil, but shall at present content myself with considering it as a variety only, under the name of Ramipora Hochstetteri, Toula, var. carinata (mihi). For those observers who prefer to look upon the points above brought forward as of specific value, the designation carinata will, perhaps, be acceptable in that sense. The undoubted interest attached to this elegant fossil lies in the fact of the extension backwards in time of a form only previously known to exist towards the close of the Paleeozoic period. Iam indebted to Mr. G. J. Williams for the loan of his really beautiful specimens. I have also been permitted to borrow a series contained in the Museum of Practical Geology. For the loan of Lonsdale’s type specimen of Glauconome disticha, Goldf., contained in the Murchison Collection, Iam indebted to the President and Council of the Geological Society. This assemblage of examples, with a few which unexpectedly came to light in the British Museum Collection, has enabled me to study a fine series from the Welsh Caradoc rocks. Localities and Horizon.—“ A little south of the town of Corwen,” in 244. G. J. Hinde—A New Favosite Coral. beds of Caradoc age (G. J. Williams). Bwlch-y-Gasy, near Corwen, and near Cynwyd, in a micaceous clay slate of similar age (British Museum). South of Cefn Coch, near Llangollen, similar matrix and horizon (Museum Practical Geology). EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI. Fic. 1. Ramipora Hochstettert, Toula; var. carinata, R. Eth., jun. Caradoc, nr. Corwen (Cabinet of Mr. G. J. Williams, Tanygrisian). la. General view, natural size. 14. Portion of a frond, enlarged about twice (drawn from a plaster cast). Fic. 2. Ibid. ur. Llangollen (Mus. Pract. Geology, nat. in Fie. 3. Zid. ur. Corwen (Brit. Mus., nat. size). IJ.—On a New Genus or Favostre Cora From THE NIAGARA Formation (U. Sizurian), Manrroutin Isnanp, Lake Huron. By G. Jennies Hinpz, F.G.S. ERTAIN zones of the massive grey dolomite belonging to the Niagara Formation in North America are so largely composed of fossil corals as to indicate similar conditions of formation to that of the coral reefs of the present age. Perhaps no better examples of these Paleozoic coral reefs could be found than those which are exposed in many tracts of the surface of the Great Manitoulin Island, which are literally covered with complete and fragmentary corals in a silicified condition, which have been weathered out of the matrix of hard dolomite in which they had been imbedded. The great majority of these corals belong to the well-known genera Favosites, Halysiies, Heliolites, Alveolites, Coenites, Syringopora, Strombodes, Cyathophyllum, Zaphrentis and Omphyma, and many of the species are also common to the Silurian rocks of Hurope. A recent search in the débris of one of these ancient reefs has brought to light a coral which appears to belong to a new genus, with the following characters. SYRINGOLITES, gen. nov. Gen. char.—Corallum composite, growing in large flattened masses with a basal epitheca. The corallites are polygonal, comparatively thin-walled, closely in contact, vertical in their direction of growth, and with one or more rows of mural pores on each of their prismatic sides. In the centre of each corallite is a cylindrical tube, with non- perforate walls, formed apparently by the invaginated extension of a series of funnel-shaped tabule. This median tube appears to be continuous as a rule, though rarely a thin horizontal plate may be seen crossing it. The upper surface of the funnel-shaped tabule carries numerous well-marked rows of short septal spines or tubercles, which converge from the sides of the corallites to the central tube into which they also extend. In certain examples the walls of the calices are crenulated by vertical septal ridges. Obs.—The only genus with which the above is at all closely allied is that of Roemeria, Edwards & Haime (Polyp. Foss. des Terr. Pal. p- 253). This genus was formed to include the single species of Calamopora infundibulifera, Goldfuss (Petrefacten Germ. part i. p. 78, plate xxxii. figs. 1 a, b), and is thus described: ‘‘ Polypier en masse G. J. Hinde—A New Favosite Coral. 245 arrondie, polypiérites unis par leurs murailles; planchers infundibuli- formes.” In the description of the only species of the genus the authors further add, “Nous ne savons pas, sil existe réellement des trous aux murailles.” The above generic description is of so wide and general a character that it would certainly include my new form, and at first disposed me to refer it to Remeria ; but having had the opportunity (for which I am indebted to the obliging courtesy of Professor Andrea, of Bonn) of making a close examination of the original specimens, upon which Goldfuss and Edwards & Haime based their descriptions, I find that the differences are too great to allow the forms in question to be placed in the same genus. Thus in Remeria (Calamopora) infundibulifera, the corallites have unusually thick walls, and are not in contact at their summits, which are circular. There is, further, the very important fact, that no mural pores can be distinguished in the specimens, notwithstanding the statement of Goldfuss that such existed; and the character of the corallite walls, and their separation from each other at the surface of the corallum, tends to negative the probability of their presence. Again, there is no appearance in the type specimens of the open central tube as shown in Goldfuss’ figure (plate xxxii. fig. 1 b), but there are, instead, funnel-shaped tabule resembling those present in the genus Syringopora, consisting of a series of elongated closed cones closely fitting into each other. The specimens of R. infundibulifera may, indeed, be compared to a Syringopora, in which the connecting pro- cesses are absent, and the corallites are in contact with each other. There are, besides, no indications in Reemeria of septal spines. It is thus apparent that there is sufficient divergence in the characters of Remeria, as shown in the only known examples of the genus, and Syringolites, to justify the separation of these forms into distinct genera. Syrincotires Huronensis, Hinde. A. Fragment of a colony of the natural size. 3B. A single calice of the same, enlarged eight times, showing the central tube and radiating lines of septal tubercles. ©. Part of a corallite of the same, split open and enlarged six times, showing the composition of the central tube out of invaginated tabule. D. Part of a corallite of the same viewed from the exterior, and enlarged six times, showing the mural pores. The only difference between Syringolites and Favosites (Lamarck) (= Calamopora, Goldfuss) consists in the central tube and the rows of septal spines on the tabular surfaces and in the tube of the coral- 246 William Davies—On Ovibos moschatus. lites of the former genus; in all other respects, the resemblance between the two genera is very close. The absence of connecting processes, the mural pores, and the open character of the central tube, sufficiently distinguish Syringo- lites from Syringopora. SYRINGOLITES HURONENSIS, Sp. nov. Besides the above-mentioned generic characters, it may be added that the upper surface of the corallum is nearly flat; the walls of the corallites are well defined, and occasionally possess a wavy outline. The calice formed by the uppermost tabula is moderately deep, and gradually slopes from the sides to the central tube. The corallites are of generally uniform size, about one line in diameter, the central tube is about 2 line wide, and the tabule are about 4 line apart. ‘There are on the upper surfaces of the tabule about twelve complete rows of septal tubercles or spines extending from the sides of the corallites to the central tube, and between these are incom- plete rows, which only reach part of the distance. The central tube is of nearly uniform diameter throughout. The mural pores occur at irregular intervals, and appear to alternate with each other. The specimens are all silicified and free from the dolomitic matrix, so that their characters are very distinctly shown. Not infrequently the central tube has been filled up with silica, and in this condition it presents the appearance of a solid columella, for which it might be mistaken. Formation and Locality.—Not uncommon in the Niagara dolomite (Wenlock), near Manitouwaning, Great Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron. I1J].—On some Recentiy Discoverep TreetH or OViB0s MOSCHATUS, FROM CRAYFORD, Kent. By Witt1am Davis, F.G.S., of the British Museum. HE great geological interest which attaches to the fossil remains of the Musk-ox or Sheep (Ovibos moschatus, Blainv.), found in British Pleistocene deposits, and the few instances hitherto recorded of their occurrence (together with a recent discovery brought to my notice), have suggested to me the desirability of a brief enumeration of them. They consist respectively of a portion of a skull, from the low-level Thames gravel, near Maidenhead, first described by Prof. Owen;! a fragment of a skull from the gravels of Green Street Green, near Bromley, Kent; both of which are preserved in the British Museum; “fragments of the skulls of a male and female, from the gravels of the Avon at Freshford, near Bath ;” a “basal portion of a skull obtained from the gravel of Barnwood, near Gloucester ;” and, ‘a nasal bone, a tibia, and an astragalus, from the low-level gravels of Fisherton,” near Salisbury; and, lastly, “the head of a fine bull, wanting the facial bones, dis- covered and exhumed by Prof. Boyd Dawkins, from the lower 1 Bubalus moschatus, Owen ; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xii. (1856), p. 124. William Davies—On Ovibos moschatus. 247 brick-earths of the Thames Valley, at Crayford, Kent.1 Of these nine specimens, six are fortunately characteristic portions of the skull, these being the most important factors in the verification of the species, and its authentication as a British fossil. Neverthe- less, its remains are so rare, that any new discovery of characteristic fragments which add to the evidence are of sufficient scientific value to be placed upon record; and such evidence is afforded by the discovery of the molars of a mandibular ramus, which I detected amongst a series of miscellaneous mammalian remains, recently obtained from the brick-earth at Crayford, and which were submitted to me for examination by my friend, Robert Cheadle, Hsq., F.G.S. The specimens consist of the three true molars and the fourth premolar of the right side. They were found in situ in the jaw, but unfortunately the bone was too decomposed and friable to be preserved. The first molar is imperfect, the others are entire and in good preservation, and they belonged to a large and fully mature animal, the last lobe of the third molar having just come into wear. They greatly resemble in their general form and characters the teeth of Ovis and Capra, inasmuch as they have no supplementary lobe in the external valleys of each molar, in their simpler structure, and in being much more compressed laterally, than are the teeth of Bos or Bubalus. That they belonged to an individual of large size is inferred from the measurements of the teeth as compared with the teeth in a lower jaw of a recent Musk-ox, of about the same age, in the British Museum (612 f), and with which, excepting size, they agree in all essential characters. These measurements in inches and tenths, are as follows: —Combined length of series of four last molars in situ—Fossil, 5:6 ; Recent, 4:5. Measurements of teeth, separately : Foss. RECENT. M. M. M. P.M. M. M. M. P.M. IIl. Il. I. M. III. Il. I. Ty. Antero-posterior length | 1°85 | 1: 4] 1: 1] 0°86 || 1° 6 1:12 | 0°9| 0-8 Transverse diameter of anterior lobe ......s.... 0-75 | 0°78 | 0:75 | 0: 5 || 0: 6 | 0: 6 | 0°59 | 0:45 Do. do. second lobe | 0°64 | 0°73} 0: 7 | 0:44 || 0- 5 | 0°58 | 0°57 | 0°41 Do. do. third lobe | 0°35 0°32 The recent jaw I assume to be the specimen from which Prof. Boyd Dawkins obtained the measurements given in his Monograph (op. cit. p. 138), as they exactly coincide with those given above, taken by myself. With regard to the position in the brick-earth, Mr. Cheadle informs me that the teeth were found in the well-known chalk-pit 1 See an exhaustive memoir upon the osteology, geographical range, and geological distribution of this interesting Arctic animal, by Professor Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., “ Pleistocene Mammalia,’ Part V. (Ovibos moschatus) ; in the Monographs of the Paleontographical Society for 1872. 248 Prof. CO. H. Hitchcock—Glacial Period in E. America. through the tunnel, and in the clay near the zone of the “ Cyrena bed.” This, although in the same deposit, would be at a higher level than that of the skull already mentioned, and, therefore, cannot be supposed to have belonged to it. The deposit is rich in remains of Mammalia, both of extinct and still existing species; the teeth and bones of Elephants, Oxen, Deer, and the Horse predominating ; those of the Rhinoceros (three species), although frequent, are far less common; whilst the remains of Carnivora are rare. Whether these brick-earths are Pre-glacial, as Prof. Dawkins supposes them to be, or, as more generally considered by geologists, belong to a later period than the true Glacial epoch, they contain, curiously commingled, the débris of animals which were respectively inhabitants of temperate and of rigorous climes. The species, exclud- ing the Invertebrata, whose remains are recorded as having been found at Crayford, are the following :— Ursus ferox, Linn. Cervus elaphus, Linn. », arctos, Linn. Elephas antiquus, Fale. Felis spelea, Goldf. » primigentus, Blum. Hyena spelea, Goldf. Equus fossilis, Mey. Canis lupus, Linn. Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Cuv. Bison priscus, Ow. “4 leptorhinus, Ow. Bos primigenius, Boj. 3 megarhinus, Christ. Ovibos moschatus, Blainy. Arvicola amphibia, Desm. Megaceros Hibernicus, Ow. Spermophilus erythrogenotdes, Fale. The fossil remains of the Musk-ox are as equally rare in the Upper Tertiaries of the European continent as in England. Prof. Dawkins cites three localities in France, and four in Germany, where its remains have been discovered. They have also been found in three places in Siberia; and also in the frozen mud cliffs of Eschscholtz Bay, on the coast of Arctic America, but nowhere abundantly ; and only in one instance, and that a single tooth, “in the gravel of the Oise,” near Chauny, France, have the teeth, previously to those here described, been found. It is assumed, on account of the paucity of its remains in Europe, that it was only an occasional wanderer so far south of its usual habitats. The distribution of the existing Musk-ox is at present limited to the barren lands of Polar America, between the 60th and 88rd parallels of latitude. During the late Arctic Hxpedition a fine bull was shot near the coast of Grinnell Land, in latitude 82’ 27” ; the stuffed skin of which is exhibited in the National Collection. IV.—Tue Guactat Preriop in Hastern AMERICA. By Prof. C, H. Hrrcucocx. ECENT studies of the glacial phenomena as exhibited in the State of New Hampshire and adjoining regions enable us to maintain the following propositions. 1. The ice-sheet at the time of its maximum development passed south-easterly over all New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It came from the St. Lawrence Valley, where all the Prof. C. H. Hitchcock—Gacial Period in E. America. 249 observed striation is at right angles to this south-east course, and travelled directly over the highest ridges and summits towards the sea. I find upon the summit of Mount Washington boulders weigh- ing 90 Ibs. that have travelled certainly ten miles and ascended as much as 4000 feet above their source. I also find strize and ‘till’ there. Heretofore the top of this mountain, 6291 feet above the sea, has been regarded as a glacial island. 2. In the decline of the ice period local glaciers radiated from the White and Green Mountains. Those passing southerly were the most conspicuous. Their traces consist partly of striz, and, in their absence, of transported material. Careful preliminary studies of the position of the several formations has made such identification possible. 3. The till consists of two parts, called lower and upper, and believed to be the equivalents of the corresponding parts of the till of the British Islands. The lower consists of bluish compact earth containing small striated and far-travelled boulders, with occasional lenticular gravel sheets. Its iron oxide is mostly ferrous, the same as that of the rocks before transportation. The upper till is universal; is a reddish-brown loose material with imbedded and overlying rough blocks of large size which have usually travelled a short distance. The iron oxide is hydrous ferric. The description of the common varieties of the Scottish till, by James Geikie, in the Great Ice Age, second edition, p. 116, seems to agree with this, All these facts, especially the condition of the iron oxide, necessitates the belief that our lower till is the proper ground moraine, while the upper till consists of all the ice-borne materials (lateral, median and much of the terminal moraines with imbedded detritus), which fell upon the subjacent hard face when the ice melted. The upper till would therefore cover the lower deposit uniformly and universally, save where enormously accumulated in the terminal or frontal moraines; and the original anhydrous ferrous oxides would absorb water and oxygen by exposure to air and water during the melting process. Careful analyses confirm our impression of this diverse nature of the iron oxides. 4. No facts seen confirm the theory of the presence of a universal interglacial warmer period. The few marine beds lying between the two tills contain boreal fossils, or the remains of such animals as now flourish in Greenland, and they are covered only by our upper till. A true ground moraine never overlies the inter- glacial beds. An excellent case may be seen at Portland, Maine, where we find, first, enormous deposits of lower till; second, marine beds (called Champlain) containing 121 species of fossils, reaching to 100 feet above the present sea-level, thus indicating a submergence of that amount; third, deposits of upper till, 25 feet thick, covering uniformly both the lower till and the marine beds. Recent excava- tions made in grading the streets show these facts incontestably. Hence it seems plain that for a brief period the glacier retreated a short distance, allowing the marine beds to accumulate just as they do now in Greenland ; then the ice re-advanced so as to cover the 200 Prof. C. H. Hitchcock—Glacial Period in EL. America. fossiliferous deposit, bringing a load of coarse ferric material, but no ground moraine. The ice soon melted, and thus the upper till was precipitated upon the previously formed floor. In the Champlain and St. Lawrence valleys no occurrence of till overlying the marine beds has yet been observed ; so that the recurring glacial conditions were too insignificant to cause a re-advance of the ice-sheet less than 200 miles to the north of Portland. 5. All the facts of striation and drift dispersion from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Rocky Mountains are best explained by the existence of a central mer de glace in the Labrador peninsula, or somewhat farther west. 'Torell and Dana have maintained that the starting-point of the glacier was in Greenland; but we find (a) the glacial movements from the Labrador peninsula have been towards Greenland instead of away from it; (b) the Greenland ice must have been twenty-two miles high to flow to the Saskatchewan region; (c) the bridging of Davis Straits could be hardly possible. 6. The Labrador plateau is lower than the New England hills. To overcome this difficulty Professor Dana supposed there had been an elevation of the northern Laurentian watershed, sufficiently gigantic to allow of a south-east sliding of the ice. There is no evidence of such elevation of the land beyond the requirements of the theory. It will be easier to accept Dr. Croll’s view that the ice- sheet itself became miles in thickness, by the gradual retention of frozen moisture, and moved then as readily as if a less amount capped high mountains. It first moved south-westerly as far as Manitoba, Dakota, and Missouri ; then when the St. Lawrence Valley became filled to the brim, the surplusage moved towards the Atlantic in a south-east direction. Hither of these theories is extreme ; but there seems to be no escape from accepting one of the two horns of the dilemma. 7. The south edge of the American ice-sheet is well marked by the presence of enormous terminal moraines, coupled with extensive sand and gravel plains washed from the glacial debris by the waters derived from the melting ice. The eastern extremity is at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Long Island, New York. ‘These long drift hills, consisting largely of gravel and sand, are isolated from all present appearance of connexion with any possible higher land from whence the depositing waters could have flowed. By supposing that they formed the front of the glacier just before its decadence, it is easy to understand both how an immense supply of drift material was furnished, and the origin of the freshwater streams which formed plains and hummocks of stratified sand far above the present water- level. A study of the writings of all the State geological reports enables us to discover more than one continuous moraine line, from Massachusetts to the Red River country west of Manitoba, save in a portion of Pennsylvania, which needs further study. W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. 251 V.—PLEIStoceNcE GEOLOGY oF CoRNWALL.! By W. A. E. Ussuzr, F.G.S. Part [VY.—SusmMerGeD Forests AND StReAM Tin GRAVELS. HE evidence under this head is necessarily a compilation; the very exceptional exposure of the old forest ground, and the nature of stream tin sections, leaving no room for personal investi- gation. The names of the observers are in most cases sufficient vouchers for the accuracy of their statements. The submerged forests are given first, as there is no evidence forthcoming to show the priority of the stream tin gravels to the general growth of the forests. The forest bed overlying the stream tin which Mr. Carne rightly synchronizes with the forest beds on the coast may represent a very brief portion of a long period of forestial growth. Submerged Forests.—Proceeding round the coasts from Plymouth. 1. Looe. Mr. Box (26th Ann. Rep. Royal Inst. Corn. for 1844) noticed trunks of oak, alder, ash, and elm, on Millendreath Beach, in vegetable mould extending for 250 yards from east to west, and sloping from below high-water mark to the southward for 150 feet, where it was lost sight of under fine sand, which, though explored for 50 feet farther out, yielded no further traces. The plants in the mould resembled those found in a neighbouring marsh, 130 feet above high water, of which the following section is given :— Peat of flags and arundaceous plants. Dark brown vegetable matter with holly and alder. Layer of sand with vegetable matter, numerous hazel nuts, and the elytra of Coleopterous insects, also black oak and ? holly, resting on firm light- coleured clay. Numerous angular slate fragments were met with, but no shells. 2. Near Mevagissey. Sir C. Lemon (T.R.G. 8. Corn. vol. vii. p. 29) gives the following section disclosed in cutting a drain at Heli- gan (about a mile inland from Mevagissey Bay) near the foot of a hill 20 feet above the stream in the valley bottom, and in another place, higher up, at 40 feet above the stream :—Loam 1 foot 8 inches from the surface, upon a mass of whitish, bluish, and yellowish clay with broken slate, with the stump of an oak 4 feet long and nearly . afoot in diameter, 7 feet 4 inches from the surface at its lower extremity. Submerged forests have been observed after severe gales— 3. At Fowey by Mr. Peach (T. R. G.8. Corn. vol. vii. p. 62), the trees being rooted in stiff clay. 4, At Porthmellin, near Mevagissey (Ibid, vol. vi. pp. 23 and 51), the roots resting on clay apparently 7n situ. 5. At Maen Porth, near Falmouth, by the Rev. J. Rogers (Ibid, vol. iv. p. 481), the roots being in clay. 6. At Porthleven near the Loo Pool, by the Rev. J. Rogers (Ibid, vol. i. p. 286), oak and willow roots apparently in situ. At Fowey and Porthmellin, elytra of beetles were found. 7. Mr. H. M. Whitley (Journ. R. Inst. Corn. No. 18, p. 77) gives 1 Continued from the May Number, p. 211. 252 W. A. H. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. the following section at Market Strand, Falmouth, exposed during excavations at the Landing Pier :— Layer of sand on a thin bed of shale, thinning out seaward ... 2ft. Qin. on—Forest Bed, compact peat, flags, ferns, trees of oak, hazel, fir, beech ; fir and beech most abundant; no hazel nuts obtained 7ft. Oin. The top of this bed occurred at about the level of ordinary spring-tide low-water mark. Its base rested on a layer of gravel Sree . 4ft. Oin. Mr. Whitley was informed that the forest bed extended for a short distance up the valley, and that another part of it had been met with in an excavation at Bar Pools. The open space before the market is called “the Moor.” 8 a. Mounts Bay. Leland thus alludes to the submerged forest in Mounts Bay—‘“‘In the Bay betwyxt the Mont and Pensants be found near the lowe water marke Roots of Trees yn dyvers places as a token of the ground wasted.” b. Dr. Borlase (Trans. Roy. Soc. for 1757, p. 80) noted the dis- covery of roots, trunks, and branches of oak, hazel, and willow, on the shores of Mounts Bay, in black marsh earth with leaves of Juncus, under 10 feet of sand. ec. Dr. Boase (T. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. ii. p. 181) mentioned the oc- currence of vegetable mould with roots and trunks of indigenous trees, under 2 to 3 feet of sand on the west of St. Michael’s Mount. d. Mr. Carne (T. R. G. §. Corn. vol. vi. p. 230) noticed the occur- rence of trees on peat, east of Penzance, the largest being an oak trunk with bark on, 6 feet long and 14 feet in diameter. e. He also mentioned the occurrence of a peat bed 38 to 8 feet thick in the low tract between Marazion and Ludgvan (a reclaimed marsh); it extends for 2 miles, from a little eastward of Chyandour to the Marazion River. Near Longbridge, where it approaches the surface, it is from 4 to 7 feet thick, and used for fuel; it rests on a thick bed containing Cardium edule, and is generally concealed by alluvium. 9. Mr. Henwood (40th Annual Rep. R. Inst. Corn. for 1858) describes a submarine forest on Dunbar Sands in the Camel Hstuary. Nothing save spongy masses of peaty sand were visible in 1875, when I visited the spot, the roots, etc., having been probably washed away in the interim. 10. De la Beche says that traces of submarine forests were noticed at Perran Porth, Lower St. Columb Porth, and Mawgan Porth. (Report, p. 419). No signs of them were visible on the occasion of my visit. St. Columb Porth is a sand flat, at low water, between cliffs not 10 feet in height, exhibiting no traces of old marine action. Mawean Porth is a similar sand flat, but broader, and terminating in low sand dunes, to the south of which narrow strips of alluvium border the streams. 11. Bude. Mr. 8S. R. Pattison (T. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. vii. p. 35) noticed roots of trees of large size, apparently in situ, in dark clay, at -Maer Lake, near Bude Haven. - 12. Mr. Pattison also noticed large accumulations of bog timber in the Fowey Valley on Bodmin Moor. At Bolventor the heads of the trees pointed down the valley. W. A. E. Ussher—FPleistocene Geology of Cornwall. 258 Stream Tin Sections. 1. De la Beche (Report, p. 405) says that in the interior the tin ground is usually covered by river detritus, more open spaces fre- quently having a bed of peat (in which oaks are common) interposed between the tin ground and other detrital accumulations, as in Tregoss Moor and the moors adjacent to Hensborough. ‘In some whole ground (stream tinners’ term for stanniferous gravel) and superincumbent beds not previously disturbed by the old men, upon Bodmin Coast Moor, the peat beds with oak, alder, etc., covering the tin ground very irregularly, were in some places several feet thick, in others absent, though on the whole they seemed to keep a somewhat common level above the tin ground. In some places thin peat beds had been accumulated at still higher levels among the gravels, sands, and clays. The shelf composed of semi-decomposed granite was very irregular, holes 30 or 40 feet deep presenting themselves, in the bottoms of which there was usually good stanni- ferous gravel.” 2. Mr. Pattison (op. cit.) gives a section of the Fowey Valley Works, in which the (hard and black) forest bed was met with at from 23 to 27 feet below the surface, resting on stream tin gravel, and overlain by sand with a peat bed containing ferns and hazel. The granite shelf, tin gravel, and forest bed presented a faulted appearance. 3. Par. De la Beche (Report, p. 403). In cutting the Par Canal at Pons Mill, near St. Blazey, granite blocks, as if arranged for a bridge, were found beneath 20 feet of gravel, probably in part resulting from stream tin washing. Section in low ground near the Par Estuary— 1. River deposits... .. 1ft. 6in. 2 and 3. Mud, sand, clay, stones, “much disturbed by the stream tinners in the upper part; with vegetable matter in the lower part ... 1dft. Qin. 4. Fine sand with sea shells like cockles, ‘and rolled pebbles in the upper part ... .. dod. Soc 4ft. in. 5. Mud, clay, sand, wood, nuts, ete. , mixed. s see sft. Qin. 6. Tin ground resting upon an uneven surface of slate ... Gin. to 6ft. Oin. 4. North of St. Austell. Mr. Henwood gives the following sections. The letters prefixed denoting beds probably contempor- aneous. (T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. iv. pp. 60 to 64.) A. Merry Meeting, in parish of St. Roche. a. Mud, with decayed vegetable matter ... ... ... .. ... 2ft. to 3ft. 1. Granitic gravel -, Ps 2ft. 2. Silt, with decayed vegetable matter and plates of mica ... 4ft. to dft. b. Granitic stones, eravel and sand mixed with silt and nuts ... 4ft. 3. Vegetable matter Ce called nae moss, ae wood (? charred) ... Se cus ttess 633) 099 an ons lit. 4. Silt (vegetable remains ?) Gai) (Gag eco.) aoe 1ft. 5. Vegetable remains (charred like No. Be io) God.) dod.) Spas aelilte THO bt, 6. Vegetable matter passing into silt ... . 8in. to 10in. c. Tin ground, with enormous quartz blocks, some 165 ft. square ; tin ore as sand, stones, and pebbles mixed with quartz, granite, and schorl rock ; little rounded, and of the best quality where the decomposed granite shelf is softest... ... 4ft. to 30ft. 254 W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. B. In the centre of Pendelow Vale. a. Granitic sand and oe ® ec MpS Sey leeel iiveslidees Lusaenmece wl othe. QaT, il, (Sits Q@rag@ralalig mentee) 55 cap doa doo goo coo coo Hails Oh 2. Granitic sand... 4ft. in. 3. Vegetable matter (like ‘No. 5 in other sections, but with ‘sand) 2ft. Qin. b. Silt, sand and gravel mixed... soo ong At Oita, 4, Vegetable matter (like No. 5 in other sections) (Fen) 4ft. in. 5. Tin ground, ore not abundant, most plentiful near the base ft, Oin. C. Watergate. a. Mud with granitic sand and gravel... «wee ee 5ft. in. 1. Fine granitic sand .. aso) coo 60a, Al WO antin. (Orin, 2. Silt (with decayed vegetable matter rf) . goo, G00 000 2ft. 6in. 3. Fine granitic sand .. ... SOA, cho” 1odb. cog) abil HO) ia, 4, Silt (resembling No. 2) ... ... 30 sft. Qin. b. Silt, sand, gravel, and large stones , indiscriminately mixed éft. Qin. 5. Vegetable matter passing into silt in the lower part (like Nos. 5 and 6 in the Merry Meeting section) ... ... dft. to 6ft. c. Tin ground; the ore occurs as sand ‘and pebbles... ... . 2ft. to 20ft. D. Broadwater, Luxillion. Tin ore much Teer towards the sea than up the vale. A patch of slate some hundreds of feet in area was found resting on tin ground, and apparently unconnected with the shelf. a. Granitic sand ... eeeeey Onb etOp/ them Outs b. Mud, apparently of vegetable origin, ‘mixed with granitic sand and gravel. ... .. w. 4ft. to dft. in. ce. Tin ground; ore, small pebbles not much rounded... 7ft. Qin. The tin bed is sometimes divided by a bed of granite (cap shelf) as at Grove and Merry Meeting. Numerous blocks of quartz lie on the shelf. Below the shelf (soft granite) tin ore is not abundant. The following are from Journ. R. Inst. Corn. vol. iv. p. 214 :— H. Levrean in St. Austell’s parish. 1. Granitic sand and gravel ... 1ft. Oin. 2. Peat (Fen), often mixed with, and sometimes divided by, very thin layers of granitic sand eee 1ft. in. 3. Granitic matter, particles and granules of tin, ‘rarely minute specks ‘of gold (Upper Tin Ground) ... ... 38ft.to 6ft. in. 4. Angular and subangular masses of granite in granitic sand without any ‘tin ore (False Shelf) ... ... ... ft. to 1yft. Oin. 5. Tin ground; angular and subangular granite, felspar, quartz, schorl, veinstone materials mixed with granitic gravel and sand, grains and particles of tin oxide, and less frequently flakes of schistose matter with specks of gold. A few ancient shovels of wood, bound on “the edges with iron, have been found in this bed. The shelf is of granite of unequal hardness... .- lOft. to 15ft. Oin. F. Pit Moor in St. Austell’s Didhs ils Weewmole maomllel on doo odd, fond 000 doo!) obo a08 1ft. Oin. 2 and 3. Granitic detritus in many ‘layers ASS .. oft. to 6ft. Oin. 4, Tin ground; angular, subangular, and rounded masses of granite, quartz, schorl, veinstones, small quantities of tin ore ; clay-slate lamine, occasional ; on soft granite Shel G MESA cstil Sa est setbete MUSHE MtoMNOtE (Gin: G. Upper Creamy (Wheal Prosper). 1. Peat . Oft. 6in. 2. Granitic clay, often mixed with lamin of yellowish slate Lift. to 3ft. in. 3. Tin ground; small angular and rounded granitic and W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. 2565 veinstone material; tin stone as sand and gravel; microscopic particles of gold. On shelf of bluish and brownish clay. The roots of marsh ee Date the tin ground... 4ft. to 5ft. Qin. H. N.W. of the Tavis Bridge” over the high road between Lanivet and the Indian Queens. 1. Vegetable mould... 6in. to 1ft. 2. Angular and subangular. stones of. quartz, slate, elvan, schorl rock, slate veinstones, and occasionally granite din. to 4ft. 3. Tin ground ‘like the overburden, but with rounded masses of tin ore, often ah small; on shelf of clay slate ... GO 06) OGG. 060 con) 600, ode 1ft. to 2ft. I. Gun-deep in St. Denis! 1. Vegetable mould... 6in. to 1ft. 2. Gravel, stones of slate, quartz, elvan, ‘schorl. rock, and occasionally ¢ REMIND | 'ba6'! B86 ech", (Gbe! Seog? oda BO 4ft. 3. Peat . oor 1ft. On 4. Tin ground; ‘poor. J. On N. side of Tregoss Moor. Ancient works resumed at Golden Stream about half a mile 8.E. of Castle-an-dinas in St. Columb Major. 1. Vegetable mould... Oft. 6in. 2. Angular and subangular n masses of slate, quartz, elvan, schorl rock, veinstones, and occasionally granite ; lumps of peat had been previously removed from this bed A .. Oft. to 6ft. Oin. 3. Tin ground “resembling the overburden, ‘but with more numerous fragments of elvan; the tin ore as gravel or sand . . .» 2ft. to 3ft. Oin. K. Dr. Boase (Tr. R. G. S. (Cor. sk Ft 2 248) mentioned the occurrence of siliceous sand under diluvial debris in the Stream Works near Hensborough, on the road to Roche. At Tregoss and Roche the tin ground contained quartz and schorl pebbles, and the shelf consists of decomposed slaty felspathic rock. L. Henwood (J.R. Inst. Corn. vol. iv. p. 230). Section at Penny Snap (Wheal eae in Alternun) H. of the Drains River— IL, JEGENG G0 c60 : 7ft. Oin. 2. Angular and worn eranite, elvan, ‘schorl, and quartz stones in 1 pale blue felspathic clay, averaging... dft. Oin. 3. Tin ground as above, with tin ore as waterworn sand 0 or erayel; on granite shelf ... ... 006 3ft. Oin. 5 A. The section of the Happy Union “Works: iy Mr. Colenso (1829) has been quoted by several writers, but by none more fully than De la Beche, from whom I extract (Report, pp. 401, 402, 403), giving the deposits in reverse order. 1. Rough river sand and gravel, here and there mixed with sea sand and silt. A row of wooden piles with their tops 24 feet from the surface, apparently intended for a bridge, were found on a level with spring-tide low-water ... ... 20ft. Oin. 2. Sand; trees all through it, chiefly oaks, lying in all directions; animal remains, bones of red ee hog, human skulls (2), bones of whales. ... .. 2 Ofie One 3. Silt or clay and layers of stones, ‘a conglomerate of ‘sand, silt, bones and wood ... .. 2ft. in. 4, Sand with marine shells; water draining through this bed is salt above, fresh below oes Oft. 4in. 5. Sludge, or silt, brownish to a lead colour in places, with 256 W.A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. recent shells which, particularly the bivalves, are often in layers, double and closed, with the siphonal end upward, rendering it likely that they lived and died there; they are of the same species as those existing in the neighbour- ing sea; wood, hazel nuts, and occasionally bones and horns of deer and oxen are found in this bed: a piece of oak, shaped as if by man, with a barnacle attached, was found at 2 feet from the top . eee Often O1ns 6. A layer of leaves, hazel nuts, “sticks, and moss (in a perfect state, almost retaining its natural colour apparently where it grew). It extends, with some interruptions, across the valley, occurs at 30 feet below low-water mark, and about 48 feet below spring-tide high-water... .. .. Gin. to 12in. - Dark silt, pee mixed with decomposed "vegetable matter ... 1ft. Qin. 8. Roots of trees in their natural position ; oaks with fibres traceable for 2 feet deep. ‘From the manner in which they spread there can be no doubt but that the trees have grown and fallen on the spot where their roots are found.’ Oyster-shells still remain fastened to some of the larger stones and to the stumps of trees... . 9. Tin ground, with rounded pieces of granite, ‘and subangular pieces of slate and greenstone. Most of the tin occurs in the lower part, from the size of the finest sand to pebbles 10lbs. in weight; some rocks riehly impregnated with tin weigh 200lbs. and ae Thickness Cae No. 8) from wu. ws ... oft. to 10ft. B. De la Beche (Report, p: 408) says, “These works are now abandoned,” others on 8. of London Apprentice Inn were carried on in 1837: “from which it would appear that from the general rise of its bottom, the sea had not entered this valley sufficiently high to permit marine deposits to be there accumulated.” This probably refers to Mr. Colenso’s section of Wheal Virgin Works (T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. iv. p. 38), a mile from Happy Union, in which no sea sand was found. The tin ground betraying signs of old men’s workings lay beneath 382 feet of silt and river gravel, with oak, willow, etc., in considerable quantity, with their roots in situ where soil exists. ‘‘ How far,” says Mr. Colenso, ‘“ Pentuan Valley extended seawards is conjectural, but at its present declivity of 45 feet to a mile between St. Austell and Pentuan, it must have continued a mile further than it does now.” Mr. Smith (Ibid, p. 400) mentions the rapid descent of the valley from Hensborough (900 to 1000 feet in height), and the continuance of a bed of pebbles all the way. C. Section of Lower Pentewan work, quarter of a mile from the beach given by Mr. Smith (op. cit.)— 1. Soil with growing trees, some very old; gravelly towards the bottom Bod 3°3 2. Fine peat, roots of trees, ‘fallen trunks, ‘sticks, ivy, sea layer, rushes, impregnated with salt ... 127152 3. Sea mud, with compressed leaves at the top, “cockles at 31 feet from the surface, bones, human skulls (one of a child) deer horns. At the boron a bed of oy small shells a foot in thickness... .., 20°35 . Sea mud, oysters, and cockles ... .. 4:39 - Compressed leaves, vegetable matter, : a few rotten shells 63°453 . Vegetable matter, rushes, fallen trees, leaves, roots, moss, the wings of Coleopterous insects ... 12, 20 e+ eo ‘L465 DO W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. 257 7. Moss, hazel nuts, sticks, on pebbles of killas, growan, ete. 3° 8. Rough tin ground, stones light and poor . 2: 9. Rough tin ground, rich stones with quartz pebbles and yellow ferruginous clay. Killas at about low-water mark 37544 D. (op. cit.) Section of Upper Pentuan works, 1 mile N. from the beach, where the valley is half a mile wide. 492 513 1. Soil with trees growing on it pele Say 8ft. 3in. 2. Mud with gravel seams resembling false bedding BBS Us es 21ft. lin. 3 and 4. Spar and killas upon growan, spar, and killas ... 12ft. Yin. 5. Gravel, with trees and branches of oak of great size at the Bottom © Pee Se ne FN Eat waacnlacd ah 8ft. Oin. 6. Tin ground ... 000 8ft. din. tc Clay, i in which were found the roots of a vast ‘oak, ‘and a branch 4 feet long and 3 inches in diameter, projecting from the wall of the work. A second mineral deposit may occur below this. HE. Mr. Smith also gives a section of Pentowan work (either a place near Pentuan, or a misprint) in 1807. SeimGly Obiy, SIEMES, BIEL 45g con ped ~ 608 G00 060. e066 9ft. Oin. Peat with roots and leaves... fl cee, Peateith 188t Base Ti. Oin. Sand with branches and trunks of trees ay a 8ft. Qin. Finer sand, with shells, bones, horns, ver tebra of a “whale, human skulls... Beet asthe TAR Ee cates pimereh ps Watts uROLTs Coarse gravel ... Spoetaues 2ft. Oin. Close sand with clay, ‘becoming peaty near the base... ... 12ft. Oin. Loose stones and gravel, 1 foot thick, resting on tin ground. Falmouth district. F. Tregoney Stream Work in 1807, given by Mr. Smith op cit.). 1. Granitic gravel with layers of sand . 6 oben) dldings Gite +2. Black mud with shells (a cow’s horn and horns of stags) 15ft. in. 3. Tin ground... ... averaging 2ft. in. 6. In Journ. Roy. Inst. Gon voll Iv. on 204, etce., Mr. Henwood gives the following sections in two places, where the bed of Restr on- guet Creek is some 12 feet below spring-tide high-water. A. Section 1.— 1. Mud of the river, te soft... 6ft. Oin. 2. Mud and coarse sand-. Sft. Qin. 8. Mud (hardened) ... ... 6ft. Oin. 4. Mud (with numerous oyster shells) | 12ft. in. 5. Mud (hardened) . c09 900 3lft. in. 6. Tin ground, 6 inches to 6 feet thick... ... .. averaging 4ft. in. Shelf of buif or blue clay slate. B. Section 2.— 1. Soft river mud... ee (ft. to 9ft. Oin. 2. River sand and mud ... 300 abe 9ft. Oin. 3. Blue mud (shells of oyster, “cockle, ete. Nipeus 9ft. Qin. 4. Stiff blue mud without shells ... ... 6 36ft. Oin. 5. Tin ground; subangular masses of granite, slate, elvan, quartz, etc., and tin ore in large masses intersper sed with smaller erains, 6 inches to 6 feet thick; ... averaging 4ft. in. Shelf of clay-slate. De la Beche (Report, p. 403). Up the Carnon Valley in the direc- tion of St. Day, the tin ground is partly covered by marine sediments, partly by common river detritus. Carnon. Mr. Carne mentioned (T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. iv. p some beds of slate found reposing on the tin ground in the Ca Valley, unconnected with the sides and bottom. DECADE II.— VOL. VI.—NO. VI. 17 . 105) 258 W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. C. Mr. Henwood (T.R.G.S. Corn. vol. iv.) gives the following section of Carnon Stream Works, the letters denote beds probably contemporaneous with those in the Watergate, Merry Meeting, and Broadwater sections. a. Sand and mud; 2 beds; river wash anal acca nate sft. Oin. 2. Silt and shells: 3 successive beds... Oft. 10in. 8. Sand and shells (a stream of fresh water percolates throug hythisshed)) aimee laseey assis ent cll iee ieee 2ft. Oin. 4, Silt; 3 beds AUS ACE Ae EA eRe R laren Lie bd 12ft. in. 5. ‘Sand andighellsiy a ducts onl Sy ota aee ies ... oft. to 4ft. Oin. 6. Silt with numerous shells ... 20. 12. 12. sue one 12ft. in. Cay silt wathystonesiim places) vee «cr sessed ene el OktetOy22 then mm Ont. 6. Wood, moss, leaves, nuts; dark coloured as if charred; a few oyster shells; animal remains, chiefly cervine; human skulls. Towards the sea this bed gives place to silt (No. 7)... ... lit. Gin. e, Tin eround, rounded tin ore, unmixed, and in a quartz matrix and capel (quartz and schor 1); from a few inches to 12 feet im thickness; ... averaging 4ft. Oin. Rounded pieces of slate, granite, and quartz, mixed with the tin stones. Mr. Henwood observes that above Carnon Section, either the old forest never flourished, or it has been destroyed in the accumulation of alluvia, in which periods of peat growth and transport of vegetable matter are indicated. Mr. EH. Smith gives a section of Carnon Works in 1807 (Geol. Trans. vol. iv. p. 404). 7. Sections given by Mr. Henwood (J. R. Inst. Corn. vol. iv. pp. 200, 201) which from similarity of names seem to refer to localities lying between Falmouth and Helston. A. 1. The Upper part of Carn Wartha. 1. Worn and unworn granitic detritus, mixed with lumps of peat, and refuse of previous operations 500 12ft. in. 2. Tin ground—granitic sand and gravel, sprinkled here and there with waterworn granules of tin ore; interspersed at intervals with blocks of granite and schorl rock... 12ft. in. Shelf of disintegrated granite. “ B. At Lezerea in Mean Vroaz. 1. Peat; with nuts and branches of hazel in deeper parts, in places... 560 4ft. Oin. 2. Coarse granitic gravel Gritht foccasionl subangular ‘stones of tin ore ... . 2ft. to 3ft. Oin. 3. Granitic sand, slightly ‘mixed at intervals with felspathic clay... 2ft. Qin. 4, Tin ground, “angular ‘and " subangular masses of eranite and schorl rock, largely mixed with tin ore of different character from that at Carn Wartha ... ... 3ft. Qin. “Tn other parts of the Moor sections of sneien works show beds of detrital matter resting immediately on the outcrop of tin-bearing veins in the granite.” C. Near Tregedna in Mawnan (? at mouth of R. Helford) vegetable mould and hardened silt, 20 or 80 feet thick, overlie a poor deposit of tin ore resting on slate shelf. (Ibid.). Waterworn granules of pure gold have been found in detrital tin ore (which | is less rounded than in other parts of Corn- wall) near Helston. W. A, E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. 259 Mr. Henwood (T. R. G. S. Corn. vol. v. p. 129) said that the valleys between Breague Church and Porthleven, and from Helston to the Loo Pool, have been streamed for tin. Penzance District. 8. A. Mr. Henwood (op. cit. p. 84) gives a section in the valley between Huel Darlington and Marazion Mine near Newtown, at 20 to 30 feet above the sea. Sea sand with shells was found on vegetable matter, with trunks and branches of oak, willow, hazel in abundance, resting on poor tin ground on shelf at about the level of the sea. B. At Tregilsoe (Tregilliow), on the confines of Ludgvan and St. Hilary, a section of the short shallow vale terminating in Marazion Marsh is given by Mr. Henwood (Journ. R. Inst. Corn. vol. iv. p. 197). Peat about 6 feet in thickness rests on the tin ground, divided through its entire width by a thin seam of clay, impervious to water, and running obliquely both to the shelf and to the surface. Above the clay seam, the gravel consists of angular and subangular masses of slate, quartz, veinstones, granules of crystalline tin ore, all imbedded in bluish clay. Below the clay seam, slate pebbles still prevail; elvan nodules are not uncommon, but the quartz is smaller and less frequent. Tin ore is diffused through the tough reddish-brown clay matrix. Although within a mile of granite no trace of granitic matter was found in these works. Land’s End District. 9 A. (Henwood, op. cit. p. 195). Near Bejowans, in Sancreed, section of a confluent with the little vale from Tregonebris to the coast at Lamorna. 1. Granitic sand and gravel with small angular and sub- angular stones... ee OLb a bon e2itaam Oine 9, Peat with nuts, branches, and roots of hazel sce ooo.) Att 180) FhaR,” Oban, 3. A few inches of granitic sand, gravel, and pebbles, with occasional large granite boulders like the tin ground. 4. Tin ground, rounded masses of felspathic granite and tin ore, fragments of vemstones and quartz crystals 2ft. to 9ft. Qin. B. Mr. Henwood (op. cit. p. 193) mentions the sprinkling of tin ore on §.E. of St. Just, in the southern and central parts of a ravine trending from Kelynack north-westward to Pornanvon. He gives a section at Bosworlas, in a narrow strip of virgin tin ground. 1. Vegetable mould, in some parts of the glen succeeded by 2ft. or 3ft. 2, Granitic gravel, sprinkled sometimes with tin ore... a few inches. 3. Tin ground of granitic matter, subangular and rounded tin-bearing veinstones, pure tin stone, subangular or PINS 366 coo ol 66 oso cdg, GHUMy 150) An, Bion The surface of the Sin ‘ground angfistinfing a tolerably uniform sea- ward slope throughout the 2 ravine. C. (op. cit. p. 196). Between Towednack Church and Amellibrea, in the lower part of Cold Harbour Moor. Ils TEEN ac sa p00. |) Mati, Grid 2. Granite detritus; inixed with blue clay, ‘and “unproductive in the upper part; buff and reddish brown, with a little tin ore and tin-bearing veinstones in the lower part .. sessed leon SOLEMN OLGs D. On Leswhidden and Bostrase Moors, ‘Mr. Carne GeRAGa Se 260 W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. Corn. vol. iii. p. 882) mentioned the occurrence of alluvial soil 6 to 9 feet in thickness on the shelf, and at Numphra Moor not exceed- ing 5 feet. 10. Mr. Henwood (J. R. Inst. Corn. vol. iv. p. 199) gives a section of the bed of a rivulet at St. Hrth, near Hayle, as follows, the thickness of the deposits not being given: Gravel, sand, and mud, on peat, under which roots, trunks, and branches of trees, with quantities of mud, were found resting on tin ground, poor and not extensive. Mr. Carne (T. R. G. 8S. Corn. vol. iv. pp. 105-111) gives the following general notes on Diluvial tin. Cap shelves are tabular masses of rock projecting from sides or bottom of the tin ground, so as to allow of the occurrence of tin ore under them. Copper, not found in tin gravels, probably because rarely so near the surface as tin, and in the form of sulphuret so liable to decomposition. ‘The traces of gold met with were probably derived from undiscovered veins on the east. All the productive streams occupy valleys opening on the 8. coast, whilst most of the richest tin veins are near the N. coast. The direction of the tin streams seems to have been from N.N.W. to §.8.H. In narrow vaileys little tin ore is ob- tainable. In steep valleys all the ore is upon the shelf. In very gently sloping valleys tin ore is met with to within two or three feet of the surface, as at Chyanhall. In gently sloping valleys the tin ground is thick but poor, owing to admixture with alluvial sediments. General Notes. As the stream tin gravels were deposited during the last stages in the elaboration of the present drainage system, their watershed boundary can scarcely have differed much from the present; it is, therefore, only natural that, whilst the richest tin veins are near the north coast, the most productive streams occupy valleys opening on the south coast. The position of the tin ground with reference to the sea-level in the estuarine sections is, unfortunately, seldom given. In Mr. Hen- wood’s section on Marazion Green (8 A), mention of overlying alluvia seems to have been omitted; as Mr. Carne, in a section at Huel Darlington, near Marazion River, gives twelve feet of peat and gravel above the sea sand, and the surface is given in Mr. Henwood’s section at twenty to thirty feet above the sea-level, the top of the marine bed would appear to be a few feet above high water (Carne, T. R. G. S. Corn. vol. vi. p. 230). Again, in Mr. Smith’s section (5 C) of Lower Pentuan, the shelf is said to be at low-water level, which would place the top of the upper marine bed at about forty feet above low water, which, con- sidering the absence of marine deposits at Wheal Virgin Works (5 B) and Upper Pentuan (5 J), is out of the question ; so that either the thicknesses are not given in feet and inches, or the level of the shelf is erroneous. Mr. Carne (T. R. G. 8. Corn. vol. iv. p. 47) describes the tin ground of Drift Moor Works, near Newlyn, as resting on the sides W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. 261 (which come to within a few feet of the surface) and bottom (forty feet from the surface) of a clay-lined basin. This is a most excep- tional phenomenon, and seems to show the great erosive power of the stream tin floods rushing into and deepening a depression, very much in the manner in which giants’ kettles are produced by the pestle-like friction of fragments swirled round hollows by subglacial streams. A somewhat analogous phenomenon is mentioned by Dr. Boase, which, although not relating to stream tin, I give here (T. R. G.S. Corn. vol. iii. p. 131): “A person surveying the Channel took his station on Wolf Rock, where he observed a cavity resembling a brewer’s copper, and containing rubbish at the bottom; it was covered by the sea nine hours out of twelve.” The occurrence of an oblique clay seam in the tin ground at Tregilsoe (8 B), separating accumulations of slightly different characters, suggests the existence of bedding, true or false. The exceptional occurrence of clay shelf (4 G and perhaps 5 D) is worthy of note. The changeable character of the deposits in stream tin sections precludes the absolute correlation of individual beds. Inland streams cannot be expected to furnish such sections as their estuaries, yet it is scarcely safe to identify tin ground, when not overlain by sedi- ments (as 9 C); when composed of fine material under a thin cover- ing of sediment with no indication of a land surface (as in 4 G, H, J, J, and 9B); or where it rests on outcropping tin veins (as 7 B), with the stanniferous gravels of Par (3), Pentuan (5 A, B, C, D), Carnon, etc. (6 A, B, C); whilst in some sections stanniferous deposits oceur at different horizons, as 4 E (probably 5 D), 7 B. To synchronize the forest remains in the various sections is unsafe, because in many valleys deposition seems to have gone on con- tinuously, or to have been interrupted by such very brief periods of peat accumulation or undergrowth, that their relics became entirely mixed up and incorporated with the succeeding deposits, as in 4 B, C, D, E, and 5 F; also4 Jand 7 A. The deposition of stream tin gravels evidently extended over a much longer period than is represented by the tin ground ; for the very irregular wear of the sides and bottoms of their channels, and the existence of false shelf (4 D, H) here and there, and of masses of the surrounding rock, the apparent debris of fallen cap or false shelves (4 A, 5 A, 6 C), can only be accounted for by powerful streams carrying their detritus to lower levels, and occupying the enercies of their upper and more torrential reaches in eroding their banks and beds into such irregular shapes as the unequal durability of the rocks permitted. In like manner, the duration of the forest growth is not to be measured by the forest beds overlying stream tin in Marazion Marsh, Pentuan (5 A, C), etc., which can only be regarded as synchronous with a comparatively short part of the period; whilst the recurrence of peat beds with arboreal remains at different horizons in the stream tin sections (4 A, B, 5 EH, 7 B, 9 A, 10) shows that even after the forests fringing the coasts were submerged and buried with the 262 W. A. E. Ussher—Pleistocene Geology of Cornwall. peat, which had accumulated around them during the last stages of their existence, it was some time before forestial growth in inland districts succumbed to unfavourable climatal conditions, and still longer before the succeeding undergrowth gave place to the bare and shrubless character presented by so large a part of western and central Cornwall now. Although it seems only reasonable to regard the deposition of metallic detritus, as now going on, wherever the stream channels are traversed by tin veins, this process is so insignificant that as a whole the stanniferous gravels must be referred to a period considerably posterior to the raised beach formation, and, either long after the culmination of the elevation during which Head was accumulated, or in part synchronous with its accumulation, when, through greater elevation and increased rainfall, the force and volume of the streams was greater. The commencement of the forest growth is also in- definite, but subsequent to the accumulation of the Head, during the prevalence of a subsidence which produced conditions unfavourable to the existence of the tin floods as they became more suitable for its extension. So that the forest growth may have begun before the stream tin floods dwindled away, and the latter may have been partly contemporaneous with the Head. Whilst marine sediments on the forest bed or tin ground in estuarine sections (3, 5 A, C, H, 6 A, B, C, 8 A) prove the last great movement to have been one of sub- sidence, the more orderly arrangement of the deposits; the general absence of heavier far-borne detritus; the entire desertion of parts of their old channels by some of the present streams, indicate the gradual prevalence of conditions more akin to those now prevailing than to those in operation during the deposition of the stanniferous gravels. The growth of trees, some very old, on the surface (5 C, D), shows that the latest of these changes must have been some time in opera- tion, whilst the presence of human remains at great depths beneath the surface, at Carnon and Pentuan, and the tradition respecting St. Michael’s Mount, would seem to justify the belief that the period in which the forests were finally submerged, although geologically very recent, is yet prehistoric. As the subsiding movement gradually enabled the sea to cireum- scribe the forest tracts on its old fore-shore, the beach materials pushed forward would finally tend to bar the drainage of the valleys opening on the coast, and to convert the low lands into peat mosses, forming round the surviving trees till the further advance or disper- sion of the beach dams permitted the sea to regain its old coast-line, entombing the forest fringes and their peaty surroundings beneath its sands. Hliminate from this all changes of level by internal movements, and explain the entombment of the forests by the lowering of level consequent on removal of gravel bars releasing the pent-up drainage, and the low district theory is presented. Without changes of level, however, it is perfectly untenable as applied to Cornwall, where the stream tin gravels indicate a greater elevation of the land (5 B), as at Carnon and Restronguet Oreek (6 A, Count de Saporta—On the Ancient Plant- World. 263 B, C), for instance, where the tin ground is more than sixty feet below the sea-level, whilst the estuarine deposits overlying the forest bed prove that the subsidence was progressive. Also, if the forests were submerged according to the low district hypothesis, they must have flourished under geographical conditions identical with the present, and yet these conditions have proved unfavourable to their growth on the present low lands. On the other hand, it cannot be argued that the submerged forests are mere rafts of drift wood, stranded with vegetable matter borne down by rivers, and finally buried beneath the sea sands. The traces of submerged forests are too numerous and too extensive (1, 7, 8) to be thus accounted for; in several cases, moreover, the roots are said to occur in siti (8, 5, 11, ?6), and the elytra of beetles have been found (1, 6). Mr. Godwin-Austen (Q.J.G.S. vol. vi. p. 93, etc.) says: “It is diminished area and elevation which at present unfit the West of England to produce that growth of oak and gigantic fir which. .... seems to have clothed every portion of the region of Dartmoor, and which would still more be unfitted for it when at its lower Pleistocene level. On such low districts, however, and in a climate modified by a surrounding sea, some portion of a previous flora might have been enabled to live on.” By substituting the words “at a few feet below its present” for “at its lower Pleistocene,” the passage reads in accordance with my ideas. (To be concluded in our next Number.) IN @ aan @ ees) OzLe Ge N/iaenVE@ tees Se Toe Pruant-WoRLD BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF MAN. LE COMTE DE SAPORTA has recently pointed out? that » life was aquatic before it became amphibious, and amphibious before it became aerial, and that terrestrial life is but the latest ex- pression of the sequence that took its initial point of departure in the ocean. The seas that deposited the Laurentian and Huronian rocks, 50,000 feet in thickness, contain only the Rhizopod Hozoon. The Cambrians of Britain and Sweden give but 50 species of primi- tive types, marine vegetables, a few Sponges, Corals, and Hchino- derms, Brachiopods alone representing the Mollusca, which gradu- ally spread from their first birthplace in the Polar Ocean to other basins, no cause formerly operating to limit their extension. In Silurian times Crustacea were alone represented by Trilobites, which occurred in profusion, disappearing suddenly in the Coal-measures, and the order is now only represented by Limulus. Similarly, at the close of the Secondary epoch, the Ammonites as suddenly cease to exist. The most ancient terrestrial Vertebrates show traces of affinities with the Fishes on one side, and the Batrachians on the other, and the Reptilian affinities of Archzopteryx are commented on; the 1 Le Monde des Plantes avant apparition de homme. Paris. J. Masson. 1879. 264 Notices of Memoirs—Count de Saporta— mandibles with teeth found in the American Chalk showing a bird less Reptilian than Archaopteryz. The Labyrinthodonts of the Coal-measures were less highly organ- ized than those of the Trias, the ossification of the vertebrae being imperfect, and the disposition of the teeth resembling that of fishes. The Fern, Hopteris Moriérei, Saporta, discovered by Prof. Moricre of Caen, is the oldest terrestrial plant known, being derived from the Ardoises of Angers. In the Cincinnati group of America, Les- quereux has recorded several vascular Cryptogams and Gymnosperms, a Sigillaria (Protostigma sigillarioides, Lesq.), Calamites (Annularia Reemingeri, Lesq., and Sphenophyllum primevum, Lesq.). Insects are present in the Devonian, and no less than 30 species occur in the Carboniferous according to Heer. A Myriapod, Anthraceps, recently discovered in Illinois, has similar breathing apparatus to that of the order at the present day. The Scorpion of Bohemia differs but little from the venomous species of the tropics. From the Infra-Lias of one locality (Argovie) M. Heer records no less than 148 species of insects. Beetles and leaf-eating forms abound ; but Butterflies, Bees, Ants, and Flies are still absent. In the second chapter the author gives a careful analysis of the theory of Evolution, especially as to the facts adduced by Mr. Darwin. In Chap. III., on ancient climate, it is pointed out that :— At the foot of the Himalaya, tropical vegetation is maintained up to 1000 métres ; at 2000 Palms and Bananas have disappeared, and are replaced by Oaks and Pines; at 5000 snow falls in winter; at 3500 occurs a zone of Cedars; at 5000 corn is still cultivated, at an elevation about that of the top of Mont Blanc; at 5500 all life disappears. Since the “Golden Age” of the poets there has always been present a legend of successive changes undergone by the world. In the Quaternary age M. de Saporta considers the climate was much more humid, and the rivers consequently larger, both in Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. He refers to the extension of the glaciers of the Alps not only to the Jura, but from the observations of M. A. Falsan almost to Lyons. He comments on the colossal proportions of the glaciers of Argeles in the Pyrenees worked out by MM. Martins et Collumb, and the former extension of the glaciers of Scandinavia and Spitzbergen, during which the shells of the Arctic Ocean lived in the British Seas, and the plants and mammals of the Far North occupied the plains of Hurope. He points out that the species found in the low grounds— to which the excessive size of the glaciers might be supposed to drive both animals and plants—are associated with species indicating warm conditions; thus the mammals of the alluvia of the Seine and Somme, worked out by M. E. Lartet and by M. A. Gaudry, are associ- ated with Elephas antiquus near to that of India, and shells of Cyrena fluminalis, while the Mosses tell the same story as regards the plants; Vines and Laurels occurring in great abundance, not only in the middle of France, but at Moret, near Paris, and he considers that On the Ancient Plant- World. 265 the polar forms did not travel far from the glaciers themselves, and that the valleys enjoyed a more humid and temperate climate, and evidences the observations of Haast as to the descent of glaciers in a humid climate in New Zealand. The mean annual heat of Lyons is now 11° Centigrade; in Quaternary times it was 14° to 15°; in Pliocene times it was 17° to 18°; the flora of the Canaries flourishing on the banks of the Sadne. The author lays great stress on the discoveries of Nordenskjold, in Southern Spitzbergen, of plants of Carboniferous, Jurassic, Cre- taceous, and Tertiary times, and states the labours of Professor Heer show the position of the earth’s axis was the same in Tertiary times as at present. To Greenland he assigns a mean temperature of 9°7° Cent. in Miocene times, rising to 22° in Switzerland, the northern limit of Palms traversing the Rhine provinces and Belgium about the 50th parallel, while at the present time (excepting the Chamerops humilis at Nice) their limit is the 30th to the 35th parallel. The Hocene era was marked by the multiplication and extension of Palms, Pandanas, Bananas, and other tropical plants in Hngland and Germany, indicating a mean temperature of 25° Cent. The Cretaceous flora of Bohemia (Cenomanian) is characterized by the first appearance of Dicotyledonous plants, including the genus Credneria, Magnolias, and Laurels; at Toulon, seven degrees further south, these are rare, and Conifers are the dominant forms, especially a fine Araucaria, and the author concludes that Dicotyledonous plants travelled from north to south, and that climate in this period first be- came differentiated. In Jurassic times the same vegetation spread from India, Siberia, and Spitzbergen to Hurope. The author considers in early times the earth was covered with thick fogs, the atmosphere being charged with a diffused light. With Buffon, he believes that life originated at the Poles, and travelled equatorially, and he comments on the fact that the chief Coal deposits occur at the polar sides of the equatorial zone, and that the still older Hozoon of the United States and Bohemia are similarly limited in area, and he regards the 50th parallel as the equator of the origin of life. An equal distribution of heat, probably not exceeding 25° or 30° Cent., prevailed throughout the world in the early periods, the contrasts of day and night, summer and winter, being but slightly marked; that light, though diffused, was certainly present, is proved by the existence of the reticulated eye of the Trilobite. He considers the former tropical heat of the earth to be in no way connected with its central heat, nor does he ascribe the gradual secular cooling of the crust to have influenced the cessation of warm conditions on the surface—no signs of gradual decrease being apparent, as would have been the case, and especially no signs of intense heat, in the indication given by the earliest vegetation ; and agrees with M. Burmeister that the earth’s crust had so far solidified as to be a considerable thickness before life appeared on its surface, and points out the low conducting power of the rocks forming this crust. 266 Notices of Memoirs—Count de Saporta— In the second part, the author reviews in succession the Vegetable Periods, which he divides as follows :— Geological Stages. Phytological Phytological Formations. Epochs. Periods, Primorpiat ( Laurentian. Primordial or Cambrian. or Primordial, Prortozorc. ( Silurian. Kophytic. ( Devonian. Devonian. Carbonterous | Paleeanthracitic. Pat#mozoic. < Carboniferous, 4 Carboniferous. Permian. Paso | Supracarboniferous. ( Permian. Bunter. ) { Triassic. Triassic. Mushelkalk. rs a sees Ss E Infraliassic. ESOZOIC . ias a eS, or SEBEL, { Oolite. ; 3 4 Oolitic. SECONDARY. Neocomian. | a ‘st | Wealden. Chloritic Chalk. ( Urgonian. Cretaceous. Rouen Chalk. ; { Cenomanian. L Upper Chalk. 3 | Supracretaceous. | F> SB | Paleeocene. So > ‘5 Sl ¢ Eocene. Nerozoic Eocene. s 8 Oligocene. or Miocene. 4 | Miocene. TERTIARY. Pliocene. J | Pliocene. In the first chapter of the second part the author reviews the vegetable contents of the various formations. The earliest traces are marine, the Bilobites (Cruziana) rugosa, D’Orb., being a true Algze from the Silurian; Harlania Hallii, Goepp., Chondrites fructi- culosus, Goepp., Murchisonites (Oldhamia) Forbesi, Goepp., from the Trish Silurian, and Spirophyton, Hall, of America, belonging to the same category. He comments on the plants of the Lower Silurian being purely marine, and figures the oldest terrestrial plant, Hopteris Moriérei, Sap., discovered by Prof. Moriére in the slates of Angers, in the zone of Calymene Tristani {base of Middle Silurian), a Fern near to Cyclopteris of the Coal-measures. In America M. Les- quereux, and in Canada Principal Dawson, have recognized Spheno- phyllum from the Upper Silurian, the species being S. primcevum, Liqx. Lesquereux has also described Protostigma sigillarioides, Lqx., and a Lycopodiaceous plant, Psilophyton, has been recognized by Dawson, with affinities leaning towards the Ferns through Hymeno- . phyllum, with the Rhizocarps through Pilularia, with the Lycopods through Psilotum. Psilophyton also occurs in the Devonian of Canada, with Asterophyllites, Annularia, Calomendendron, Lepidodendron, and ferns. Before describing the Coal-measure flora, the author notices the formation of modern peat-mosses, and points out the conditions necessary for their production, the most important being an equable temperature, constant humidity, a flat country allowing free access to water supported by an impermeable soil, and a moderate amount of heat, peat-mosses not growing south of the 40th parallel. On the Ancient Plant- World. 267 ‘The Carboniferous period marks an epoch during which a large continental area was from time to time slightly submerged beneath the water, forming vast shallow lakes, whose shores were tenanted by dense masses of vascular Cryptogams and Phanerogamous Gymno- sperms, under a thick atmosphere charged with vapours precipitating rain, with a violence now unknown, producing an equable damp and warm climate. The labours are summarized of Grand’ Hury, Renault, Brongniart, of Corda, Gceppert, Geinitz, Goldenberg, Stur in Ger- many and Austria; Schimper of Strasbourg; Lesquereux, Dawson, Dana, in America; and Williamson and Binney in England. The Permian flora exhibits transitional and ambiguous characters, the characteristic elements of the Carboniferous being absent— Cycads, Conifers, and some Ferns have the preponderance (Walchia piniformis, Ginkgophyllum Grasseti). In the succeeding Mesophytic, or Secondary epoch, the Triassic flora marks a period of decadence of old types barely replaced by new forms—species and individuals being alike rare. The Conifers are represented by Voltzia heterophylla, Schimp.,and Albertia Braunii, Schimp.; the Ferns by Daneopsis Marantacea, Hr., and Teniopteris superba, Sap. In the Jurassic epoch, though the Carboniferous types of plants are gone, the Angiosperms, which form nine-tenths of the existing flora, have not yet appeared, except some rare Monocotyledons. Cryptogams are represented by Ferns; Gymnosperms by Conifers and Cycads, ranging from the Arctic regions to Hindustan and Europe, from Greenland to Irkutsk. Cycads now live in the Tropics, Florida and Japan marking their northern limit. The Infra-Lias Ferns, Clathropteris platyphylla, Goepp., Thinfeldia rotundata, Nath., and Cycads, Podozamites distans, Presl., Ptero- phyllum Jegeri, Brogn., and Pterozamites comptus, Schimp., in- dicate a damp and humid locality. Ferns also occur in the Corallian, Bathonian, and Kimmeridgian stages. Amongst the Conifers are some resembling the modern Araucaria, others the Cypress. Hurope, at the commencement of the Jurassic period, formed an archipelago of large islands; the central plain, at the end of the Lias, was still separated from the Vendée to the west, and from the Vosges and Alps to the north-east. These islands gradually coalescing formed one Continental mass, atethe close of the Oolitic period, when lacustrine and fluviatile conditions set in, over a large part of England and North Germany, expressed by the Wealden, and Urgonian strata of Wernsdorf, in the Carpathians, which latter has much in common with the Greenland Cretaceous flora. Amongst the latter is the Cycad, Pterophyllum concinnum, Hr., and Sequoia ambigua, Hr. The author comments on the circumstance that led to the appearance and rapid multiplication of Dicotyledons, at the com- mencement of the Cenomanian epoch. He describes the Dakota beds of America as ranging through Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and the region of Missouri, up to the Rocky Mountains, 268 Notices of Memoirs—Count de Saporta— and resting on the Trias. Of similar age are the freshwater bands, with plants, of the Quadersandstein of Bohemia; they occur also in Moravia, the Hartz, and some localities in Saxony, Westphalia, Scania, and the neighbourhood of Aix-la-Chapelle and Toulon, and in Disco and Noursoak in West Greenland. The most southern locality is that of Beausset, near Toulon, including Magnolia telonensis, Sap., Lomatopteris superstes, Sap., Araucaria Poucasi, Sap.; but other Dicotyledonous genera are rare, and are numerically stronger in the German localities, between 49° and 51° N. lat., which present a mixture of tropical and boreal forms, the genus Credneria being an example of the first, Hymenea of the second (one of the latter group, Ceratonia siliqua, still lives on at Mentone). In the Dakota group, the Crednerias are represented by Protophyllum multinerve, Lqx., and Aspidiophyllum. M. Lesquereux has also recognized Oaks, Ivy, Beech, Planes, and Chestnuts. The flora of the Middle Chalk (Cenomanian) marks the commencement of the fourth and last vegetable era the author recognizes, specialized by the appearance of Dicotyledons. This group increases in importance in the succeeding Tertiary epoch. The Monocotyledons, which had gradually been decreasing in number and importance, also become somewhat more salient again, as conditions more favourable to vegetable life come in. Hurope had still no winter, and though already to a certain extent con- tinental, the Alps and Pyrennes were only represented by insignifi- cant islets; lakes were scattered over much of the surface, and plants were imbedded in volcanic ashes. In the Palaeocene (Saporta, Suessonien d’Orbigny) the flora is little changed. It extends from the N.H. of Paris into Hainault and Liége; in the latter province it has yielded a rich flora at Gelinden, con- taining Laurels, Cinnamons, Oaks, Vines, and a species of Thutes, near to those of Japan, the flora of which resembles the facies to a cer- tain’ extent. The European Paleocene flora has some affinities with the American lignitic flora, and also with the Greenland Tertiaries, especially that of Atanekerdluk. The Eocene period was characterized by the existence of the Num- mulitic sea, a larger Mediterranean extending from Asia Minor and Arabia to Western Europe, and from Africa to a Gulf including the London, Paris, and Belgian basins; it is present in Persia, India, and China, and forms the summit of the Alps, forming one of the vastest inland seas of geological history, tenanted by similar bio- logical forms. Washed up on the shores of the Brito-Belgian gulf were seeds of a Nipa, of an Indian type, near to that now flourishing on the banks of the Ganges. Near Paris, on the site of the 1867 Exhibition, at the Trocadéro, occurred Palms, Pines, Thujas, and. a Dryandra (Michelotti), a type now characteristic of the Australian flora. A similar flora occurs in the collection formed by MM. Aymard and Vinay, at Puy, in Velay, including the now African genus Pheenia (P. Aymardi) allied to the modern Date. To this age belong the sandstones of Beauchamp, the limestones of St. Ouen, the gypsum On the Ancient Plant- World. 269 of Montmartre, the plant beds of Sarthe (M. Crie), and the neigh- bourhood of Angers, the Isle of Wight, and the lignite of Skopau in Saxony. The flora of Aix is somewhat newer; it occurs in an old lacustrine deposit, 20 kilométres in length, by 15 in width; it exhibits a rich flora, made up partly of European elements, and partly of plants now become purely exotic—Palms, Flabellaria Lamanonis, near to those of China, Dracene near to the Dragon Trees of the Canaries, Bananas near to those of Abyssinia and Africa, with plants of Australian and Madagascan flora affinities. Acacias abounded, whose modern representative affords the favourite food of the Giraffe. Amongst the flora is a Magnolia leaf, the corolla of a Catalpa near to a Chinese species. Magnificent corollas of Bombax, and a Fig, Ficus venusta, near to F. pseudocarica, Mig., of Upper Egypt. Associated with the tropical types are the temperate forms, Oaks, Beeches, Elms, Poplars, and other temperate forms; these, however, are of rare occurrence, and it is suggested that they lived well above the level of the ancient lake, and experienced a different climate to that prevailing in the lower valleys. The facies of this apparently more temperate flora is rather that now existing in Central Asia than in Northern Europe as regards the Birch and Elm, while the Oaks resemble those of Louisiana, the Poplars those of the Euphrates and River Jordan; and on the whole the flora appears to have resembled that of Central Africa, with some elements in that of Southern Asia and China—conditions which lasted on to the end of the Oligocene, which is, however, characterized by the gradual introduction of Miocene species. Amongst the new types that appeared in Hurope were species of Conifers, Chamecyparis, many Sequoias, Taxodium. Amongst the Palms the Sabal Heringiana, S. major, and Flabellaria latifolia; amongst the Myricas, Comptonia dryandrefolia, Brogn., most of them plants of an American type requiring either the presence of water or of a humid atmosphere. These plants traversed Northern America, Europe and Asia, and are associated with Oaks, Elms, etc., replacing the plants with African affinities, whose modern repre- sentatives require a large precipitation of rain. The author refers to the presence of tropical types, as Cycads, Ferns, and Gleichenia, in the Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits of the Arctic lands, and especially to the number of species and profusion of the genus Sequoia, the presence of Glyptostrobus thuja; and he comments on the absence of the more purely southern forms, as the Palms, Pandanas, and Dragon Trees. In the succeeding epoch, the Miocene, of the Arctic region, the larger number of species appear for the first time on a horizon about parallel with that of the. Huropean Oligocene, which received from the Arctic Ocean the Limes, Chest- nuts, Willows, Cedars, Birches, just alluded to, which migrated over the whole of Europe, and occupied the whole of the temperate area. Elevation of Central Europe took place, and the sediment called Flysch, or “shales with Fucoids,” was thrown down in saturated salt lakes resembling the Caspian and Sea of Aral. These Algze become extinct in this deposit, though ranging up from the Paleeozoic, and 270 Notices of Memoirs—Count de Saporta— it is suggested that they were preserved unmodified in an inland salt sea. The Alps during this epoch probably formed a plateau, here and there covered by salt lakes; after a time the sea again gained on Europe; this Tongrien sea traversed a different direction to the older Nummulitic sea. It occupied anew the Paris basin, united the Isle of Wight, traversed Belgium, Westphalia, penetrated the Gulf of Cassel, fringed the Adriatic, and bordered the Vosges and the Black Forest. From the various localities including them in Alsace and Austria M. Schimper records no less than 800 to 900 species of plants. The general aspect of the vegetation resembles that now living in Australia. Palms (Sabal major) as large as the Parasol Palm of the Antilles. Sequoias, near to those of California. In the lake a profusion of Nymphacea and Nenuphars existed, now only found in Senegambia, Nubia, and Hgypt. At Armissan, near Narbonne, the flora is specially rich, and exhibits characters tran- sitional to the more modern Lower Miocene or Aquitanian. The Oligocene period terminated with the retreat of the Tongrien Sea, which deposited the Fontainbleau grits, and at the commencement of the Miocene period the Paris basin emerged above the water, and the “ Falun Sea” to the west was separated from the ‘‘Molasse Sea”’ of §.E. France by a central dry arm; the Faluns, of the Aquitanian period, mark deposits tranquilly deposited in lakes, gradually dimin- ishing in depth; beds of the same age occur in the Baltic Amber region (54° lat.), at Bovey Tracey, Thorens in Savoy, Coumi in Greece (88° lat.), and Radoboj in Croatia, ranging through 16 degrees of latitude, though the included flora points to an almost absolute identity of climate. The Ferns point to a damp soil and climate. An Osmunda (O. lignitum) flourished near to the O. presliana of Southern Asia, Ceylon, Java, and Southern China. The genus Lygodium also now finds its most northern limit, with one species in Florida, and another in Japan, the Aquitanian forms most resembling the American species. The Palms (Flabellaria and Sabal, etc.) had not yet diminished in Europe. Sequoias still abound, but the Pines are becoming rarer, while the Oaks, Alders, Beeches, and Poplars commenced to exhibit their modern morphological characteristics. In the Baltic amber region Camphor Trees abound, but Palms are absent, but a number of the genus Smilax occur there. The limit of Palms passed probably a little north of Bovey Tracey to along the 52nd parallel. The Sabal major apparently did not pass north of Bonn, 50° 45’ W. lat., the lignites of which contain many other tropical plants, sensitive Mimosas, many Acacias, Azaleas, ete. In the Coumi deposits temperate forms are few in species and individuals, and they are characterized by a profusion of tropical species. Palms are, however, rare ; but the last Cycad that lingered in Europe occurs in it, the magnificent Encephalartos Gorceixianus, Sap., discovered by M. Gorceix. Succeeding the Aquitanian lacustrine deposits come the Upper Miocene ‘ Molasse Sea,” the last that invaded our Continent, and turned Central Europe into a scattered archipelago. To the west the sea of the Faluns occupied the Garonne, but did not communicate On the Ancient Plant- World. Die with ‘‘ the Molasse,” which extended from Marseilles north-eastward by Lyons, the Jura, north of the Swiss Alps, to Bavaria, and occupied the whole of the valley of the Danube, the western shores of the Adriatic, Illyria, Thrace, and the 8.W. of Greece, to which Prof. Heer has given the name Pennino-carnienne. The marine deposits at Carry, near Marseilles, being somewhat older than the inland Molasse beds, serve to show the gradual invasion of the Aquitanian land by the ‘“‘ Molasse Sea” took place from south to north. During this period the steps by which the temperate zone was becoming colder, though continuous, were softened by the heavy yains of summer and the mildness of winter, which still allowed a rich and varied vegetation. At no later period of the world’s history did it contain so many species of Poplar, all sections of the group being represented in France, including many types driven southward by the cold, and only now found in North Africa and Southern Asia, as the variable-leaved Poplar, Populus Euphratica, which is the modern representative of P. mutabilis of Ciuingen ; the former the author considers to be the plant referred to in the Psalm of Jeremiah, commencing, “By the rivers of Babylon,” translated Willows, the Weeping Willows introduced from China being unknown in Hebrew times. Remarking on the fact that for representatives of the Miocene flora we have often to turn to America, a successive immigration from the Pole southwards in all directions is suggested as the expla- nation of these ancient geographical connections. Amongst the Ferns (Adiantum and Pteris), we have several ancestors of existing Ferns. A Salisburia near to S. adiantifolia of Japan, Sequoia, Taxodium, and Glyptostrobus, occur among the Conifers. Comptonias in rich and elegant variety, now only represented by one form in the sandy marshes of Pennsylvania. The Green Oaks of Giningen re- produce the aspect of Mexico and Louisiana. Through the long summers of equal heat and mild winters, the genera Zaurus, Persea, Benzoni, Oreodaphne, Cinnamomum, and Camphora, still lived in the centre of Hurope, but in this epoch reached their final limit in this area. Again new types commenced to appear from the north, such as the Limes. An Aralia (Panaxz circularis, Hr.) still lived at (ningen, a Magnolia (M. Ludwigi, Htt.) at Salzhausen. The author draws a striking picture of the number and variety of the vegetable forms, and the richness and elegance of the forests of the Molasse epoch, the locality of iningen, near Schaffhausen, alone, having yielded to M. Heer no less than 475 species of plants, besides numerous Pachyderms, Birds, Reptiles, Fish, Mollusca, Crustacea, and Spiders, and 800 species of Insects. He considers that the climate must have resembled that of Madeira, Malaga, the South of Sicily and Japan, and Georgia, or indicates a mean temperature of 18° to 19° Cent. Broken branches and crushed leaves and flowers testify to violent storms and heavy rains; but the character of the vegetation shows that flowers and fruits persisted throughout the whole year. In these primeval forests lived the great Salamander (Andrias Scheuchzert, Holl.), of which the living type is found in Japan (Z. 272 Notices of Memoirs—Count de Saporta— japonicas, Tem.). Amongst other fossiliferous localities are the lignites of Wétéravic (Salzhausen, Roekenberg), Gunzbourg in Bavaria, Bilin in Bohemia, Menat in Auvergne, Mt. Charray in Ardéche, Parschlug and Gleichenberg in Styria, Tokay in Hungary, and the neighbourhood of Vienna. Reviewing the Tertiary floras, the Count de Saporta points out the vigorous and complete flora of the Paleocene was succeeded by the poorer but more varied flora of the Eocene, containing an assemblage of plants with African and Southern affinities, which per- sisted on in the rich flora of the Miocene, in which, at the commence- ment of the Oligocene, an influx of Northern types is observable, which gradually increased in importance, as the influence of winter first appeared in Central Europe; the vegetable zenith was reached in this epoch, and with the succeeding Pliocene a gradual exodus of exotic forms took place, with the definite climatic change which is too marked to have been due simply to alteration of geographical configuration; though the elevation of the Molasse sea-bed into land and the appearance of the Alps probably snow-covered would not be without effect in assisting the general chilling of the atmosphere. But the change was a cosmical phenomena, commencing with the Oligocene, and embracing the earth in its effects. At the commence- ment of this era the ice at the pole would be sporadic and occasional, gradually becoming permanent, and to give off masses of floating ice to chill the more southern districts, themselves now covered with glaciers inthe more mountainous parts. These changes were pro- bably gradual. Resting on the marine Molasse, with Ostrea cras- sissima of Provence, are lacustrine deposits, in which tropical plants still linger. An exotic Fig, Ficus Colloti, Sap., and a Bamboo. At Cucuron, at the foot of Mont Léberon, M. Gaudry has discovered a large number of Mammals, and he observes the end of the Miocene is characterized by a great development of Herbivores; this is the case not only in Provence, but at Pikermi, in Greece, and Eppelsheim on the banks of the Rhine. Stags also began to appear. Oxen were still absent. Mio-pliocene.—Arms of the sea still occupied the valleys of the Rhone, Danube, and the Po, and extended over parts of Belgium, north of the valley of the Thames, in Sicily and Algeria. In the Vienna basin, resting on the Molasse, is the Sarmatic stage, with Cerithium, which contains a rich flora, near to that of CGiningen. Cinnamons, Camphor Trees, Acacias, and Sequoias, and a Callitris, in the succeeding deposits, ‘‘the zone of Congeria,’—all these have disappeared for ever, except the genus Sequoia, and the Cinnamons, which still lingered in the floras of Stradella, near Pavia, and of Senigaglia, in the Marches; and in the Hast a true bamboo, Phrag- mites, still existed. The Sassafras of North America, the Glypto- strobus of China and Japan, the Planera, Platanus, Liquidambars of Southern Asia, are also still represented at Senigaglia; associated with Limes and Oaks, clearly the ancestors of our own Huropean trees, and in beds of similar age (marine molasse of St. Fons, Isére), in the Rhone Valley occurs a Beech with entire curved leaves like On the Ancient Plant- World. 273 that of our forests—Fagus sylvatica pliocenica, affording a valuable index of the existing climatal conditions, requiring, as it does, rain throughout the year. In the somewhat newer fluviatile beds of Vaquiéres, explored by Prof. Marion, grew an Alnus, between a Syrian and a Japanese species; a Glyptostrobus, near to that of Canton; a reed, near to the green reed of the Nile (Arundo Aigyptia antiqua, Sap.), covered the sand banks of this ancient river. The calcareous deposits of Mexi- mimiex, discovered by M. Falsan, disclose rich forests, resembling in the character of their vegetation those of the Canaries, joined with Asian, North American, and European facies; but tenanted yet, only by Stags, Mastodons and Tapirs. To this age belong the lacustrine deposits associated with basaltic overflows of Auvergne; in that overlying the older lava M. B. Rames has found in Cantal the remains of Dinotheriwm, Mastodon, Hip- parion, and Machairodus, which places these beds on the horizon of the Upper Miocene of Mont Léberon and Pikermi. Over these come porphyritic basalt, and trachytic conglomerate. The country ‘was broken into ridges and escarpments, the northern and southern aspects of which were covered by a somewhat different vegetation, which also now varied with elevation,—profound forests occupying the hollows of great magnificence, and tenanted by a numerous fauna. New eruptions, first of trachyte, then basalt, then phonolites, then of more modern lavas. These are associated with volcanic tuff and ash beds, containing a numerous Pliocene flora, especially at Puy, in the “Grey marne with tripoli,” at Ceyssae (Haute-Loire), examined by MM. Aymard and Haydes, and the Cantal beds ex- amined by Rames, which he correlates with those of Lyons. At Pas de la Mongudo, on the south of the volcanic district, and Saint- Vincent, on the north, occurs a Japanese species of Acer (A. poly- morphum), which has recently been reintroduced into France by the horticulturist. In these flora modern genera and species, Oaks, Elms, Alders, Poplars, etc., multiply in numbers, and preponderate over the few remaining exotic types. The same temperate facies is observable in the littoral deposits of the Val d’Arno, and in the travertines of Lipari, where the Palm, Chamerops humilis, still lingered on. “At the commencement of the Pliocene period, favoured by the dampness of the climate and the increasing cold, glaciers gradually descended the flanks of the high mountains to the valleys beneath, and great aqueous precipitation took place. The Norfolk Forest Bed is correlated with the horizon of St. Martial in Herault and the more recent parts of the Val d’Arno series. Mastodons had quitted Kurope; Monkeys had emigrated to Africa; but Rhinoceri and Hippopotami had never been more numerous; Stags abounded; but the age was specially characterized by Hlephas meridionalis, found associated in the sandy marls of Durfort, with the leaves—on which it fed chiefly — of an Oak, of a species still living in Southern Italy. A Laurel lived on in the Rhone Valley, and Abies montana, and other northern species, in the Forest Bed; climatal difference of vegetation in the North and South of Europe being first strongly accentuated in this period. DECADE Il.—VOL. VI.—NO. VI. 18 274 Reviews— Waagen’s Paleogeography of India. The author closes his work by summing up the seven elements into which the past and present French flora may be divided. The indigenous plants being those, like the Vine, that have never quitted France. Others, though fully developed in the Tertiaries, are now _ only tropical ; others are cosmopolitan; some now live in foreign warm temperate regions, though extinct in France; others inhabit Madagascar and Africa; a small number have American affinities (Sabal Palms, etc.); whilst the Greenland and Arctic flora is well represented by Sequoias and Glyptostrobus of the French Tertiary. C. E. De Rance. d5e) JEONG 2G dah 6 Se Le ae T.—“ Dr. W. Waacen On GeroGrapuicaL Distrispution oF Fossit ORGANISMS IN Inpra.” (Read at the Imperial Academy of Science, Vienna, December, 1877. ‘Translated in Records Geol. Surv. India, vol. xi. p. 267.) HIS paper, from the scope of its subject and the largeness of the conclusions put forward, may be called both important and ambi- tious. Important because, independently of the author’s speculations, it contains a well-condensed summary of the geology of India as now known; and ambitious, in that it seeks to present somewhat of the changing scene of the ancient physical geography of this great portion of the earth’s surface since early Paleozoic times. It speaks well for the progress of geological knowledge regarding India, that data of so tangible a nature exist to aid the impulse towards specula- tive inquiry. No ‘‘fear to fall” would seem to prevent our author from climbing, and if we cannot quite go with him to heights within the region of pure conjecture, it must be admitted that his “bold” theoretical sketch wears an aspect of consistency so far as he adduces evidence, and, despite one’s doubts of large assumptions, leaves the impression of being, at least to some extent, founded on fact. The former existence of a continent of which India formed a part ever since Paleozoic times, is not by any means a new idea; this has been suggested or mentioned by many writers; + but the definition of its form at various geological periods, as indicated by the distribu- tion of marine fossils, is the special object of the paper under notice; the author dissenting strongly from the supposition of Mr. H. EF. Blanford, that this continent was connected with Africa or Australia. After noticing all the formations of Peninsular-India, the Himalaya, Burmah, the Garrow hills, on the east, and the Suliman ranges to the west, and referring to his neat geological sketch-map, Dr. Waagen concludes from the distribution of “slaty” and sandstone Palzo- zoic rocks (the word ‘slaty’ being evidently used as synonymous with ‘marine’) that there was in Paleozoic times an Indian con- tinent whose northern limits coincided with the foot of the Himalayan chain, and which included the whole of British India to the south. ! Heckel, Hist. Creation. H. F. Blanford, Physical Geography of India, 1873. W. T. Blanford, J. A. Soc. Bengal, 1876. GEOL. Mac. Decade II. Vol. III. etc. Reviews—Waagen’s Paleogeography of India. 275 During the most of the Mesozoic period the great outer crystalline zone of the Himalayas was a coast-range of this continent, and in Triassic times its northern boundary lay almost parallel to the Palzeo- zoic coast-line, but between the outer and inner great crystalline zones, supposed to form the fundamental skeleton of those mountains. In the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous periods the continent had nearly the same outline to the north, though somewhat enlarged, its western limits coincided with the Suliman mountains, but the sea sent a great gulf up the Narbada (Nerbadda) valley for half its length, and also encroached upon the Madras coast from the mouth of the Godavery southwards to beyond Pondichery. Upper Cretaceous times brought another change: the old central Himalayan coast-line in the longitude of Simla was moved somewhat further north, its eastward extension being uncertain. On the west the Suliman mountain regions were submerged, with the north- western part of the Punjab, the whole of Sind, Kach, and part of Kattywar. On the east a small area near Madras, the Sunderbans, Cachar, the south flanks of the Garrow hills, and the whole of Burmah, were under water, but the great peninsular area was mainly dry land. In the Eocene period the sea spread over western India, and extended as far as the river Jumna. On the east its traces occur at the mouth of the Godavery, it reached up to the Garrow hills, and covered western Burmah. Upper Tertiary marine deposits of Siwalik age are only known in southern Sind, and perhaps in Kach, hence the whole region was, it is presumed, at this time chiefly continental. _ Except the Tertiary, all these changes in the outline of the land are shown by lines of different character on Dr. Waagen’s map. And through all these eons the vast series of peninsular India’s aqueous strata is declared to have been of inland fresh-water origin —a point already noticed, we may remark, by the late Dr. Oldham and Mr. W. T. Blanford '—but whether formed in basins or by rivers our author does not decide. It is evident his reasoning upon this distribution of land and ocean throughout geological time is based upon known exposures of marine fossil-bearmg rocks, but further discovery of marine beds of any age would modify the whole value of the conclusions, as would also any circumstance favouring the marine origin of strata as yet not known to contain fossils, and there are large deposits of this class in India. Inspection of Dr. Waagen’s map shows that nearly all his lines of limit of marine deposit converge at the N.W. corner of the empire ; this being also the only region in which he was employed even for a short season in the field, beyond a mere trip or so on one side or other of the Ganges valley, it may be fair to suppose that here the sound- ness of his conclusions can be tested. Let us glance at the evidence on which his reasoning is based in this country—one not altogether 1 Pal. Ind. Series 4.1. Records Geol. Sury. Ind. vol. iii. 276 Reviews— Waagen’'s Paleogeography of India. -undescribed,! though the most extensive memoir on the local geology by the Indian Survey (that on the Salt Range) has been for years awaiting publication, and has lain printed but unissued since the summer of 1877. Dr. Waagen’s Paleozoic continental shore-line edges the Salt Range escarpment, in which there occurs a group of beds said to have been prematurely referred to the Silurian age,” as well as a later development of generally-admitted (though the author uses the term ‘so-called’) Carboniferous strata. These marine groups are cut off by the escarpment on the south side of the range; the upper one reappears strongly on the Indus to the west, and it is evident the beds once extended further to the southward, hence there is absolutely no reason why they might not have reached as far as Delhi, or be even now buried beneath the great Sind-Punjab deserts. Here, at least, the author’s conclusion as to continental limits must be founded on loose conjecture rather than on fact. But in still earlier Palzeozoic times an adjacent southern continent is better indicated amongst the older Salt Range strata, by the occur- rence of derived crystalline boulders in an earthy matrix, of kinds unknown in the crystalline series to the north. The deposits are unfossiliferous, and their partly shore-like aspect or association with enormous layers of salt and gypsum are but slight reasons for asserting their marine, estuarine, or terrestrial origin. Consequently the presumed continental boundary in this direction at that early age becomes hazy if not totally obscure. The supposed Palzeozoic Attock slates, which occur further to the north, and comprise many sandstones and limestones as well, may be of course marine, though, in the absence of fossils, both this point and their exact age are quite incapable of proof; they are, “nevertheless, included in Dr. Waagen’s Paleeozoic “slaty facies.” Nor can we find more satisfactory reason why the author supposes the outer Crystalline zone of the Himalayas to have formed the coast-range of a continent for most of the Mesozoic period; the only one he advances seems to be merely the absence of as yet recorded marine beds of this age along the south flanks of these mountains. The Himalayan crystalline rocks, however, are not the same as those of peninsular India, and he admits the possibility of their represent- ing Paleozoic beds in a metamorphosed state. It is plain that a series of rocks, thus altered beyond recognition, might be of any age anterior to the Tertiary elevation of the range, and equally plain how slender and transparent is the assumption upon which the imaginary coast-line of a great ancient continent has been drawn. Again, the author points out that his Triassic continental boundary line is visible in the Salt Range, but omits to say that the formation 1 See papers by Fleming, Asiat. Soc. Bengal. Also Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. London, 1874-78. Records Geol. Sury. Ind. vols. iii. vi. vii. viii. Memoirs Geol. Sury. Ind. vol. xi. and xiv. (‘‘to be issued shortly.”’) 2 Dr. Waagen himself, when in India, favoured this view, and never suggested its being doubtful, though the evidence was in his hands, in the shape of shells of an Obolus, determined as Silurian by the late Dr. Stoliczka. bo Reviews—Ramsay’s Physical Geology. 204 with salt pseudo-morphs, seen in the eastern part of this range, and which he describes as replaced by marine beds to the west, is an entirely unfossiliferous group, whose Triassic age has no better foundation than a choice of guesses. This being a special illustration of our author’s system of coast- lines, we are bound to conclude that his most confident assumptions may be but visionary suggestions, the value of which depends largely upon unknown possibilities. And when some of these assumptions deal with a mass of formations so vast that the British Isles might be excavated vertically from within them twice over, or many larger countries made out of their materials, the whole being, on the negative evidence of absence of marine fossils, referred entirely to inland freshwater deposition, we may well pause before accepting in full the conclusions which the paper would establish. Indulgence in such speculative flights as these has a dangerous tendency to encourage the charlatanism of a would-be “higher culture” in geology, when put forward with the arrogance of know- ledge; and so far as the case before us is concerned, examination has but confirmed the doubts felt at first, as to whether we were really reading history or romance. W. I].—Tue Puysicat GroLocy anp GeocrarHy oF GREAT BriTArn: A Manvat or British Geotocy. By A. C. Ramsay, LL.D., F.R.S., etc., Director-General of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. With a Geological Map, printed in colours, and numerous Woodcuts. 5th edition. S8vo. pp. 639. (Stanford, London, 1878.) OT much more than ten years ago this excellent work first appeared as collected notes from the Professor’s lectures on the Geological Structure of the British Isles, elucidating the opera- tions of water, ice, and other natural agents in producing and modifying the surface of the earth in general, and of the British area in particular. By gradual increase of explanatory and illustra- tive matter the fourth edition had become twice as thick as the first, and proportionately valuable to the student desirous of recognizing and understanding all the characteristic features of mountain, moor- land, and valley, sea, lake, and river, which interest, or ought to interest us both at home and abroad. The fifth edition, lately issued, has attained double the bulk of the last, by the introduction of thirteen chapters on the historical, successional, or stratigraphical geolog y of Britain. This portion has necessarily considerable value, possessing the interest which the teachings of so accomplished a geologist as the author must carry with them; but the paleontology is not equally well handled as the older portion of the work, in which the physics of geology are so well and plainly discussed, so perfectly illustrated, and so enthusiastically worked out with the results of the author’s own researches and reasonings. Those portions of the new chapters which treat of the physical geography and hydrography of each successive geological epoch will be useful to many readers, since they extend the results of what 278 Reviews—Geikie’s Old Red Sandstone. Elie de Beaumont, Godwin-Austen, and others, well began, in ap- plying definite geological observation to the discovery of the old shoals, shore-lines, and margins of the several great formations of strata. This is a subject of considerable interest in both practical and hypothetical aspects; and we trust that the life-long studies of Mr. Godwin-Austen will yet result in the atlas of paleogeography, towards the completion of which he had already done so much in 1862, when the Geological Society awarded him their Gold Medal in recognition of his sound and useful labours, particularly in work- ing out the history of the geologic changes of land and sea in Western Europe. This new edition of the Physical Geography and Geology of Britain is enriched with many new woodcuts, both of characteristic scenery, and of fossils belonging to the several formations. Furnished with these latter, and the description of the successive groups of strata, the new edition is now entitled “A Manual of British Geology,” and will be found useful to many general readers as well as to schools and classes. T.R.J. JI.—On tHe Oxtp Rep SanpstonE or Western Europe. By ARCHIBALD Gutnin, LL.D., F.R.S., ete. (Part I.) [From the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. xxviii. 1878.] HE recent papers in the Grotocican MaGazine on the Devonian question, and on the relations of the Old Red Sandstone to the Silurian and Carboniferous rocks, especially those by Mr. Kinahan, Professor Hull, and Mr. Champernowne, have suggested new inter- pretations of these great rock-masses and some important revisions in their classification. There is a tendency to split up and almost annihilate the Old Red Sandstone. Thus Mr. Kinahan has grouped the Irish representative as Carboniferous, placing the Dingle or Glengariff grits as Silurian ; while both Professor Hull and Mr. Champernowne are inclined to regard portions of the Devonian rocks also as Silurian. Professor Geikie’s memoir on the Old Red Sandstone of Western Europe will therefore be read with particular interest by those who have paid any attention to the varieties of opinion on its equivalent deposits, and all geologists will hail its appearance as giving not merely a summary of what is known on the subject, but a large amount of original observation. Commencing with an historical introduction, Professor Geikie tells of the first application of the term Old Red Sandstone, and how it came to be regarded as the lacustrine equivalent of the marine Devonian rocks, although, as he observes, “the alleged contempo- raneity of these two groups of strata. had, in England at least, been assumed rather than proved.” Into this question, however, he does not enter, his object being to examine into the distribution and history of the deposits which admittedly belong to the Old Red Sandstone. Discussing the value of the threefold division of Murchison, Pro- fessor Geikie says, “‘My own work in the centre and south of Scot- Reports and Proceedings—Geological Society of London. 279 land had proved the Old Red Sandstone to consist of two great divisions —a lower passing down conformably into the Upper Silurian shales, and an upper graduating upward into the Lower Carboniferous sandstones, with a complete discordance between the two series. Mr. Jukes and Mr. Du Noyer had made out a similar arrangement in the South-west of Ireland.” And he adds, “‘ The lithological argument seems to favour the classification adopted by Mr. Jukes, for a great part of his Dingle beds would answer well for much of the lower Old Red Sandstone.” ; Until we are able to study the succeeding parts of Professor Geikie’s memoir, we must be content with quoting the above passage, which is significant when taken in conjunction with Mr. Kinahan’s researches. After a brief consideration of the condition of Western Europe previous to Old Red Sandstone times, Prof. Geikie passes on to the consideration of the Lower Old Red Sandstone, and its basins of deposit in the British area. These basins he limits to five, termed respectively, Lake Orcadie (including the whole of the Orkney Islands), Lake Caledonia, or the Mid-Scottish Basin, Lake Cheviot, the Welsh Lake, and Lake of Lorne (Argyllshire, etc.). He observes, that in no part of its European distribution does the Old Red Sandstone attain the thickness and variety which it presents in Scotland. The present part of his memoir contains the account otf the rocks in the area described as Lake Orcadie. It contains a table, showing the vertical range of the known fossils of the Old Red Sandstone of Caithness, compiled chiefly from data furnished by Mr. ©. W. Peach; and a list of the fossil fishes of the Lower Old Red Sandstone of the North of Scotland. A folding-plate gives coloured sections of the strata of Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Tarbat Ness, Culloden Moor, Gamrie, ete. H. B. W. REPORTS AND PROCHHDINGS.- ——@——_ GeronocicaL Socirry or Lonpoy.—I.—April 9, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.—The following communications were read :— 1. “On the Geological Age of the Rocks of the Southern High- lands of Ireland, generally known as ‘the Dingle Beds’ and ‘Glengariff Grits.’ By Prof. E. Hull, M.A., F.B.S., F.G.S. After reviewing the opinions of previous writers with reference to the age of these beds, including those of Hamilton, Griffith, Murchison, Kelly, Jukes, and the Officers of the Survey, which showed that great uncertainty has hitherto prevailed, the author quoted a passage of the late Prof. Jukes, in which he confessedly left the determination of the age of these beds open for future examination ; and he therefore determined to reinvestigate the question, bringing to bear upon it the knowledge which had since been acquired of other districts. For this purpose (and accom- panied by Messrs. O’Kelly and M‘Henry) he examined a series of 280 Reports and Proceedings— sections, from the coast of Dingle southwards to Bantry Bay; and having also carefully examined the field-maps of the Survey of those districts, had arrived at the following results :— First, that “the Dingle Beds” are perfectly conformable to, and continuous with, the Upper Silurian Beds of the Dingle promontory. Secondly, that they are the representatives of ‘the Mweelrea Beds and Salrock Slates,” of West Galway and Mayo, the age of which, as shown by the fossils, is Upper Silurian, and that “the Dingle Beds” may therefore be regarded as of the age of the Ludlow Rocks, but unusually developed. This view was adopted as far back as 1859 by Sir Richard Griffith. Thirdly, that throughout the south of Ireland “the Dingle and Glengariff Beds” are disconnected from the succeeding conformable series, consisting of (¢) Lower Carboniferous Slate; (b) The Upper Old Red Sandstone with Anodonta Jukesii; (a) The Lower Old Red Sandstones and Conglomerate ; as these three conformable formations are found resting upon, and against, the Glengariff beds successively in a direction either from south to north, or from south- west to north-east, owing to a conformable overlap against the flanks of an old shelving shore formed of the Glengariff beds. Fourthly, that at the close of the Upper Silurian period, and after the deposition of “the Dingle and Glengariff Beds,” these strata were disturbed, upraised, and denuded, and were not again sub- merged till the commencement of the Old Red Sandstone (a), when they were successively overlain by the beds of that formation with the succeeding ones of the Lower Carboniferous period, probably including the Carboniferous Limestone in some places. Lastly, that it was during this period of upheaval that, as the author believes, the marine Devonian Beds (Ilfracombe and Morte series) were deposited, which accounts for their absence in the Irish area, which was either a land surface or only partially sub- merged. To this part of the subject the author hoped to call the attention of the Society on a future occasion. 2. “On some Three-toed Footprints from the Triassic Conglo- merate of South Wales.” By W. J. Sollas, Hsq., M.A., F.G.S. The author described the discovery by Mr. T. H. Thomas of some three-toed footprints in the Triassic Conglomerate at Newton Nottage, South Wales. They were stated to resemble in their most important characters the footprints of some Ratite birds, such as the Emeu : and this facet, taken in connexion with the occurrence of Dinosaurian remains in the Magnesian Conglomerate of Bristol, led the author to attribute to them a Dinosaurian origin. 3. “On the Silurian District of Rhymney and Pen-y-lan, Cardiff.” By W. J. Sollas, Esq., M.A., F.G:S. The paper commences with a history of the previous observations on the district; a description of the geographical distribution, geo- logical structure, and vertical succession of the Silurian rocks is next given. They comprise beds belonging to the Wenlock and Ludlow groups, and pass conformably upwards into the Old Red Sandstone. The district affords a good base for a measurement of the thickness Geological Society of London. 281 of the Old Red Sandstone on the south of the South- Wales Coal-field. This was found to be a little over 4000 feet. The thinning out of the Old Red Sandstone and Silurian strata, together with the marked change which takes place correspondingly in the lithological cha- racters of the latter formation on passing from the north to the south side of the coal-field were taken to indicate an approach to a shore-line. This shore-line belonged to land which, as shown by the great thickness of the Devonian beds, could not have extended far south. It corresponded to Mr. Htheridge’s barrier between the Old Red Sandstone and Devonian seas. The sandstones with Old-Red characters, such as the Hangman Grit and the Pickwell-Down Sandstones, occurring in the Devonian formation, were deposited at intervals when this barrier was submerged to a greater depth than usual. The Cornstones were stated to thin out to the south along with the other sedimentary beds of the Old Red Sandstone, and were regarded as derived from the denudation of previously up- heaved limestones, such as the Bala and Hirnant. The paper con- cluded with a description of the characters of the more interesting rocks and fossils. II.— April 30, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Hsq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.—The following communications were read :— 1. “A Contribution to the History of Mineral Veins.” By John Arthur Phillips, Esq., F.G.S. In this paper the author described the phenomena of the deposition of minerals from the water and steam of hot springs, as illustrated -In the Californian region, referring especially to a great ‘sulphur bank”? in Lake County, to the steamboat springs in the State of Nevada, and to the great Comstock lode. He noticed the formation of deposits of silica, both amorphous and crystalline, inclosing other minerals, especially cinnabar and gold, and in some cases forming true mineral veins. The crystalline silica formed contains liquid- cavities, and exhibits the usual characteristics of ordinary quartz. In the great Comstock lode, which is worked for gold and silver, the mines have now reached a considerable depth, some as much as 2660 feet. The water in these mines was always at a rather high tem- perature, but now in the deepest mines it issues at a temperature of 157° Fahr. It is estimated that at least 4,200,000 tons of water are now annually pumped from the workings; and the author discussed the probable source of this heat, which he was inclined to regard as a last trace of volcanic activity. 2. “ Vectisaurus valdensis, a New Wealden Dinosaur.” By J. W. Hulke, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. The author described some fossil remains, obtained by him in Brixton Bay, Isle of Wight, in 1871, consisting of an ilium, several pre-sacral, and one post-sacral vertebra. He established the Dino- saurian nature of the animal represented by them, and offered proof of its distinctness from already-known forms. He proposes for it the name Vectisaurus valdensis, a name descriptive of the locality and formation in which the remains were found by him. The characters 282 Leports and Proceedings—Geological Society of London. presented by the genus Vectisuurus were stated to be as follows :— Ilium with a long compressed ant-acetabular process, having its greatest transverse extent in a vertical plane, and strengthened by a strong ridge produced from the sacral crest. Vertebre in anterior dorsal region having opisthoccelous centres, their lateral surfaces longitudinally concave, transversely gently convex, meeting below in a blunt keel. 3. “On the Cudgegong Diamond-field, New South Wales.” By Norman Taylor, Esq., of the late Geological Survey of Victoria ; communicated by R. Etheridge, Hsq., Jun., F.G.S. The author described in detail the various spots at which diamonds have been found in this locality. They occur in river-drift, associated with gold and other gems. The drifts in the district are at least six in number. The oldest is considered by the author to be Upper Miocene or Lower Pliocene ; the next Middle Pliocene; others Upper Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Recent. Between the Middle and Upper Pliocene flows of basalt lava took place, which have sealed up much of the older drifts. Diamonds are found in the oldest drift and, pro- bably by derivation from it, in the newer. Gold, metallic iron, wood, tin, brookite (?), iron-sand, quartz, tourmaline, garnet, pleonast, zircon, topaz, sapphire, ruby, and corundum are also found. The author then considers the question of whether the diamonds are derived from some of the igneous or sedimentary formations (from Upper Silurian to Mesozoic) which have contributed to the drift ; and concludes, from a variety of reasons, that the diamonds have been formed ¢n situ in the older drift. 4. “On the Occurrence of the Genus Dithyrocaris in the Lower . - Carboniferous, or Calciferous Sandstone Series of Scotland; and on that of a second species of Anthrapalemon in these beds.” By R. Etheridge, Esq., Jun., F.G.S. The author, in the first place, referred to the extension of the range in time of the genus Dithyrocaris, by the discovery of nume- rous fragmentary remains of D. testudineus, Scouler, in the Calcife- rous Sandstone or Lower Carboniferous Series of the south of Scotland, about the horizon of the Wardie Shales near Edinburgh, and in the Cement-stone group of Roxburghshire. A further and more complete description of IIJ.—On THE Cupcecone Driamonp Fretp, New Sovran Wats. By Norman Tavtor, Esq., of the late Geological Survey of Victoria. Communicated by R. Erueriper, jun., F.G.S.; of the British Museum. INCE the publication, in the Quarterly Journal of Science for July, 1876, of an article on the Indian Diamond Fields, in which the writer, Captain Burton, does not appear to be aware of what has been done in these Colonies towards adding to our know- ledge of the geological history of the diamond, I have been induced to re-write a paper, jointly prepared by the late Professor Alex. M. Thomson, of the Sydney University, and myself, and read before 400 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. the Royal Society of New South Wales on the 7th December, 1870 ;* and to incorporate with it a series of my own papers (of which the above was merely a summary), which appeared in the “Sydney Morning Herald” previously to that date. I shall confine my remarks to the mode of occurrence of the diamond in New South Wales, as the late Rev. W. B. Clarke has, in his valuable and interesting Presidential Addresses to the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1870 and 1872, almost exhaustively treated the subject, as far as regards our present knowledge of the occurrence of the diamond all over the world. Professor Liversidge, successor to the late Professor Thomson, of the Sydney University, also read a paper before the Royal Society of N.S. Wales on Ist October, 1873 (reprinted in Mines and Mineral Statistics of N. S. Wales, 1875, p. 104), giving a short description of the Bingera Diamond Field, in the New England District of N. 8. Wales, which was discovered some years after its predecessor “the Cudgegong,” to which I shall allude further on; as also to my late colleague Mr. C. J. Wilkinson’s (now Government Geologist of N.S. Wales) Reports on the discovery of diamonds in the Tin deposits of Borah Creek, a tributary of the Gwydir River, and elsewhere.’ Diamonds were accidentally discovered on the Cudgegong river at Warburton or “'T'wo-mile-flat,’ 19 miles north-west of Mudgee, N.S. Wales, during the gold rush to that locality in 1867. They were scarcely noticed at first, but, at last, several stones were sent to Melbourne jewellers for their opinion, which, ultimately, led to a company being formed to systematically work the deposits. Operations were commenced in July, 1869,—numerous private parties of miners taking up the search at the same time. A large number of diamonds were obtained, although, in most instances, unfortu- nately, the expense of sinking through considerable thicknesses of solid basalt, the small average size of the stones obtained, cartage to water, and effectual washing, were drawbacks which rendered the search generally unprofitable, and stood in the way of successful investment. During several months’ residence in the district as manager of one of the companies (after the abolition of the Geological Survey of Victoria in 1868), and afterwards as a working miner myself, I made a thorough geological examination of the country, and the results then obtained are embodied in the following description. The plan and sections I had made were unfortunately lost after my departure from the district. Before describing the nature and contents of the diamond drifts (for they have never been found in these Colonies in any matrix of greater age than our Tertiary drifts), it will be well to give a brief sketch of the geology of the Cudgegong River Basin, and the neigh- bourhood more immediately surrounding the diamond district. This will assist in any inferences regarding the original sources of the 1 See Trans. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales for 1870, pp. 94-106.—R. E., jun. 2 See Mines and Mineral Statistics of N. S. Wales for 1875, pp. 77-80.— R. E., jun. Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 401 various materials which compose the ancient river gravels, as well as of those of more modern origin. The Cudgegong River rises in the acute ‘angle, open to the west and north-west, which the Great Dividing Range forms in latitude 33° south, and the first part of its course is westerly about 30 miles to Cudgegong village, and north-westerly 37 miles to the junction of the Wialdra or “‘ Reedy Creek.” In this part it is bounded on its eastern side by the Dividing Range, which presents a summit of horizontally-bedded Carboniferous rocks, with Coal-seams and Glossopteris shales, and from which, farther eastward, rise the heads of the Hunter River, the basin in which most of the celebrated Coal- seams of N. 8. Wales occur. The range, in its continuation south- wards, completely encircles the heads of the Cudgegong River, and presents a similar formation of Carboniferous rocks, which occur in great force on the upper sources of the river, the Hawkesbury sandstones overlying them. The Carboniferous rocks only reach, along the course of the river, on its north side, westerly to Rylstone. Several outliers and cappings of basalt also occur on summits and spurs of the Dividing Range, as at Mount Bocoble, and elsewhere. The main area of the basin, and the ridges which confine it on the south and west, consist of tilted slate and quartzite, with a few interstratified, and lenticular, bands of fossiliferous limestone. These beds are either of Upper Silurian or Devonian age, but most probably the latter, as the late Professor Thomson discovered the distinctive Devonian genus Calceola in the limestone of Mount Frome near Mudgee. Both formations may, however, be repre- sented. These rocks are penetrated in places by small areas of granite, greenstone, quartz-porphyry, and felstone. At the Wialdra Reedy Creek junction, near which the diamond drift first sets in, the river suddenly bends to the south-west and south, and follows that direction to its junction with the Macquarie River, about 28 miles distant. These distances are as the crow flies. This part of its course presents a structure similar to that of the older portions of its upper basin, with the exception that limestone bands are wanting, and no members of the Carboniferous series, except some doubtful outhers to the north-west of the ‘Two-mile-flat,” occur. The whole course of the river is through a rugged mountainous country—the only large flats being situated on and above the diamond field. Outhers of Carboniferous rocks, consisting of sandstones, con- glomerates, and shales containing Glossopteris and other plants, form links, at trifling intervals, along the eastern watershed; con- necting the Carboniferous formation of the Dividing Range with the Coal-measures of the Talbragar district to the north. A few miles north of the junction of the Reedy Creek with the Cudgegong River, the Carboniferous beds form horizontal cappings on hills of slate and granite, with quartz reefs and limestone bands, as at Tallawang ; whilst at Guntawang, to the south, and higher up the river, some doubtful members are met with in the river valley; and near the junction they occur at a similar low level, and have been covered DECADE II.—VOL, VI.—NO. IX, 26 402 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. up by the basalt without the intervention of any drifts. The great differences in level, which these latter beds occupy, deserve con- sideration. For my own part, I believe, with Professor M‘Coy of the Melbourne University, to whom the fossil flora were submitted by me, that the Guntawang and Reedy Creek beds, at the lower levels, are Mesozoic. They have only been exposed in comparatively recent times, by the deepening of the river channel, and no remains of them are found in the older drifts. There is no trace of anything like Glossopteris in them. For our present purpose it wiil be enough to show that vast masses of Carboniferous strata have suffered denudation, as, along the main stream, we find relics of these rocks, not only in the present bed, but also in the older drifts, but not in the oldest. A short distance up the Reedy Creek from its junction with the Cudgegong River, granite appears in the bed, very coarse-grained, with large felspar crystals. Higher up the creek, this is overlaid by basalt, which, a little below the junction of Hapdash Creek, is cut through by the creek, and forms a causeway. At the Hapdash Creek junction the basalt gives place to horizontal ferruginous grits of doubtful age, but probably some portion of the Mesozoic beds occurs lower down. The deep auriferous “leads” of Gulgong (N.E. of Guntawang), from 80 to 150 feet in depth, are composed of a mixture of angular and partly rounded quartz, in no way resembling the diamond drifts, although both are covered by apparently the same basaltic lava flow. The bottom of these leads is higher than the Diamond leads, and no trace of gems has been discovered in them. Fossil bones have been found in a more recent lead, near the Pipeclay diggings, south of Gulgong, and numerous fossil fruits and plant remains in leads under the basalt at Gulgong, thus indicating their fluviatile origin; whilst neither fauna nor flora (except as im- bedded in drifted pebbles, or as particles of ferruginous wood in the conglomerates) have been found in the diamond leads, and I think the latter are undoubtedly of marine or fluvio-marine origin, the circumstances and nature of the drifts having perhaps been unfavourable to the preservation of fossil remains. The localities on the Cudgegong, which produced the diamond, lie on either bank of the river, extending from the Wialdra or Reedy Creek (18 miles north 30° west from Mudgee) to a point further down, seven miles south-west, known as Hassall’s Hill. Along this line the distribution of the diamond is by no means general, but is confined, chiefly, to a few small outliers of an old river drift, which occur at various distances from the present river channel, and at elevations varying from below the river level at the Reedy Creek, to 40 feet more above it further down. This old drift is capped by hard, compact, and, generally, columnar basalt. These outlying hills of diamond-bearing drifts, with their basaltic coverings, though once forming part of a continuous and widespread deposit, have * See C. 8. Wilkinson, Annual Report of the Department of Mines, N. S. Wales, for the Year 1876, p. 172; also Baron von Mueller, iid, pp. 178-180.—R. E., jun. Norinan Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 403 been isolated by extensive denudatign. No point of eruption, to my knowledge, exists in the district, but the source of the basalt flow must be to the eastward on the summit of the Great Dividing Range, where it may possibly have been erupted along a line of fault. Its remnants can be followed for, at least, 17 miles down the river, sometimes showing a thickness of over 70 feet, proving the igneous outburst to have been of considerable magnitude, sufticiently so to materially alter the physical aspect of the river valley; we may also infer, conversely, the enormous extent of the subsequent denu- dation. There is the clearest local evidence that the course of the river has been much altered since the older drift formed a portion of its channel. Enumerating, in descending order, the outliers of the older drift which affords the diamond, the first area occurs near the junction of the Reedy Creek with the Cudgegong River, and a short distance up the former. At this point were situated the works of the Australian Diamond Mines Company, and the village of Reedy Creek. Through the Company’s lease a small fringe of basalt runs about north-east and south-west, and under this, near the edge of the flat, and below the present river-level, the most productive diamond drift was discovered. On the hill to the north of the Company’s ground is a lead, trending, from the north, southerly, and possibly the bed of the old Reedy Creek, here uniting with the old river-bed. At the south-west end of the basalt fringe, and at the foot of the rise, numerous shafts have been sunk. They were originally worked on a false bottom, at a depth of 29 feet, where the best gold was obtained; but were afterwards worked by the Company on the true bottom at a depth of 35 feet. The basalt was only from 4 to 8 feet thick, and the remainder a similar drift to that at Hassall’s Hill (described hereafter), but without the usual fine sand. A short distance to the north-east, near the extremity of this basalt fringe, the sinking was through 80 feet of basalt, and the ground was very wet. The Reedy Creek lead, from 20 to 25 feet in depth, on a dry slate bottom, appears to be higher than the red drift in the above wet ground, the first being the oldest. The whole of the lead in the Company’s ground, though heavily timbered below, settled down, owing to continued wet weather. On the main bottom, in the Company’s lease, there occur high hard bars of slate and quartzite, all running in the usual strike of the country. No gold was obtained in the drift between the bars, and the drift itself was semi-angular, and similar to that in the present Reedy Creek bed. At first the ground yielded at the rate of 4 to 5 diamonds and 4 dwts. of gold to the load, but afterwards fell off to one diamond in two loads; and there is no doubt but that numbers of diamonds were thrown out of the machines (Hunt’s patent), by careless manipulation, into the tailings, over 1000 tons of which were swept away by the disastrous floods of the 22nd and 23rd April, 1870. While at the works myself, I burned and crushed five bags of cement (which occurs as a bed running in the same direction as the basalt, and in places from 6 to 8 feet thick), 404 Norman Taylor — The Cudgegong Diamond Field. and, passing the stuff through a small Hunt’s machine, obtained two diamonds and # dwt. of gold. The diamonds seemed to have suffered by the burning, as they were quite destitute of lustre. The Reedy Creek deposits contain much larger masses of fossil wood and agate than elsewhere, although the accompanying gems are of the usual size. The total number of diamonds obtained by the Company, while operations lasted, was 1765. To the east of the village is a long ridge, capped by basalt under- laid by drift, and running nearly due north from the junction back. It is nearly connected, at its north end, by another outlying mass of basalt running easterly. These are merely outliers of the main flow, which is more extensively developed to the east. The basalt of these outliers is higher than that in the Company’s lease, and between these two outliers is shallow ground, the top of a sandstone hill, which has split the old river channel. The higher ground is covered by a rounded pebble wash, but on the fall to the back of the diggings, slates and quartz-reefs crop out, evidently a continuation of the rocks on the south side of the river. This basalt hill was worked on its south and east faces, and a pretty rich gold lead was discovered; some diamonds are said to have been found, but were never properly looked for. The sinking varies from 66 to nearly 90 feet. In sinking through the above-mentioned easterly outlier, three-quarters of a mile north of the village, the basalt was found to rest upon fine fissile white and grey shaly beds, full of indistinct plant-remains, and with no intervening drift—in fact, the drift further back appears to rest upon, and not beneath, the basalt, but it 1s most likely a more recent wash. Some speci- mens of the above-mentioned plants were forwarded to Professor M‘Coy, and pronounced by him to be identical with those of the Cape Patterson Mesozoic Coal-rocks in Victoria. J was unable, at the time, to determine the relations of this bed to the Carboniferous beds of Tallawang, or of either to the green and purple conglomerates west of the Cudgebeyong Creek (described hereafter). About half a mile above the Reedy Creek junction, and up the river, is a small outcrop of horizontally-bedded alternating grey shales and coarse grits, capped by a conglomerate bed. The shales contain leaf impressions, and the grit traces. The beds form a slight arch, dipping from the centre towards north-west and south- east, but it is probably only a local undulation. They immediately underlie the basalt, which here comes to the river, and forms a bold escarpment, at first on the west side, but afterwards on both sides to within a short distance below Guntawang. Several shafts were sunk on Mr. Rouse’s property to the west of the river, and bottomed on horizontal conglomerates; these are again seen at Biraganbil, where they consist of friable grits, with indistinct plant-remains, and hard thick-bedded conglomerates. These beds seem to occupy all the lower country, at the foot of the ranges to the west of the river; the east side is covered up with Tertiary drifts and basalt, and the old river-bed must have been at some distance to the east of its present course. The basalt has flowed from the north-east Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 405 and north to the river at Guntawang, and then down it; and it is most probable that the drift, in which the diamond occurs, has come from the same direction, although I do not altogether hold with the view that the diamonds have been drifted. All the valleys and lower country (probably synclinal troughs) to the north and west of Mudgee, and elsewhere, appear to be occupied by pebble drifts and beds which may be the equivalents of the above-mentioned Mesozoic rocks.? At the Reedy Creek junction, and south of the river, were situated the works of the Mudgee Gold and Diamond Mining Company. This Company had all their endeavours frustrated by the continuous floods, which destroyed their dams, races, ete., and at last their machinery. Following down the river south-westerly, we pass out- crops of slates, with several large untried quartz-reefs, and near an out-station of Mr. Rouse’s, a small fringe of basalt on the rising ground bounding the flat on the south side of the river. Another small basalt rise is met with on the north side of the river, which has here extensive alluvial flats on both sides. A shaft on this hill passed through 25 feet of basalt, and 15 feet of sand, drift and boulders. ee Gee = ~ = <= ra —e = = Pe > Se <= Sen fe = ANY Walter Keeping—On Columnar Sandstone. 439 directions of the columns in the several tiers of prisms. The wondrous. regularity of the columns and their small size are particularly striking in this exposure, viz. they are nearly all from three inches to five inches long, and little more than half an inch thick (see Fig. 2, natural size). They are by no means constantly hexagonal, but vary from three- to seven-sided. In all, however, the faces are clean and well defined, and the angles sharp. The rock material of which they are composed is a brittle sandstone, so hard that the columns clink when struck against one another, but loose and porous in appearance when examined on a broken surface. On such fractures it is seen to be made up of small irregular quartzose grains, which look as though fused together at their edges, but with vacant spaces as great as themselves left abundantly amongst them. Towards their exterior the columns are more compact, and upon the joint surfaces themselves the quartz grains are more or less fused together; indeed, we may often see here a continuous layer of vitreous quartz over a small area, where the outlines of the component grains are only indicated, if at all, by such a granular appearance as is seen in a compact quartzite. It is as though each prism had been half fused in a hot mould, so that the clean surfaces and sharp angles were most altered by the heat, and the interior was less so. There is no such special structure on the joint surfaces of the ordinary Quader Sandstein. Comparing the fractured surface of one of these columns with rock specimens from the ordinary Quader Sandstein, I cannot detect any very striking differences between them. The columnar rock is even of looser build, internally, than usual; but the whole column is harder and less easily crumbled than the unaltered rock, this being especially the case with the surface layer. A microscopic examination and comparison of prepared thin ~ sections of the two kinds of rock, the altered prismatic and the ordinary sandstone, does not yield us any special characteristics of distinction. Professor Bonney, who has kindly examined the slides, writes concerning the columns, that they “consist of angular to rather rounded quartz grains, with one or two which may be decomposed felspar, cemented by a rather abundant dark substance (quere if this be not in part discolouration from powder used in preparing the slide, as the texture is rather open). In the quartz many minute inclosures, almost always less than -001’, appearing when highly magnified of a pale purplish colour, and in form rather like irregular tubes. In one or two there was an appearance which might indicate a very minute bubble, but in most cases there was no sign of this. Very little difference between the two slides, except that the cementing substance in that from the column is paler, and the quartz grains look a little cracked.” We may next notice the well-marked layers in which the prisms are arranged. This is in no way connected with stratification lines of deposition, but is a superinduced joint-structure such as occurs not unfrequently in prismatic basalt masses, e.g. in the great basalt 440 Walter Keeping—On Columnar Sandstone. quarry above Forst, near Durkheim.’ It is the “Tabular” structure of Professor Bonney. In these altered prismatic Saxon sandstones this structure is unusually regular, dividing the rock into zones about 4 inches in thickness. According to A. von Gutbier, an irregular line of clay ironstone 4 to 5 inches thick, and next a zone of “reddish green steinmark,” intervened between the sandstone columns and the basalt. Next, to inquire into the mode of origin of these prisms and their associated structures. The production of columnar structure by contraction during cooling or drying is now very well understood ; being well illustrated by the structure of dry starch on the one hand, and in the artificial formation of columns in the sandstones of furnaces on the other. The evidence of the former presence of heat in close proximity with the Gorischstein prisms is obvious enough, for the outermost sandstone columns were almost in contact with the liquid lava mass. But whether the heat was also the immediate cause of the prism of the quartz grains, as above described, on the surfaces of the columns, is not quite so clear; though the fact of its special association with the prismatic structure must not be over- looked. There is no evident reason why the deposition of silica in the wet way should go on over the prismatic joints differently from that over the ordinary rock joints, except during that special period of cooling when the columnar joints were in course of formation. I am therefore disposed to refer this alteration of the superficial layer of the prisms to the later stages of the volcanic period, when such joints would have served for the passage of heated water or of steam to the surface. Note by the Rev. Professor Bonney on the origin of the curved arrangement of the prisms. The rock in order to break requires (1) that its temperature should be considerably elevated; (2) that this should be again gradually lowered. A surface of uniform temperature is a surface of uniform tension. 1B Now if A BC be a heated mass, losing heat prin- cipally from A B, a rock at surface, the surface of C uniform tension lies parallel to A B. Again, if DHF be a mass in contact with an igneous rock K at some depth, the main loss of heat will be laterally, and so the surface of uniform tenison be vertical and D the columns horizontal. ba At the top, then, the loss of heat will be mainly K F-—> _ from the top; deep down mainly laterally. Thus |= the surfaces of equal tension will descend in the , x mass radially, the lateral loss producing no effect i at first and vice versa. So that I take it just at first the columns should lie pretty nearly parallel with the basalt, 1 Quite a distinct thing from the bedding of successive lava flows. See Prof. T. G. Bonney, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxii. p. 146. GEOL.MAG.1879. DECADE II.VOL.V1I.PLATE XI. : C.L.Griesbach oel.et ith. West, New moar Co. imp. Sumatran Tertiary Shells & Corals. Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, etc., from Sumatra. 441 and at last become perpendicular ; of course the top layers will be formed long before the bottom.—T.G.B. In a paper on “Columnar, Fissile, and Spheroidal Structure,” read before the Geological Society (Q. J. G. S. vol. xxxii. p. 141), the Rev. Prof. Bonney has given a list of examples of columnar structure in non-igneous rocks. Amongst these the altered clay bed in Tideswell Dale! most nearly resembles our Gorischstein prismatic sandstones. But the Yorkshire clay prisms are from 1 to 6 inches thick and 8 to 9 feet long (Mello), and the columns themselves are curved, as is common in basalts, etc. In addition to the examples mentioned in the paper above referred to, Prof. Bonney now tells me of a columnar sandstone underlying basalt from Johnsdorf, near Zittau, Saxony; ironstone, columnar from burning, exhibiting bent, wavy and radiating columns, about ;/’ diameter, from South Wales; and columnar sandstone from furnaces in Wales, Staffordshire, and Russia—all of which may be seen in the Museum of University College, London. Another good example of this structure was observed by my friend Mr. A. F. Griffith, of Christ’s College, last year, near Clermont, Auvergne. It occurs in a pale marl under the old lava flow of Graveneine near its extremity, about three-quarters of a mile from Clermont on the Issoire road. Here a quarry has been opened so as to expose some 12 feet of the lava; beneath this is a zone of porcellanized material, irregularly jointed, and about two inches thick; and next below comes a layer of diminutive hardened columns 5 or 6 inches in thickness. The better prisms are about 4 inches long, and 4 inch across; but others are not more than 14 inches long. Beyond the limits of the lava, the prismoidal clay is seen to pass into a pale freshwater marl. Mr. Scrope? has described a similar case near St. Saturnin beneath the lava current of the Puy de la Vache. IlJ.—Furrurr Norges on A Courection oF Fosstn SHELLS, ETC., From Sumatra (opTarneD BY M. VeRBEEK, DIRECTOR OF THE GxotocicaL Survey or THe West Coast, Sumatra). Parr II. By Henry Woopwarp, LL.D., F.R.S., etc. ; of the British Museum. (PLATE XI.) MONG the Conchifera transmitted by M. Verbeek, is a specimen of Cyrena. ‘The shell is certainly from a very modern forma- tion, as it retains its translucency and traces of a pale buff colour externally. 19. Cyrena sinuosa, Deshayes. Pl. XI. Fig. 1. Mr. Edgar Smith, after comparing this specimen with recent Cyrene in the collection, observes, “The outline of this valve is 1 Described by the Rev. J. M. Mello, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxvi. p. 701, and Gzou. Mae. Vol. VII. p. 520. 2 Volcanos of Central France, p. 92. 3 Continued from the September Number, p. 393. 442 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, etc., from Sumatra. precisely like that of Cyrena sinuosa, and the fait shallow groove down the posterior side is likewise traceable. The hinge-teeth both in form and number also agree.” The following is Deshayes’ description of this species from the Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854, p. 18 :— “Shell ovato-rotundate, tumid, cordiform, solid, very inequilateral ; epidermis dark russet-colour, covered by slender transverse ridges ; anterior end short, rounded, subtruncated posteriorly; deeply grooved on the upper posterior side, grooves sinuous, decurrent ; umbones tumid and short, generally eroded; ligament narrow, partially con- cealed; valves white within, hinge thick; tridentate on either side; teeth oblique, median and posterior tooth in right valve bifid ; lateral teeth short; anterior tooth thick, conical ; apex acute.” The recent specimens in the British Museum were obtained from the river Paningbang. Java, and are much thicker than the fossil valve from Sumatra, and have their umbones more eroded. The thick rough dark olive-brown epidermis and prominent ligament, seen in the recent examples, are of course wanting in the fossil specimen. Measurement of right valve of fossil, 60 millimétres broad, height 55 mm. Locality :—Sumatra. (Subfossil ?). 20. Pectunculus, sp. (cast of). Pl. XI. Fig. 2. The casts of this species of Pectunculus exhibit a portion only of the interior shelly layer, and indicate a somewhat compressed and internally-ribbed shell, showing also the characteristic dentition of this genus. Dimensions :— Breadth 35 mm., height 37 mm. Formation :—Tertiary Clay-marls. Locality :—Island of Nias, Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 21. Venus? non-scripta, Sowerby. Pl. XI. Fig. 3. Trans. Geol. Soc., 1840, 2nd ser. vol. v. pl. xxv. fig. 8. D’Archiac and Haime, Descrip. Anim. Foss. du Groupe Num. de l’Inde, 1854, p. 246, pl. xvii. fig. 7, Ta. The specimens of this shell obtained by M. Verbeek appear to be identical with the above species described by Jas. de Carle Sowerby from Soomrow, Kutch, India, and also noticed by D’Archiac and Haime as being very common in the yellow sandy limestone of the Hala range in Scinde. The following is the description of this species, as given by Mr. Sowerby :— “Transversely oval, convex, smooth, concentrically undulated, ‘lunette elongated, pointed, concave, breaks nearer the anterior extremity, [and strongly recurved]. A smooth and thin shell, with little of the aspect of a Venus.” We agree with Mr. Sowerby in assigning this specimen to Venus with considerable doubt. Measurements :—Length 53 mm., depth 50 mm. Formation and Locality :—The same as the preceding. Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, ete., from Sumatra. 448 22. Perna, sp. Pl. XI. Fig. 4. Two fragments showing the characteristic hinge-line and nacreous interior. Formation and Locality :—The same as the preceding. 28. Pecten asper, Sowerby (non Lamarck). PI. XI. Figs. 5 and 6. 1847, Thesaurus Conch., vol. i. p. 50. Shell inequivalve, equilateral, ears equal, minutely serrately striated ; left valve flat, a little raised towards the umbones, rayed with eighteen rather flatly two-angled ribs; ribs and interstices con- centrically striated, dotted everywhere with pale red; right valve convex, rayed with nineteen rather smooth ribs ; ribs white, sparingly lineated with red; interstices red towards the margin. Dimensions of flat valve :—Breadth 33 mm., height 32 mm. Locality and formation :—The same as the foregoing species. 24, AsprRGitium sp., Lamarck. Pl. XI. Fig. 7. Shell with two equal minute ovate valves, mostly angled posteriorly, soldered into the lower wall of a long sheath; sheath at the upper part open, sometimes attenuated, with the edge simple, sometimes nearly straight, with the edge rather largely two to eight times fur- belowed, at the lower part club-shaped, closed by a perforated, generally tubularly, fringed disc. This shell is probably referable to the recent A. Javanum, sp. Brug., or A. sparsum, Sowerby, from Java. Formation and Locality ;—The same as the preceding. 25. ZOANTHARIA.— Acanthocyathus, sp. Pl. XI. Fig. 8. Corallum turbinate, compressed towards the base, and broadly attached ; calyx elliptical ; costee slightly prominent, extending to the base and minutely granulated: columella elongated and irregular ; principal septa 22-24 in number, their surfaces covered by minute styliform processes or synapticulee. This coral agrees closely with the specimens of the living Acan- thocyathus Grayt, in the British Museum, from the seas of Australia and Japan, but the fossil examples have not the prominent lateral shoots seen in that species. Formation :—From grey sandy-clay rich in Gasteropoda, Tertiary. Locality :—Island of Nias, Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 26. Montlivaltia, sp. Pl. XI. Figs. 9 and 10. Corallum subturbinate, slightly attached, epitheca moderately thick ; calyx subelliptical, fossa moderately deep, with about 50 septa, the majority of which reach the centre ; upper surface of septa imbricated. Fig. 9 a, b, appears to be only a more conical variety of the same species and its fractured state exposes the dissepiments connecting the septa (see Fig. 9 b). Formation :—Vertiary Clay-marls. Locality :—Island of Nias, Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 27. Fungia, sp. Pl. XI. Fig. 11 (under-side). A nearly flat discoidal form with minute projecting point of attachment, as seen in young examples of the common recent Fungia. Coste minute, numerous, extending from centre to circumference. 444 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. Septa excessively numerous, the longer ones alternating with the shorter ; septa or pali, furnished with numerous synapticule. Formation and Locality :—The same as the last-named species. EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI. Fic. 1. Cyrena sinuosa, Deshayes, subfossil, Sumatra. », 2. Pectunculus (cast of), Tertiary Clay-marl, Island of Nias, W. Coast of Sumatra. » 98. Venus 2 non-seripta, Sby., Island of Nias, W. Coast of Sumatra. » 4. Perna, sp. (fragment of hinge) 55 3 » 9. Pecten asper, Sby. (flat valve) a a » 6. ————., Sby. (convex valve) 5 Pe » t. Aspergillum (Javanum ?) 5 4 » 8. Acanthocyathus, sp., Tertiary, Grey Sandy Clay, Island of Nias, West Coast of Sumatra. » 9. Montlivaitia, sp., (a) side-view; (4) view of top. 0 , (a) side-view; (4) view of the interior of the calyx. Tertiary Clay Marl, Island of Nias, West Coast of Sumatra. », Ll. Fungia, sp. (view of under-side), loc. ibid. (Lo be continued in our next Number.) IV.—On tHe Cupcecone Diamonp Fretp, New Sovurn Watss.! By Norman Taytor, Hsq., of the late Geological Survey of Victoria. Communicated by R. Eruertpex, jun., F.G.S.; of the British Museum. The next appearance of the older lead is at the ‘“ Rocky-ridge,” where the river, after running northerly for three-quarters of a mile, along the strike of the metamorphic beds, turns abruptly to the west. This ridge is a basalt-capped hill on the north side of the river, running in a north-west direction; it is about a mile long, with a bold rocky escarpment on its west side, facing the Sandy or Cudgebeyong Creek. Some tunnels have been driven in, and shafts sunk on this hill, and tolerably rich deposits of gold were found, but never followed out. Only in the southern half of the hill have diamonds been found (all more or less spotted). The drift is remark- able for the number and size of the agates it contains. The northern half of “the ridge” is underlaid by another outlier of the before- mentioned doubtful purple conglomerate, into which some tunnels have been driven in the western escarpment. The basalt is merely a fringe here, resting against the flank of the conglomerate hill to the east. A few inches of drift rest upon this conglomerate, in which a small quantity of nuggetty gold was obtained; and from one to two inches thickness of lignite, or carbonaceous clay, is seen between it and the bottom of the basalt. The basalt is intersected by numerous veins of a mineral allied to kaolin. The purple con- _glomerate is similar in character to that near ‘the flat,” and contains, on some of the joint faces, small spherical crystalline aggregations of chalybite (carbonate of iron). At the extreme north end of “the ridge” are great quantities of ironstone and conglomerate, but, from their mode of occurrence, I should imagine them to be part of the Carboniferous series, which is largely developed further north. The first diamonds which found their way to Melbourne were obtained 1 Concluded from page 412. Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 445 from ‘the Rocky,” at Hill’s, or the diamond Claim, in the bend to the south-west in the centre of the hill. A short distance to the east of this claim is Ryan’s, from which as much as two ounces of gold to the load were obtained, as well as a few diamonds. Crossing the Cudgebeyong Creek, in the bed of which is a horizontally bedded mass of conglomerate (some part of the Carboniferous series, or possibly Mesozoic), we arrive at another basalt outlier. The hill itself is composed of slates, capped with purple conglomerate. A ring-like fringe of basalt surrounds it, leaving the top uncovered ; while between it and the basalt, Tertiary ferruginous cement and drift crop out on the flanks of the hill. The decomposed basalt, from shafts on the north side of the hill, is very full of kaolin. The metamorphic beds crop out again a short distance to the west of this hill. It is difficult to imagine the course taken by the old river from this point ; it could not have gone westerly, as the country consists of high schist ranges, intersected by numerous greenstone dykes, running as usual in the strike of the slate rocks. On the south-west flanks of the “‘ Rocky-ridge”’ the surface is covered with a wash of drift, which is continuous across the river (here running westward) to the “Horseshoe bend.” The late Professor Thomson suggested that the basalt, on arriving at the Cudgebeyong Creek, may have flowed or been backed up by this tributary for some distance. The old junction of this creek with the river was probably near the centre of the “ Rocky-ridge.” The ‘‘ Horseshoe bend,” on the south side of the river, is a semi- circular basalt-capped hill, having its concave side facing the river, and its convex one resting against the side of the purple con- glomerate hill, first mentioned as occurring to the north-west of the “'Two-mile-flat.” The basalt of this hill, like the others, is under- laid on its north or river side by older drift; the lead dips into the hill on its western side, but it was not rich either in gold or diamonds. A few diamonds were obtained in the shallow ground of the northern concavity, and the associated gems were larger there than anywhere on the whole course of the lead. A fine example of columnar basalt occurs in a shaft at the south-west horn of the hill. Between this hill and Hassall’s fence, on the river, the greenstone dyke, west of the “'Two-mile-flat,” which disappeared under the purple conglomerate-capped schist hill, again crops out, and crosses the river. Its course is now somewhat altered, both it, and the accompanying band of metamorphic rocks, being thrown a few chains to the west, probably by a fault. From the “Horseshoe bend,” in about half a mile south-westerly, we reach Hassall’s Hill, adjoining Mr. Hassall’s property. These hills are separated by a low schist range. “‘ Hassall’s Hill,” like the ‘‘ Horseshoe bend,” is nearly semi- circular, with the horns flattened inwards so as to form two parallel shoulders, and with its convexity towards the river,—it consists of basalt overlying older drift. ‘The south-west portion of this hill is lower than the north-eastern, the denudation having only left a thickness of about thirty feet of basalt, whilst at the highest part 446 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. of the hill there is from 80 to 90 feet. The drift underlies it in two distinct leads, from north to south, in the centre and west of the hill, but not on the east. The leads form a sort of elongated ellipse. The concavity of the hill faces south-west and the horns are nearly connected by the lower or more denuded portion of the flow. In the innermost portion of the concavity, which rises gradu- ally to the table-topped main mass, a shallow hole exhibits a fine friable thin-bedded greyish white sandstone, inclosing perfect, but minute, double hexagonal pyramids of quartz. This is evidently the top of a hill or island, round which the old river, and subsequent -lava-streams, have flowed. The denudation not having been so extensive here as on the upper portions of the lead, a greater width of basalt and increased thickness of the underlying drift is the result. In the easterly lead, where it curves round to the south horn, as much as one ounce of gold to the load was obtained ; but, from the length of time occupied in sinking the shafts (over five months), it was unprofitable. Some very long drives were put in, and a few diamonds were obtained, but the area was never specially worked for diamonds. The rock on the top of the hill consists of from thirty to forty feet of loose concretionary basalt, getting denser below, and resting on vertical columnar basalt. The whole of the upper stratum has been denuded away from the lower ground. On the south face of the central sandstone hill is a small shallow lead, which must be the edge of the older drift, resting against the sandstone island, and now exposed by denudation. A similar instance occurs again near the apex of the southern horn; where the basalt of the northern horn nearly joins that of the southern one, the ground is quite shallow (about 12 feet deep), but deepens westerly to 30 feet, and contains very large semi-angular blocks of quartz, and much ‘‘cement.” ‘The south side of the southern horn was worked, and yielded a few diamonds, but not much gold. The drift is full of large semi-angular blocks of quartz, and is a side wash, as the ground dips to the north. The quartz, from its character, is, in a great measure, derived from veins in, or in the neighbourhood of, greenstone. In the deepest parts of the leads the quartz boulders are all perfectly rounded. The richest diamond claim discovered was situated at about the centre of an imaginary line joining the two horns; it was owned by a working party of miners—Messrs. Cooney, Hennessy, Ward, and others. Their shaft. sunk to the depth of 51 feet, shows 27 feet of basalt, resting on brownish-yellow sand, and that again on alternating sandy, gravelly, and pebbly beds, mostly loose and friable, with - occasional thin layers of ferruginous “cement.” The whole of the drift below the basalt had to be very securely slabbed, as the fine sand runs like water. In their southern drive there are three distinct veins of very loose granitic quartz detritus, separating, and alternating with, the gem-bearing veins. These gradually cut out, going north, and the gem-wash becomes more solid. There is also a bed consisting entirely of loose and open quartz pebbles, super- ficially covered with a brownish-black greasy-looking coating of Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 447 oxide of manganese. In one of the drives they cut through what appears to have been a portion of a large tree, lying horizontally in the cement on the “bottom,’—the wood itself had entirely dis- appeared, and nothing but a hollow casing or shell of oxide of iron remained,—this was internally longitudinally striated, and was composed of several coats. On the inside were some peculiar metallic efflorescences presenting the appearance of small round black velvet buttons, composed of confusedly foliated plates of a substance, which, when rubbed, assumed the metallic appearance of graphite, and soiled the fingers. Fragments of drift wood had been found on the bottom; not silicified like that derived from the Carboniferous rocks. The gem-stones can be traced most thickly in slightly cemented (by silica) flesh-coloured veins. The total thick- ness of the drift is 24 feet, and the bottom dips westerly. On driving northwards the bottom rose and fell again, and the diamonds became scarce. Adjoining the above claim was another, belonging to Messrs. Scott and Allen, which was 54 feet deep. The ferruginous “cement” in this claim inclosed abundance of pleonaste, zircon, sapphire, and topaz, with small fragments of brown ferruginous wood, like that occurring in most of the Tertiary cements in Victoria. The ‘‘cement” forms but a very small proportion of the drifts, and occurs in irre- gular thin veins, sometimes fine- and at others coarse-grained. | Other shafts were sunk west and east of these rich claims. but un- successfully, as they did not appear to possess the few bottom feet which contained the diamonds. To the north of this, and on the river-side of the northern horn, another shaft yielded a very heavy drift, giving an average of one diamond and five pennyweights of gold to the load. The basalt increases in thickness to the west at Hassall’s fence, whilst the drift diminishes; a shaft there passing through 32 feet of basalt, and 15 feet of drift. Messrs. Cooney and party had, up to April, 1870, obtained over 1000 diamonds, and Scott’s party about 700. The lease of the former party had then been proved for a distance of 300 feet along their main drive (N. 35° W.) with a breadth of over 100 feet. A washing of 53 loads yielded 306 diamonds, weighing 744 carats (largest 1$ carats). They have washed from 1 to 15 diamonds to the load, but the average was about 5, with 38 dwts. of gold. A washing of from 12 to 15 loads of Scott’s gave at the rate of 8 diamonds and 3 dwts. of gold to the load. The small quantity of gold obtained is due to the fact of the diamonds not being on the bottom, while the gold is, and conse- quently, a thickness of as much as d and 6 feet of wash dirt had to be taken out, thus reducing the gold per-centage. The southern face of the northern horn is very shallow ground. The basalt runs westerly through Mr. Hassall’s fence and into his paddock, where it is concealed by alluvial soil, and nowhere crops out again. The diamond ground was supposed to run in that direc- tion, but, being private property, it had not then been prospected. Between this and the river,—which, after running a mile westerly from the ‘“‘ Rocky-ridge,” turns abruptly to the south, and keeps this 448 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. course for two miles,—we cross another greenstone dyke running in the same direction as those before mentioned, and crossing the river about midway in the bend to the south. There are some extensive alluvial flats between Mr. Hassall’s house and the ford, where the Wellington Road crosses, in which some good gold leads may pro- bably exist. Above this crossing place a rocky bar spans the river, consisting of a dark grey breccia, having a gneissose appearance and associated with flinty beds. About a mile along the road to the north of this, on Mr. Lowe’s property, and about 15 miles due west from Hassall’s Hill, is another small basaltic outlier, resting on drift; there are also several drift or “‘made” hills uncapped by the basalt. These had been formerly worked for gold. Below this there is no trace of basalt for seven or eight miles down the river, till a little below Laby’s Farm, at Uumby, where there is a very small outlier on the river bank, but whether the older drift underlies it or not, had not been proved. “Made” hills of drift, apparently the newer drift, skirt the river-banks on both sides to its junction with the Macquarie River, but there is no further trace of basalt on the Cudgegong River; although there are outlying remains down the valley of the Mac- quarie River of a former sheet of basalt, which had perhaps flowed down the valley of that river, and covered up the Tertiary drifts, which have been worked for gold, at a considerable elevation above the present river. The rocks down the river are similar in character to those above, but are less metamorphosed and more shaly, with interbedded brecciated conglomerates. Syenitic granite crops out occasionally, and quartz-reefs are very numerous. About a mile to the north of the northern end of the “ Rocky ridge” there has been a small “rush” (Cunningham’s) to a gully and “made” ridge under the schist ranges forming the eastern watershed to the Sandy or Cudgebeyong Creek. A nugget weighing 86 ounces was found there, but no diamonds. The sinking varies from 12 to 20 feet, very little quartz occurs in the wash dirt, and what there is is angular ; but magnesite occurs in considerable quanti- ties, both massive in large lumps, and as peculiar curved cylindrical concretions. The ranges at the creek head are everywhere inter- sected by small quartz veins. This, then, being the history, at the time of my residence there, of the diamond-bearing localities, I will next enumerate the various drifts and the materials of which they are composed. There are, on the Cudgegong, at least six drifts of different ages, the oldest of which the late Rev. W. B. Clarke took to be as young as Pleistocene. I differed from his view, and placed them temporarily with Older Pliocene, following my Victorian experiences, and later, in working out the discovery, at the ‘“‘ Welcome rush” near Stawell, Victoria, of a bed of marine littoral fossils overlying a gold drift, I came to the conclusion (see Progress Report of the Geological Survey of Victoria, No. 8, p. 264) that these fossils were probably of Upper Miocene or Lower Pliocene age, and the gold drift under them much older. I am now of opinion, after reading the report of my friend Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 449 and late colleague, Mr. C.S8. Wilkinson (Mines and Mineral Statistics of New South Wales, 1875, p. 77, et seq.), on the Tin-mines of New South Wales, that the older diamond drifts must be of the same age as the older Tin “leads” of Borah Creek, which also contain diamonds.? In ascending order, commencing with the oldest, they would pro- bably occur as follows :— 1. Urprr Miocene, oe Older Drift, possibly fluvio-marine, underlying basalt, Lower Puiocenz. § and containing gold, tin, and gems ~--no fossils to prove age. This drift may again be sub-divided into two—one containing semi-angular quartz (a reef wash), and the other rounded boulders.” Lapse of time, during which were formed— 2. Minpite Priocene.—The Gulgong deep leads with plant-remains, the latter described by Baron von Mueller. These leads perhaps drain into an old lake-basin at the head of Reedy Creek. . Basaltic overflow, filling lake and flowing down the Cudgegong Valley. . Wash of conglomerate pebbles, etc., over the surface of the basalt. Urrrer Puriocene.—Newer Drift, fluviatile, and derived from all the above during the cutting out of a new river channel. To this or the next division may belong the “leads,” higher up the river, containing fossil bones at the Pipeclay Diggings, and cinnabar near the village of Cudgegong.? 6. Puerstocenr.—The older river channels, now silted up, and below the level of the present river-bed. 7. Recent.—The present river-bed. With regard to these older drifts, it must be borne in mind that they vary much in position; they are below the river-bed at the Reedy Creek, and much above it at the Two-mile-flat, the present river falling at a greater rate than the old river. The older diamond-bearing drift, underlying the basalt, is a coarse and heavy deposit,—some boulders in it weighing several hundred weights,—for the most part loose, but portions of it united into a compact conglomerate. It varies greatly in thickness, from a few inches to 80 feet, according to the irregularities, in some cases, of its own upper surface, which is not uniformly level; and in other cases, due to the old river-bed. Huge blocks of hard slate, sand- stone, quartz, greenstone, and felspathic rock, the two latter often decomposed into masses of clay, still retaining the original shape of the boulders, lie at the base of the drift in many parts. The following are the contents of this drift, which is, however, very variable in different localities: large and small boulders and pebbles of quartz, generally coloured a reddish-yellow or brown externally by oxide of iron; sand of various degrees of fineness ; pebbles and sand cemented by oxides of iron and manganese, or by both together, the iron coating the quartz in concentric rings, and Ori co 1 These are considered by Mr. Wilkinson to be of Miocene age.—R. E., jun. 2 At the time of the formation of the older drift, the Carboniferous rocks to the east and south-east may have been above the reach of marine action, and so escaped the denudation; thus accounting for the absence of any traces of them in the drift. The denudation of the Carboniferous rocks may have commenced after the basaltic outbursts, and during the cutting out of the new river valley. 3 At the Cudgegong cinnabar mine, boulders of coal and sandstone occur in the drifts, with large sapphires and zircons, but no diamonds or topazes, nor did I find ruby, though it is stated to occur there. DECADE II.— VOL. VI.—NO. X. 29 ‘yuadoy “4 ‘aUs00}Sl9[q ‘9 ‘oUE00TTG 1oddQ *¢ ‘sorqqod oyexoWLO[SUOD Jo YSeAA “FP *MOPIOAO O]eSLg “gE “OUODOL[Y OPP *G “OUS00T_ AAO 10 oUdd0IWW IAddQ “1 ULLINIIG “g “g ‘OIOZOSOTL * WW “OVIUBL 4) aT oe me y- F $4 ee Mig, BEALESEs if y XY “LVTId-GTIW-OMT, UVEN NOIWAG HOLENG °% ‘SI Ve Bg ey ee @ eee ee Sea We oe _—————S — % ——— ACS iy eee Pe a ae “MAMA AGAAY LV NOWOGG HOLGHG “T ‘DIT Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 451 the manganese in dendritic markings, or as if smoked, and soiling the fingers when rubbed; a white siliceous cement, sometimes coloured apple-green by silicate of iron (probably derived from the veins of green clay, mentioned before as occurring in the joints of the basalt) ;! quartzite; white, grey, and black flints and slates, the latter showing oblique lamination, and reticulated with veins of white quartz, and passing into a breccia; a greenish silico-felspathic rock or felstone, weathering yellowish-white to a depth of an inch or more, and ringing, when struck, with a metallic sound, and generally sculptured into curious forms ; hard altered siliceous sand- stone; schorl rock (a quartzite with nests of schorl); a peculiar hard white stratified rock, with flattened annular concretions, having depressed centres, very numerous on the bedding planes; black or smoky quartz, sometimes inclosing felspar ; orthoclase in waterworn erystals; double hexagonal pyramids of quartz, occasionally rounded ; bluish opaline quartz in pieces about the size of a pea, showing, when wetted, a yellow ray; amethystine quartz; silicified wood and wood opal ; jasper (occurring also in the form of beans, since called by the Bingera miners “morlops”), which the miners suppose to be an unerring indication of the presence of the diamond, for what reason they could not themselves explain; agates, generally of inferior quality and colour; carnelian; chalcedony; tourmaline in rounded crystals; common corundum or adamantine spar, in flattish pieces showing distinct cleavage planes; black corundum; blue, yellow, and green sapphire, occasionally double-coloured, in flat plates and rounded crystals; olivine (?) ; white and brown zircons in rounded crystals and as a fine sparkling heavy sand; large quantities of brown and greenish-black rounded pieces of pleonaste; thin lenticular plates of pink and violet ruby; white, yellow, and pale - blue crystallized and rounded topaz, generally of a larger size than any of the other gems, and showing distinct cleavage planes ; beryl (2) ; a new variety of corundum in rounded opaque grey six-sided prisms, tapering towards one end; brookite in flat plates ; titanic iron, and probably chromite; magnetic iron, sometimes in quantity; and lastly a jet-black glistening vesicular variety of pleonaste, in flattish conchoidal grains, exceedingly hard, and cutting glass nearly as well as the diamond, the vesicles being filled with a magnesian clay. Wood tin occurs also rarely, and fragments of brown ferruginous wood have been detected in the cement. The newer drift, derived from the above, is composed of the same contents as the older drift, with the addition of boulders of green- stone and basalt. Semi-angular blocks of the metamorphic rocks occur, as also the white kaolinic clay from which the magnesite already mentioned is produced. Osmiridium has been found in minute silvery scales after amalgamating the gold. A noticeable feature in this drift is the quantity of small pebbles of flesh-coloured quartz, derived, I believe, from the Carboniferous conglomerates. 1 The pebbles from these cements have sometimes a very peculiar resinous glaze on their surfaces, which is certainly not due to friction, as the cavities are equally glazed as the exposed surfaces. It is probably siliceous. 452 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. In the drift also may occasionally, though rarely, be found some Carboniferous conglomerate pebbles. Rounded pebbles of coral (Favosites Gothlandica) are not uncommon; shales with Glossopteris, and various Upper Silurian, or Devonian fossils (Orthis, Spirifer, and Crinoidal stems), as before mentioned, together with silicified wood, have been observed in this drift in the so-called “ floating reef.” ‘The newest drifts (upper and lower), comprising the present river-bed, and the older and deeper channels, contain pebbles, boulders, and shingle of the neighbouring sandstones, slates, cal- careous grits, red flinty porphyries, felstone, Carboniferous con- glomerates, quartz of all kinds, greenstone, and silicified wood. A very noticeable feature in these drifts is the prevalence of blackish quartz pebbles and grains, inclosing crystalline felspar, which are evidently derived from the granite of Aaron’s Pass, on the Mudgee Road, south of the village of Cudgegong. The basalt, which might have been expected to be present, must, from its easy decomposition, have been entirely washed away, and is nowhere seen except in the immediate neighbourhood of basalt escarpments: Garnets, in minute brown rhombic dodecahedrons, with angular replacements, occur, and also cubes of oxide of iron (pseudomorphs after iron pyrites), locally termed ‘“ Devil’s dice.” Many diamonds were obtained from the river-bed; but in every case, only where the older drift has been discharged into the river by the miners during gold-washing operations. The following are descriptions of the gems and other minerals, found in the diamond drifts, with the analyses of some of them by the late Professor Thomson. Diamond.—The diamond itself is distributed through the older ~ drift very sparingly and irregularly, and does. not appear to be confined to any particular level in the drift deposit, though the lower five or six feet are generally taken out by the miners, in consequence of the certainty of finding gold in that portion. The fact of the very frequent occurrence of diamonds on the waste heaps round the mouths of the old shafts sunk for gold, is enough to suggest that the diamond may occur in the higher portions of the deposit, since the bottom layers only have been carted to the river for gold-washing. One diamond, in situ, occurred three feet from the bottom, imbedded in a mass of loosely cemented quartz pebbles the size of peas. As regards the weight of the diamonds, the follow- ing parcels afford a fair average :— 106 diamonds weighed 742 carats, the largest 12 carats. 81 oy) 19 19 bP) 29 iG 9 110 9 » 263 » 16 ” bP) 6 29 700 99 bP} 1515 9 giving an average of 0-23 carats each, or nearly one carat grain. The largest gem discovered was a colourless perfect octahedron, weighing 53 carats; it was found in the river, between the “Two- mile-flat”? and the “ Rocky ridge,” at a spot where the older drift had been discharged in gold-washing. Another large stone, weigh- ing 34 carats, was found, by a boy, lying on the sandy bed of a dry Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 453 creek, running down the centre of the “‘ Two-mile-flat.” During the first five months of systematic washing, over 2,500 diamonds were discovered, and several thousands more were afterwards obtained ; but, as the collectors were generally rather reticent as to their finds, the exact numbers could not be ascertained. The gems were mostly pellucid and colourless; many have a straw-yellow tint, and tints of brown, light or dark bottle-green and black are more rarely met with. One or two opaque black ones have been found, and another of a dark green colour, with the external appearance of having been polished with black lead. Black specks within the crystals were not uncommon. The specific gravity, deduced from a number of crystals, is 3:44. They all show a well-defined crystalline form, though irregularities of development are frequent. It is very rare to meet with fractured stones, and these only on cleavage planes; water-worn stones I never saw from any direct treatment of the undisturbed older drift. Some shapeless diamonds occur, but, if water-worn, the process has not impaired their lustre. They are never found coated superficially with any foreign matter. When dull or lustreless, an examination proved it to be caused, not by any water-wearing or incrustation, but by multitudes of minute angles and edges of structural planes, which gave a frosted appearance to the crystal. The forms met with were the octahedron, twin-octa- hedron, dodecahedron, tris-octahedron, and hexakis-octahedron ; the two latter are often hemihedral, with curved faces, and are some- times developed into flat triangular twins. One specimen of the deltoid dodecahedron or hemihedral triakis-octahedron was found. The above-named curious triangular twin crystals are, according to the late Professor Thomson, derivable from the tris-octahedron. If we regard the latter as an octahedron with a low triangular pyramid on each of its faces, and out of the eight pyramids we imagine that only two, corresponding to opposite and parallel octa- hedral faces, are developed, on applying these two pyramids together, they would not form a closed figure, but, by twisting one 180° round, we form the triangular twin crystal; or, more simply, if we inspect a twin-octahedron, there are but two of the original triangular faces entire; these are opposite and parallel, and, by replacing these two faces by the corresponding planes of the tris- octahedron, the rest of the faces of the twin-octahedron may be obliterated, and the triangular crystal will result. The structural lamin are very distinct in some crystals, and many of the octa- hedrons show these successive layers of growth in a very marked and beautiful manner. A few show indented angles, and sunk triangular depressions on their faces, having the apices of the triangles pointing to the centres of the sides of the triangles in the main crystal. Gold.—Occurs fine, scaly, and occasionally inclosed in quartz, The quantity is variable, the average being about three pennyweights | to the load of “ wash dirt.” Osmiridium.—In minute silvery scales after amalgamation and retorting—only from the newer drift. 454 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. Metallic iron. — Hackly fragments of slightly rusted metal, evidently derived from the tools used. Analysis failed to detect any trace of nickel. Wood tin.—Rare, and in small pieces. Titanic acid.—Probably brookite, in flat red transparent or red- dish-white translucent plates, with striated surfaces, but too worn to distinguish the crystalline form. The plates vary in thickness up to one-twelfth of an inch, and are often one-fourth of an inch across ; hardness, 6; specific gravity, 4:13; composition found by analysis to be pure titanic acid, with only a minute trace of iron. Black magnetic tron sand.—Common. Black titaniferous iron sand.—Common. Tourmaline-schorl.—Rolled black prisms half an inch long are common ; small nests of schorl in quartz pebbles rare. Garnet.—In minute brown icositetrahedrons, rare and only occur- ring in the recent river drifts. Black vesicular pleonaste-— Occurs in small grains from one- twentieth to one-fourth of an inch in diameter, and is very abundant. Tt has a dull black surface, but shows a brilliant fracture. Some pieces are coated bluish grey or rusty brown; but the interior is the same in all, the external differences seeming to be the result of decomposition. It never occurs in crystals, nor shows any traces of faces, and has no cleavage; its fracture is conchoidal and jet black, with a strong vitreous lustre; hardness 8; streak grey ; composition found by analysis :— Silica (and undecomposed)... ... 1... 2. 2.75 dA aMITIAA A gays. eves) Aem Euecortebead bolt sesey-seemeO 4920 Chromictoxideyiug. bye asus ts tie scl -ueeriin--oe Oo I ENaneS ey. Wuahen ego Bose tyadee das imneada meee Woody Aes IBGTEROUS OAK.) “4o5", bag. a0’ 000) G00 loca cog | APD) 98°10 Oxygen ratio 3:2: 1; Specific gravity 3-77. The mineral is amorphous and vesicular. The latter character is remarkable, and the grains do not all show it in the same degree. One variety (the least abundant) with a lustrous surface shows it best, the grains resembling a perfect cinder when seen through a lens. Several pounds weight of this mineral were obtained from each load of gravel washed, more especially from the newer drift. Topaz.—ln waterworn fragments, and sometimes in imperfect crystals, with terminal planes; transparent and usually white, rarely yellow or light blue. This is the largest of the associated minerals, varying in size up to half an inch in diameter. Zircon.—In small rolled pieces, and as a fine heavy sparkling sand in abundance ; transparent, brown, very pale red, or colourless. They rarely exceed one-fourth of an inch, and are mostly smaller; but are found higher up the river, and above the diamond fields, in pieces of much larger size and richer in colour. Corundum.— Var. (a). Sapphire.—Transparent, blue, green, yellowish, and particoloured ; too small and of bad colour to be of value. (2). Adamantine spar.—Hair-brown and black with chatoyant lustre. Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 455 (c). Barklyite.—An opaque magenta-coloured variety first discovered in Victoria and named after Sir Henry Barkly. All the above occur in small fragments (larger higher up the river) in great abundance. (2). A variety, locally termed ‘‘mouse dung,” which it much resembles, is characteristic of the locality. It occurs in six-sided prisms, slightly barrel-shaped or tapering, with flat end faces; one-fourth of an inch long, and one-twentieth of an inch in diameter; bluish white, with a few dark blue spots, opaque; hardness 9; specific gravity 3-59; composition found by analysis :— sAUMIN AY eM Mlecenhreton,. loca Piaee Necet bees! vues 1 OOSOT INGA Oa) ce Gog /ac6 ceo sce Migs) Gon ce RL IDI og eda 885 oad 0G co) 35a) 355) Sse “45 101-27 (e). Ruby.—A transparent pink variety, found sparingly in flat grains one-tenth of an inch in diameter; its shade often passes into violet and blue; hardness 9; specific gravity 3-96 ; composition found by analysis :— Alumina SON MRCP BR IeEA) | COG BL. GeaARt gat eeS LA ee OO HELriCROXICE Ande MC Etis: 5, [ecugiicccy se oseh ap lsou, INIGYBINESE. sos s00 G06 800 | ae 000-000 008 63 GTMCNT ee eerste esees sited Wy Se, eaten pees: 52 100°44 (f). A few large rolled oval pebbles of corundum have also been noticed, exceeding half an inch, of a mottled dirty white and pink colour, per- fectly opaque. From their low and variable specific gravity (3°21 to 3°44 and upwards) they appear to be impure massive forms of the mineral, and possess the requisite hardness. They look like jasper pebbles, and are probably what are termed ‘‘ morlops” by the Bingera miners. Their specific gravity accounts for their association with the diamonds in washing off. Quartz.—Opaque double hexagonal pyramids, one-eighth to one-fifth of an inch in diameter, are very common. Quartz pebbles occur of all sizes. The varieties comprise agate of poor quality, carnelian, jasper, rock crystal, smoky quartz, amethystine quartz (rare), and a bluish opaline variety. Fragments of grey quartz, imbedding felspar, derived from the granite of Aaron’s Pass, 40 miles up the river, are common. A geode of chalcedony, haying the cavity filled with quartz crystallized in rhombs, was also found. Having thus fully described the geology of this diamond field, and seeing that the diamond occurs in an old river drift, we are led to inquire whether the diamond has been drifted, like the other minerals with which it is associated, and, if so, which of the forma- tions—Ieneous (granite, greenstone, basalt, etc.) or Sedimentary (Upper Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous or Mesozoic)—has afforded it? or, has the diamond grown in the older drift in which it is now found ? Diamonds were first reported by the late Rev. W. B. Clarke (Southern Gold-fields of New South Wales, page 272) from the Macquarie River in 1860. On this river, at Suttor’s Bar, they were worked contemporaneously with the Cudgegong, but, owing to heavy floods, little could be done. The Bingera field was reported on by Professor Liversidge in 1873 (Mines and Mineral Statistics of New South Wales, 1875, p. 104).!. The Borah Creek (a tributary of 1 See also, Liversidge, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1875, vol. xxxi. pp. 489-492.— R. E., jun. 456 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. ‘ the Gwydir River, New England District, New South Wales) tin and diamond mines were reported on by my late colleague, Mr. C. S. Wilkinson (Mines, etc., New South Wales, 1875, p. 79); and at Bald Hill, near Hill End, Lambaroora, diamonds were also reported on by Prof. Liversidge (Mines, etc., New South Wales, 1875, p. 115), where some tolerably large ones were found—one slightly over three carats (9°6 graims Troy), and another one and a half carats (4:5 grains Troy). The late Professor Thomson was shown some diamonds which were said to have been obtained in the sands at the mouth of the Clarence River; and the writer was shown one from a drift underlying basalt near Trunkey Creek, Tuena, Aber- crombie River. In all these instances, with the exception of Borah Creek, the surrounding country is entirely Paleeozoic, intersected, however, by dykes and masses of various igneous rocks. The fact of the diamonds exhibiting structural or growth planes is, I think, sufficient to enable us to disregard the igneous rocks for their origin, unless some of these rocks (the granites and green- stones) are metamorphic. Wohler asserted that the diamond could not have been formed at a high temperature, least of all by fusion. Brewster thought that the old conjecture, that diamonds were of vegetable origin, was confirmed by their optical properties, and analogy to amber. The occurrence of tin with the diamond at Borah Creek, New South Wales, and at Beechworth, Victoria, both in granitic areas, indicates granite as their possible source; but tin always occurs with diamond, in small quantity, in the other districts mentioned, which are more numerous, and all in older sedimentary rock areas. In Mines and Mineral Statistics of New South Wales, 1875, p. 79, Mr. Wilkinson states that the Borah Creek tin and diamonds occur in a newer drift, a wash from the older Miocene drift underlying the basalt, and that the entire watershed of the country is granitic. He also notices the occurrence of small black pebbles of jasper, which seem to him to indicate that the rock producing the diamond may have been entirely denuded away. On this field the diamonds average in weight about one carat grain each (the largest 5:5 carat grains), and their facets and edges are never waterworn or abraded. On page 88, speaking of diamonds and tin, Mr. Wilkinson states, “There seems but little doubt that they have been derived from the older Tertiary gravels; and this is an agreement with the observa- tions of the late Professor Thomson and Mr. Norman Taylor on the Cudgegong diamond field.” Mr. Wilkinson seems partly to have subscribed to the writer’s view that the older drift is the matrix of the diamond. In Captain Burton’s “ Highlands of Brazil,” vol. ii. page 187, he says, ‘“‘For reasons that will presently appear, it (the diamond) is evidently younger at times than the formation of gold, and it is probably still forming, and with capacity for growth.” The writer failed, however, to notice the reasons that were to appear. Professor Liversidge remarks that the Bingera diamond field is surrounded by rocks of Devonian or Carboniferous age, but that he Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 457 had no fossil evidence. The diamond drift rests on argillaceous shales with interbedded conglomerates. The miners regard these conglomerates as being diamond bearing, but without any proof. He states also that he had not detected any fractured diamonds.' If the diamond is derived from the Carboniferous rocks, why is it not found in the present river-bed (except where tailings have been washed into it) which abounds in Carboniferous detritus; more than one-half of the pebbles and boulders consisting of Carboniferous conglomerates? Why also is it totally absent, although carefully looked for, in close proximity to the Carboniferous rocks, as at Cudgegong, and immediately under their escarpments at Tallawang, and in all the streams of the upper sources of the river? It is rare to find a trace of the Carboniferous rocks in the older drift, and only occasionally in the newer, whilst they are common in the most recent river drifts. The sand in the newer drifts is probably the remains of the Hawkesbury sandstones, which overlie the Carbon- iferous rocks, and must at one time have had a far wider extension. The late Rev. W. B. Clarke observed that the occurrence of grains of graphite in the Hawkesbury rocks looks like an approach towards the diamond; and, in a letter to the writer, he says that the evidence of fossil wood must be rejected, as it is found in various formations of all ages. If the gem-stones in the older drift (underlying basalt) were derived from basalt, this basalt must have been older than that now covering the drift, and there is no trace of such older basalt, if we except that capping Mount Bocoble, west of Cudgegong, which is of a totally different character to the Cudgegong flow, and at nearly 1000 feet higher elevation. We are then driven to the greenstones and granites for the origin of the gems, and here we are completely at fault. The Broombee and Cudgegong limestones (Devonian) may have supplied the rubies, as they do not occur above the latter place, nor are topaz or diamond found there. The gems associated with diamonds are very common in most of the river drifts of Victoria and New South Wales, but in one instance only in the former colony, at Beechworth, have diamonds been found. And, if these gems are derived from igneous or metamorphic rocks, and their presence is an indication of the diamond, how is it they are associated in one place and not in another, the surrounding cir- cumstances being apparently the same ? Why is the corundum family—all the members of which, or nearly all, are as hard as the diamond, and harder than all other rocks which would be at all likely to grind down their angles—rounded and fractured, and not the diamond, which, although the hardest mineral known, is brittle and easily fractured on its cleavage planes ? 1 The cinnabar erroneously quoted by Professor Liversidge (from the article by the late Professor and the writer) as occurring at the Mudgee diamond field, does not do so. It is found in an old river drift near the village of Cudgegong, over 40 miles higher up the river, and has no connexion whatever with the diamond drifts. 458 Norman Taylor—The Cudgegong Diamond- Field. Why are diamonds, if drifted, so variable in size, being often larger down the river than nearer their supposed source ? Why are diamonds, nearly always, more or less contorted from the true octahedron, forming oblique octahedrons ? Why are the diamonds, when they occur in the largest quantity, both larger and purer than when in small quantity ? Why are diamonds locally variable in aspect, one spot turning out straw-yellow coloured gems, another with internal black spots, and another perfectly pure ? Any answer to the above queries must of necessity lead to the conclusion that the diamonds have been formed in situ in the older drift. The writer, for his own part, believes that the so-called asso- ciation of other gems with the diamond is purely accidental, that these gems occur at the bottom of the older drift, with the gold; the diamonds occurring at irregular depths above it, and their associa- tion being merely due to the miners taking out some six feet or more of the drift, and thereby bringing them together in the process of washing. All the extracts brought forward by the late Rev. W. B. Clarke, in his Presidential Address to the Royal Society of New South Wales, in May, 1870,! only prove that a large amount of unreliable and un- reconcilable data have been collected, which add little or nothing to our knowledge of the true matrix of the diamond; and, as to how the diamond has been formed, taking this gem as an illustration of the purest form of the element carbon, as little is known or likely to be, as there is of any of the other-elementary substances. Until chemistry throws some light upon the possible modes of formation of the diamond in nature, and demonstrates the necessity of its occurrence in metamorphic rocks, it is perhaps as easy to suppose that the gem may originate in a late Tertiary drift deposit, as in the most ancient strata of a somewhat similar origin. Quartzites and quartzose conglomerates occur in Australian Tertiary deposits having as highly metamorphosed an aspect as those in the Silurian rocks. If the diamonds have been formed in the older drift, it will account for their absence in the present river-bed ; on the other hand, if the diamond has been drifted from its original matrix, either it might be expected to occur in the river, where it has never yet been detected, or, its matrix has been entirely denuded away in older Pliocene or earlier times. Large areas of Carboniferous and older strata, as well as extensive tracts of Tertiary basalt, have disappeared from the river basin; and some persons have therefore proposed to assign the original position of the diamond to local and limited deposits in the demolished Palzeozoic rocks. 1 See Trans. R. Soc. N. 8. Wales for 1870, pp. 1—48, ‘‘ On the Discovery of the Diamond in N. S. Wales ;” and Ibid. for 1872, pp. 1—66, “‘ On the Natural History of the Diamond.” —R. E., jun. J. P. Lesley— Origin of Pipe Ore. 459 V.—Oricin or Pipr Ore. By J. P. Lestxy, of Philadelphia. HE following account of the discovery of an underground lake in Algeria went the rounds of the newspapers in July, 1879. The Tlemcen Courier (Algeria) describes a wonderful discovery recently made at the picturesque cascades of that place. Some miners had blasted an enormous rock near the cascades, and, on removal of the débris, found it had covered a large opening into a cave, the floor of which was covered with water. Constructing a rude raft, and providing themselves with candles, the workmen sailed along this underground river, which, at a distance of 60 métres, was found to emerge into a large lake of limpid water. The roof of the cavern was very high, and covered with stalactites, the brilliant colours of which sparkled under the light of the candles. Continuing their course, the workmen had, at certain places, to navigate their craft between the stalactites, which, meeting stalagmites from the bed of the lake, formed enormous columns, which looked as if they had been made expressly to sustain the enormous arches. They thus reached the extremity of the lake, where they noticed a large channel extending toward the south, into which water quietly made its way. This is supposed to be a wide fissure which has baffled exploration hitherto at Sebdon, and which connects the cascades with that locality, and thus with the mysterious sources of the Tafna. It is possible that here they have found an immense natural basin, supplied by powerful sources, and sending a part of its waters towards the lake, while the rest goes to Sebdon. The workmen estimated the distance underground traversed by them at three kilométres, and the breadth of the lake at two. They brought out with them a quantity of fish, which swarmed round the raft, and which were found to be blind. Whatever exaggerations may have been indulged in by the reporter of the discovery described above, I think that it is worthy of the thoughtful attention of geologists, for several reasons :— 1. It offers a rational solution of the problem how the roofs of wide caverns in limestone regions have been, and still are, supported. 2. It supports the views which I have repeatedly published re- specting the prime agent for determining the topography of the earth’s surface, viz. the dissolution of the limestone formations, the letting down of the over-rocks, and the gradual withdrawal of the outcrops from each other on opposite sides of anticlinals; and in steps determined by the limestone formations. 3. It clears up the chief obstacle to a rational theory of the genesis of our pipe-ore deposits; and this is why I invite to it the attention of my fellow-geologists in Great Britain, hoping to get from them expressions of assent or dissent. In the larger limonite mines of Pennsylvania, botryoidal ore masses occur, the origin of which has never been explained. The older mines are now open quarries, hundreds of yards long and wide, and from 50 to 150 feet deep; of irregular shapes; surrounded by walls of massive limestone; and floored with mud and standing water. They are vast pots in the Lower Silurian or Siluro- Cambrian Magnesian Limestone formation, No. II. of our old survey, the Calciferous and Chazy formations of the New York and Canada reports. Many of them have been excavated to their beds; all the iron ore removed, and the mine abandoned. Others still hold unknown quantities of limonite beneath the mud floor, as shown by trial bore-holes. The clay which filled (and partly still fills) such a mine is 460 Notices of Memoirs—-Dr. E. von Mojsisovics— in some cases nothing but the decomposed limestone rock in place, or rather the intercalated impure limestone layers reduced to clay. In other cases the clay has been brought from the neighbourhood into the pot with, or without, lignite. In all cases it is rudely stratified; some of the layers being full of shot ore and ball ore; others being nearly pure white, yellow, or black clay. Usually the quantity of ore increases with the depth; solid floors of ore occur; or the bottom of the pot is filled with solid ore. Up through this ore-bearing clay-mass rise steeples of pipe ore, the tops of which are struck by the miners at various distances beneath the sod. Some of them projected from the forest-covered soil, as humps of pipe-ore, and led to the discovery of the mine; others were not encountered until the quarry floor had been sunk 10, 20, or 50 feet. But in all cases the pipe-ore mass is a steeple, enlarging downwards with ever-broadening base, and standing finally on the limestone foundation at the bottom of the clay. Often- times several steeples unite their bases, like a clump of trees. Some of them have been 100 feet high, and proportionately wide at the base. The common idea has been that they are concretionary masses, derived from the moist iron-bearing clays. I have long held that all these limonite deposits have been made in caverns. I now suggest that the broader caverns had their roofs supported (for a time) by masses of stalactite (now removed by erosion) and stalagmite; and that the stalagmite piers have been metasomatized into pipe ore, and remain standing in the surrounding clay. 1008, CLINTON-sTREET, PHILADELPHIA, July 29, 1878. IN@ eke SS) Ora 7 Vier @ ieee = EAD at AMMONITES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AND JuvAviIAN Trias. By Dr. Ep. von Mogsisovics. [ Proceed. Imper. Geol. Instit. Vienna, April 1, 1879. ] (Communicated by Count Marscuatt, F.C.G.8., etc., etc.) GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. YHE forms united in one genus must agree in their least variable characters (disposition and form of the lobes, form and structure of the shell, length of the body-chamber, and form of the margin of the aperture). In continuous genetic series, the limits between the primary genus and those descending (?) from it must necessarily be traced somewhat arbitrarily. Forms or groups of forms, of sporadic occurrence, not possessing indubitable characters of known genera, are generally best considered as constituting independent genera. Isolated forms. notably aberrant in one direction from the generic type, are provisionally ranked among the primary genera. ARCESTID A. J The genera Cladiscites, Joannites, and Sphingites being eliminated, Ammonites of the Mediterranean and Juvavian Trias. 461 the genus Arcestes, Suess, comprises the groups of Hatra-labiat?, Sub-labiati, Bi-carinati, Coloni, Intus-labiati, Galeati, and Sub- umbilicati; all of them characterized by more or less modified body-chambers of the full-grown individuals and by a contraction of the umbilicus, frequently occluded by a callosity. Sphingites, Mojs.—This genus coraprises the group of Co-angustati, characterized by a widely open umbilicus, prominent ridges, and strictures in the shell of the whorls, including the inhabited chamber, and coarse wrinkled striations. Cladiscites, Mojs.—The Tornati and Multilobati bear a number of characters different from those of the typical Arcestes. The constantly closed whorls, of nearly quadran- gular transverse section, show neither internal nor external ridges and keep their form even in the last whorl of full-grown individuals. Their lobes offer a peculiar structure. The projection of the pre- ceding whorl coincides with the first auxiliary lobe, not, as in all other Arcestide, with the second lateral lobe. This is an approxi- mation to the distribution of the lobes of the Pinacoceratideg, and becomes still more conspicuous in Cladiscites sub-tornatus by the deepening of the second lateral lobe. Prof. Quenstedt was the first who noticed the peculiar structure of the anti-siphonal lobe with its two many-jointed branches. Joannites, Mojs.—Like the Tornati, the Cymbiformes are to be generi- cally separated, as they agree in every respect with Arcestes except in the form of their lobes, which is the same as in the genus Cladiscites. They are characterized by their arcuate lobe-line. Didymites, Mojs. Lobites, Mojs.= Clydonites, Laube,= Coroceras, Hyatt. AMALTHEIDH. Piychites, Mojs. Amaltheus, Montf.—Triassic forms, standing next to the group of Fissi-lobati. The Amalthei comprise a number of evidently distinct groups, which may be generically separated. PINACOCERATID#. Pinacoceras, Mojs. Megaphyllites, Mojs.—The group of Megaphylli, Beyr. (Type: Ammonites Tarbas), differ from Pinacoceras in the form of their lobes. Sageceras, Mojs. Carnites, Moys.—Comprises Carnites floridus, Wulf., Carn. rari- striatus, Hauer, and a nondescript species from the Muschelkalk. Very probably this genus is to be connected with Ceratites Hedenstremi, Keys., or with a form nearly allied to it. The form of the lobes distinguishes Carnites from Pinacoceras. Norites, Mojs.—The Triassic species are—Norites Caprilensis, Mojs., and Nor. Gondola, Mojs. Shell similar to Sageceras. Rugose stratum linear. One adventitious saddle of less height than the first primary saddle. Saddles narrow, high, rounded above. Lobes with few indentures, first chief lobe divided by a large indenture. More ancient forms from the sandstones of Artinsk, described by de 462 Notices of Memoirs—Dr. E. von Mojsisovics— Verneuil and Karpinsky, such as Goniatites cyclobus, Gon. post-carbon- narius, and Gon. pre-permicus, may be very closely related to Norites. LyTocERATIDS. Monophyllites.—Lytoceras spherophyllum and Lyt. Morloti are to constitute a genus distinct from Lytoceras on account of the peculiar form of their lobes. Phylloceras, Suess. AEGOCERATIDE. Aegoceras, Waag.—This generic denomination may provisionally be reserved for a number of forms from the Mediterranean Muschel- kalk, and further researches must decide how far it is to be super- seded by that of Psiloceras, Hyatt. TROPITIDE. This family is nearly related to the Arcestide, and distinguished by a well-developed system of sculpture, and by the length of its inhabited chamber, extending over a whole whorl. The rugose stratum has only been observed in the genus Halorites. Tropites, Moys.—This genus includes the manifold forms allied to Trop. sub-bullatus, Hauer; Trop. Jokelyi, Hauer; and Trop. costatus. Some of these forms show spiral undulated lines similar to those of some Goniatites, whose external form reminds us of Tropites. Entomoceras, Hyatt.—The American type of this genus, Entom. Laubei, Meek, stands extremely near to the group of Ammonites Sandlingensis, Hauer (Entomoc. Theron, Dittm., ete.), which group is nearly allied to Tropites. It is characterized by a flat compressed shape, a high cultriform carina, aberrant lobes, and, in some cases, by the presence of a number of spines, reminding us of Trachyceras. Length of the inhabited chamber still unknown. Halorites, Mojs.—Includes the group of Halorites Ramsauert, Quenst., characterized by a body-chamber and mode of growth similar to those of Arcestes, sculpture like strings of pearls on the inner whorls, and high saddles with many lateral branches. Lateral lobes reduced. Whorl of the inhabited chamber different in shape and sculpture from the inner whorls. Margin of the mouth with a slight stricture. Aberrant forms: Hal. semi-plicatus, Hauer; Hal. decrescens, Hau. ; Hal. semi-globosus, Hau.; and Ammonites Medley- anus, Stol. Juvavites, Mojs.—Comprises the groups of Juv. Ehrlichi, Hau. ; and Juv. alterni-plicatus, Hau. Near to Halorites; different from this genus by the similitude of the whorl of the inhabited chamber with the inner whorls, and by the lobes being less slitted. Periodical constrictions of the shell are frequent. Distichites, Mojs.—Convex portion with a channel-like depression in the middle, frequently with smooth carine along the margins. Inner whorls, save the double carina, similar in sculpture to those of Tropites Jokelyi. Outer whorls gradually flattening; the outer range of spines advancing to the middle of the sides, where also the ribs increase in number by bifurcation and intercalation. Inhabited chamber extending beyond a whorl. Lobes similar to those of Ammonites of the Mediterranean and Juvavian Trias. 463 Sagenites. Generic type, Dist. Celticus, Mojs. Only a few species, such as Dist. pseudo-aries, Hau., and Dist. Harpalus, Dtm., are as yet described. CERATITIDS. This family appears first in the Permians, and reaches, under manifold modifications of form, upwards into the Lower Carnian deposits. The Indian and Armenian forms, described by MM. Koninck, Waagen, and Abich, stand in evident contrast with those typical of our ‘‘ Werfen” beds, and of our Muschelkalk. The Tirolites from the Werfen beds represent a far lower stage of development than those of India and Armenia, so that, were the age of the deposits in which they appear not sufficiently ascertained, they might be regarded as having belonged to a far remoter period. The types of the Asiatic Permian forms reach far upwards into the Trias, as proved by Hungarites scaphitiformis, Hau., a sporadic “colonist” in the Norian Hallstatt Limestones, nearly resembling Ceratites tropitus, Abich, in its outward form, as in the details of its lobe-line. MM. Griinewaldt and Karpinsky have described two species from the Artinsk Sandstones: Goniatites Artiensis and Sageceras Sakmare, whose lobes are still unknown, but whose form and sculpture strongly remind us of the typical forms of Trachyceras from the Norian and Carnian horizons. Tirolites—The typical forms are: Tir. Idrianus, Hauer, Tir. Dalmatinus, Hau., and Tir. Muchianus, Hau. The genus is character- ized by a simple lobe-line, with entire margin, as that of Nautilus. The non-dentated, large, lateral lobe is followed by a broad and flat saddle, sinking gradually with a slightly undulated bend towards the suture. Another lateral lobe is but slightly marked. The pro- jection of the preceding coincides with the large lateral saddle. In the group of Tir. Cassianus, these forms are associated with some others having an incipient denticulation of the lobes and distinct second lateral lobe. The convex portion is smooth, or somewhat flattened ; the sides are smooth, or covered with straight radially dis- posed folds, frequently ending in strong hollow spines on the margin of the convex portion. Tirolites is chiefly developed in the Alpine ‘“Werfen” strata. After along interval of time, the genus re-appears, again isolatedly, in the genuine “St.-Cassian”’ strata (Tirolites spurius, Mstr.= Clydonites Friesei, Laube, non Mstr.), and another, as yet un- named form, belonging to the series of Ammonites Cassianus. Ceratites, de Haan (Haaniceras, Bayle (?), Gymnotoceras, Hyatt). —Besides Ceratites Liccanus, Hauer (very nearly allied to the Siberian species Cerat. Middendorfi, Keys.), another species, standing next to the group of Tirolites Cassianus, is met with in the “Werfen” strata. The same affinity appears in Cerat. Smiriagini, Auerbach, and in Ceratites Bogdoanus, Buch, both from the Bogdo Hills in the Steppe of Astrachan. In some of these transitional forms (Cerat. Liccanus, Cerat. Smiriagini) the second lateral saddle is wanting, so that the projection of the precedent whorls falls on the umbilical side of the large lateral saddle. A Siberian form, differing from Cerat. Hichwaldi, Keys., by its rounded and smooth convex 464 Notices of Memoirs—Dr. E. von Mojsisovies— portion, may be considered as a connecting form between Ceratites and Tirolites. The genus Ceratites, as adopted here, nearly coincides with the group Nodosi, Beyrich. The convex portion is constantly without sculptures, smooth, convex or flattened (in one series of forms with an indistinct medial carina). The sides are covered with moderately curved ribs or folds, multiplied by bifurcations or inter- calations, and frequently adorned by umbilical, medial, and marginal spines or teeth. The number of knotted spirals varies between Oand 8. The anti-siphonal lobe is double-pointed. The Ceratites of the German Muschelkalk are strikingly discrepant from the Mediterranean types by the shallowness of their lobes, possibly in consequence of anomalous proportions of the salt held in solution by the old German Sea, in which the Muschelkalk was deposited. In Cerat. Khanikofi, Opp., an Indian species, the notch of the lobe-line extends over the tops of the saddles. Balatonites, Mojs.—This genus comprises the series of forms of Balat. Balatonicus, Moys., Balat. euryomphalus, Ben., and Balat. Pra-. gensis, together with the Central-European form Palat. Ottonis, Buch. Lobes like those of Ceratites; anti-siphonal lobe unknown. Convex portion with a range of knobs running over its centre, in some cases taking the form of a carina by confluence of the knobs. «Ribs numerous, constantly with umbilical and marginal spines, frequently with one or more intermediate ranges of knobs. One form from the Muschelkalk has on each side seven ranges of knobs, besides the row on the convex portion. Acrochordites, Hyatt.—Only one very rare Mediterranean form from the Upper Muschelkalk is connected with Acroch. Hyatti, Meek, the American type of this genus, characterized by ribs, passing over the convex portion, and alternatingly confluent by three and three into a large knob on the umbilical margin, and other ribs, simply terminating at the same marginal lobes as those of Ceratites. Certain Mediterranean forms with continuous sculptures over the whole con- vex portion, without any knobs, or with a number of small spirals of knobs, may be conveniently ranked among this genus, which seems to be very closely allied to Balatonites. Possibly Ammonites spinescens, Hauer, may find its place in it. : Hungarites, Moys.—Narrow, fold-like ribs, high median carina ; lobes like those of Ceratites. Possibly Ammonites scaphitiformis, Hauer, so similar to Cerat. tropitus, a Permian form from the Araxes defile, may rank in this genus. If there be a real connexion between the Alpine Triassic forms and the Permian species from Armenia, it would be a proof of genetic difference between the preceding and the coeval Huropean forms. Arpadites, Moys.—A limited, well-characterized group, represented in the Mediterranean province by Arp. Arpadis, Mojs., Arp. Szabei, Boeckh, Arp. Manzonii, Ben., Arp. Achelous, Mstr., Arp. brevi-costa- tus, Klpst., Arp. sulcifer, Mstr., Arp. Rueppeli, Klpst., Arp. Sesostris, Laube, Arp. Hirschi, Laube, and several new forms ;—in the Juvavian province by the groups of Arp. Hernesi, Hauer, and Arp. Lauber, Mojs. (Arp. Rueppeli, Hauer). The genus is characterized by a deep Ammonites of the Mediterranean and Juvavian Trias. 465 furrow in the centre of the convex portion, and a long one-pointed antisiphonal lobe. This furrow is frequently limited by smooth or knobly carine. In some forms the ribs end in a thickening near the furrow. A number of dichotomous or simple ribs, all of them beginning at umbilical knobs, cover the sides, on which there are also rows of knobs. The forms of higher geological age have high saddles, with entire margins; in others of less age, from the “St.- Cassian ” strata, the notch extends over the heads of the saddles. In Arp. modestus, an aberrant form, standing next to Arp. Lauber, the ribs unite over the convex portion. Trachyceras, Laube.—-The sculpture extends without interruption as far as on the convex portion, in the centre of which it is always interrupted by a narrow interval, close to which the Mediterranean forms show constantly one or more ranges of spines. In the Juvavian forms, minute notches at the ends of the ribs (see Trachyc. bi-crenatum, Hauer) or notched carinz are of more frequent oc- currence. Spirals of spines, of variable number in the different series of forms, appear on the inflected, bifurcated, or imtercalated ribs. These spirals are more numerous on the series of less remote geological age. In some cases, all spines, except those of the characteristic ranges on the convex portion, are wanting. The lobes in forms of more remote geological age are quite concordant with those of Ceratites; in those geologically less ancient, Professors Quenstedt and Laube have first noticed the digitiform notches ex- tending over the saddles, and the denticulation of the lobes in- creasing in depth. Heraclites, Mojs.—A limited series of forms in the Norian strata of the Juvavian Province, with intermediate forms, connecting Her. Poeschli, Hauer, with Her. robustus, Hauer. Body-chamber very short, about half of a whorl. Strong, in some cases inflated, ribs on the sides. Convex portion flattened, traversed by two delicate, filiform, spiral lines, sometimes with nodules at the points where they run across the ribs. Her. robustus loses every trace of sculpture on the convex portion as it advances in age. Sculpture is likewise wanting in some forms of less remote geological age, as Her. foliaceus, Dtm. The lobes are characterized by a few irregular deep sections, hanging far downwards—here Her. quadrangulus, Hauer. Sagenites, Mojs.—The known forms, belonging to this genus, are— Sag. reticulatus, Hauer, Sag. Giebeli, Hauer, and Sag. inermis, Hauer. In the typical forms the sculpture passes without interruption over the vaulted convex portion, which sinks gradually into the lateral portion; in some aberrant forms there is an interruption in the centre of the convex portion (as in Ceratites) and the narrow, canaliform, unsculptured band is accompanied by nodular incrassa- tions. The numerous, delicate, pliciform, transversal ribs are crossed by a system of more or less undulated spiral lines, lying very close to each other. Umbilicus narrow. Occasionally the shell is orna- mented here and there with broad obtuse knobs. Body-chamber half to three-quarters of the whorl in length. Type of the lobes aberrant DECADE Il.— VOL. VI.—NO. X. 30 466 Notices of Memoirs—Ammonites of the Trias. TapuLAR CoNSPECTUS OF THE VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE TRIASSIC AMMONITES. eae JuVAVIAN Province. SUS Se ssecllis e || ¥ | SS] 8. g| 8 8S] 8 ll ss] 8. g $3] 8s S| 8 a (SS) 8 ISSISSS SAS S881 Si Sts s S USS) eee SS) el) Sf Sei ee] FS] se S (2a) SSS) Se SS IS Sass SS PS] 8 = {O8] § TAR ISS| & | Si 8 [s8i8si S| si sis S 8 Be S iS) Se & iS) 81s] sis [s Si Sil S| RVs eS] Si SiS NIN [NIN IN TN TN IN INSIN TN INIT NIN UTAMWHED 5 = oll 3 ; 5 = |. 5 i A Ceratites . . .|—|—|—]|}—]—]—]. ; : 6 5 i ‘ : Noriles . .« «| —|—|—]] . 4 : : 3 : " - y i Balatonites . .| «. |—|]—|}—|—]. y ; 5 eRe | ete A : LECTURES he ee | a foc foo Po Heo fee Pe fa te Wee LWA CHOS 5 alo \ 6 Noo Wyse ls He SH HS KH | APBOGHD 5 9 Moa |e 5 PSH fH Ic Si) oF SH oo oe ibe Acrochordiceras .| . |—|—|| . ‘ : a : a ee Bll .o 5 AMAROTES 6 3, ol) o === Ho Pew |e dc Michail Cal waa (baudahy|be diy lhuc Amaltheus . .| . go ital ae a : 2 é : ‘ Z 5 ‘i TALES 5 5 alo WS "0 | BPA Ee beaw |e celery dite. pce Carnites . . eM eee Hl easel | : o SHS 5 |S e c - | Pinacoceras . .| .« © ft ee ee ee I FY Mesaphyllites .| » | . |—}—}]—|]—|—] —|—|/— | = | — |} — | — SURQATOS o 5 of o lo |= l=} Stel © He Jo |e Wo le Jc MOORES ~ > 0 | = |S S| KH | aH leo |e |e flo Heo a P= LUSWOOOS 4 oi o |) o | 0 of of oho HH | = | KH | eS | | Arcestes . . «| » |}—J{—/i—]—|/—}]—]J — J — | — | — | — | — I SAGE 6 = al = lo || < 3 || o =e ello io flo colo [= CURSES 5 oll = || 6 5 ‘: -}—}. | — J — | — | — | — | -— | KE GOED 2 4 slo la | c Sg aac pe se | DEO & ao lho jc evi iecote | aera (pes oo Ps allo | o VECULECS ae ete lie 4 -|/—|—]. : : arly -f—l— LPB. 55 ola oc Cdl cos Wise -|— =|.0 = |= Lintonuoceras . .| » > : . easing 0 A : C ._{—-l|— LOESMCUME 5 || a 5 i 6 : i : oie SOTHO 6 a dbo lo fo he |e oo oS |S | S| FTeraclites kin es| Ment 0 - 6 : 5 i ° P| fee ) . |]. CUM OPTS 5 5 all 6 Noa Wc sine ate la o fo fo Hoo P= Choristoceras. .| . ; F - |—}—]. f}—}|—l|—] .- ; Be TEOMA = 5 ai) 3 “ ; és ‘ . 4 ; ; : _|o}— IROWUEWHEs 6 ll a : : : Ae es haus ‘5 ‘ A . ee Mle Gochloceras . .| « 2 5 9 i i ‘ lf ll) : 0 Rhabdoceras . .| . |. ; : j : ea a |e ; . |—]. from other Ceratitide. Broad high saddle-trunks, from which depart divided leaf-like branches. Similar branches rise from the bases of the lobes. Auxiliary lobes uncommonly small. CLYDONITIDAR. Clydonites, Hauer.—Generic type: Clyd. decoratus, Hauer. Evolute whorls beset with thronged, irregularly granulated, small ribs, uniting over the convex portion. Lobe-line with entire margin, undulated. Reviews—Clarence King—Survey of Fortieth Parallel. 467 The high external saddle followed by a lower lateral one. Clyd. modicus, Dtm., possibly belongs to this genus. Choristoceras, Hauer.—Generic type: Chor. Marshi, Hauer, with two-pointed first lateral lobe. Next to it stand several forms with entire-margined, rounded, first lateral lobe. HEvolute whorls, free in adult individuals of certain forms, with simple straight ribs, inter- rupted on the convex portion, except in old individuals of certain forms. whose convex portion becomes somewhat flattened or de- pressed. Knobs, disposed in spirals, on the depressed or un- sculptured part of the convex portion. In the whole six lobes, the deeply descending one-pointed anti-siphonal lobe particularly remarkable. Chor. Marshi, Hauer, Chor. Haueri, Moys., Chor. rectangulare, Hauer, and Chor. Buchi (Klipsteinianwm, Laube) rank among this genus. Helictites, Mojs.—Whorls evolute, with strong straight ribs, running without interruption over the convex portion. Lobe-line simply undulated, with minute notches, scarcely perceptible by the unaided eye. Species: Hel. geniculatus, Hauer, Hel. Henseli, Opp., Hel. nasturtium, Dtm. Badiotites.—The §t.-Cassian forms— Ammon. Eryx, Mstr., and Ammon. glaucus, Mstr., characterized by a narrow or keel-like pointed convex portion, and by falciform ribs, are morphologically so dis- crepant from Choristoceras that they must constitute an independent genus. Lobes entire-margined, undulated ; anti-siphonal lobe long, one-pointed. Rhabdoceras, Hauer. Cochloceras, Hauer. d5Y Jen Wr aE 2s WY Se J.— Untrep States Grorocican ExpnLoration oF THE FortTIETH Paratiet. By Crarence Kine, U. S. Geologist. Illustrated by 28 Plates and 12 Analytical Geological Maps. (Washington, 1878.) HIS fine work forms the first volume (although the last pub- lished) of the Report of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, under the direction of Clarence King, its subject being the ‘Systematic Geology ” of that region. The Exploration has covered a belt of country about 100 miles wide from N. to §., and 800 miles long, extending from the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains to the Sierra Nevada of California, or almost across the Cordilleras where they are the broadest. Assisted by an ardent and untiring corps (including A. Hague, S. F. Emmons, and others) Mr. King has endeavoured to work out the continuous geology of this almost unexplored gap connecting it, as far as possible, with the territory surveyed by Whitney on the one hand, and with Hayden’s field on the other. The purpose of this volume is to present a brief systematic account of the data collected, and the inductions deducible therefrom, so that the arrangement is chronological, beginning with the deposits of -468 Reviews—Clarence King—Survey of Fortieth Parallel. Archean time and proceeding without break through the entire series to the Quaternary. The first chapter contains the leading geographic features of the area, which, however, are more fully treated of in the second volume. The second to the sixth chapters contain a detailed account of the Archean, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cainozoic rocks, the seventh chapter comprising the history of the Tertiary volcanic rocks. The characters of the Archean rocks are treated of under the different localities where they are exposed; these rocks are con- sidered to attain a maximum thickness of 50,000 feet, and comprise the Laurentian—consisting of red orthoclase granite, mica gneisses and schists, with deposits:of ilmenite and graphite, and the Huronian—composed of plagioclase-hornblende granites, diorite- gneisses, argillites, limestones and quartzites. Between the rocks referred to Laurentian and Huronian ages, there is a characteristic difference in the intensity of the metamorphism which has taken place and also in the obliteration of original structure and in the increase in thickness, when considered in relation to depth. The lowest Laurentian aplitic granitoid bodies of the Laramie Hills are the heaviest beds and the most changed from their original sedi- mentary condition; the higher MHuronian group of gneisses, quartzites, conglomerates, dolomites and argillites are at once the most thinly-bedded and the least metamorphosed. The granites are divided into four groups:—1. With muscovite ; 2. With little or no plagioclase and biotite; or 8. With biotite and hornblende; and a 4th type more complex than the others, con- taining a high per-centage of biotite, with an equal proportion of hornblende, the plagioclase often equal, or sometimes exceeding in quantity the orthoclase and titanite; the muscovite type being the oldest, and the dioritoid variety being the youngest. These granites and the crystalline schists are pre-Cambrian. The section (p. 112) on the genesis of granite and crystalline schists contains some points which of late years have occupied the attention of geologists, and embodies the author’s views as to their comparative origin. In alluding to Dr. Sterry Hunt’s theory, that early magnesian silicates are chemical precipitates from the acid ocean of their period, Mr. King sees no reason to seek for a different origin for the magnesian silicates from that of the commoner aluminous minerals, and so far as the gneisses and crystalline schists are concerned, he is led to give in a complete adhesion to the hypothesis of diagenesis for the anhydrous silicates, and of subsequent pseudomorphism for the hydrous magnesian rocks. “Jn the crystalline schists and gneisses are found identically the same minerals which characterize the granites. The characteristic features of the schists are, the parallel-bedded arrangement, the strict retention of chemical materials in their original zones, and the intercalation of beds made of simple materials, like quartzites and limestones. The sole difference seems to be that granite is often demonstrably a plastic intrusion, and possesses ‘no parallel arrange- Reviews— Clarence King—Survey of Fortieth Parallel. 469 ment of minerals, its various components lying more or less evenly distributed throughout the mass.” With regard to the genesis of granite, the author supposes, were the chief factor to be tangential — or, as he terms it, orographical pressure, there must of necessity be all the transitions from a uniform homogeneous granite down to those rocks in which radial or gravitation has produced the ordinary bedded schists. The Paleeozoic rocks, which are everywhere unconformable to the underlying Archean, are strictly conformable from the lowest Cambrian beds to the top of the Upper Coal-measure Limestone. Slightly developed in the Rocky Mountain system, not over 1,000 feet in thickness, they thicken out westward, as in the Wahsatch, to more than 30,000 feet, and about 40,000 feet at the extreme western Paleozoic limit. In the whole Paleozoic section there are 18,000 feet of siliceous sediment, 15,000 feet of limestone, and about 1.400 feet of slates and shales. “The general absence throughout the Coal-measure horizons of beds of coal, and the conspicuous absence of shallow-water deposits (with the exception of some conglomerates), indicate that the whole great Paleeozoic series was from the first received on the bed of a deep ocean.” Within the Palzeozoic series of this region there are no considerable passages of metamorphism. Directly overlying the Paleozoic limestones are the well-known Rocky Mountain red-beds, which have been generally assigned to the Triassic age. The Trias beds are succeeded conformably by the Jurassic and Cretaceous groups, the exposures of which within the Fortieth Parallel are clearly shown in Map III. (p. 356). Owing to the widespread but unequal mechanical disturbance at the close of the Paleeozoic period, the physical features of the old land area were considerably modified, so that the Trias-Jura series were formed in two separated seas, an eastern and western, differing in depth and in the nature of their sediments (p. 537). Between the Cretaceous and Jurassic there is absolute conformity. The former represented a period of comparative calm, so far as orographic disturbances go, although it was characterized by subsi- dences, but so general and gradual as to leave no traces of their mode of operation, except the succession of conglomerates and tiers of coal-beds. The Cretaceous group in descending order consists of—1l. The Laramie or the Lignite group of Hayden, 1,500 to 5,000 feet. 2. Fox Hill group, 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 38. Colorado group, equal to Fort Benton, Niobrara and Fort Pierre groups of Meek and Hayden, 800 to 2,000 feet. 4. Dakota group, 300 feet. With regard to the position of the upper member of this series (the Laramie), considerable difference of opinion now exists, so that, ‘aside from the Taconic system, no single geological feature in all America has ever given rise to a more extended controversy than the true assignment of the age of this group.” Mr. Clarence King discusses the position of the Laramie group, the geological horizon of which has been referred by Dr. Hayden and 470 Revriews—Clarence King—Survey of Fortieth Parallel. others (based on the plant-remains) to the Tertiary, or considered as a transition member between the Cretaceous and Tertiary. Although containing the facies of a Tertiary flora, this is associated with Dinosaurian reptiles characteristic of Mesozoic age, which, together with a period of immense disturbance at the close of the Laramie beds and complete nonconformity of the overlying series of purely freshwater shale, should constitute a division between the Mesozoic and Tertiary. “It will be seen,” says the author, “ that the strati- graphical break, with its unmistakable Eocene facies at the base of the one group, and the Dinosaurian reptiles at the close of the other, marks the period of nonconformity as distinctly at the close of the Cretaceous.” The fauna up to the base of the Laramie is strictly marine. The Laramie itself carries the remains of an estuarine or brackish water life, associated with strictly Mesozoic saurians. With the close of the Cretaceous the conformable series of marine and estuarine deposits came to an end, and was immediately followed by one of the most important orographical movements of the whole Cordilleran history. The most important result of this post-Cre- taceous movement was the elevation of the whole interior of the continent and the complete extinction of the inter-American Medi- terranean Ocean. From the date of this movement no marine waters have ever invaded the middle Cordilleras, and the subsequent strata are all of lacustrine origin. The Hocene of the Fortieth Parallel region was a period of four lakes, whose deposits—unconformable among them- selves—amount to 10,000 feet, and are characterized by an abundant series of vertebrate life. At the close of the Hocene an important orographical movement took place by which the province of the northern Great Plains, and a long narrow tract lying on the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada and the present Cascade Range became depressed and received the drainage of the surrounding countries, forming two extended Miocene lakes. The deposits of the western- most lake are chiefly the tuffs and re-arranged ejecta of volcanic eruption ; the deposits of the plains are the simple detritus from the surrounding lands. Another orographical movement followed the close of the Miocene, affecting differently the areas of the western and eastern lakes, so that the Pliocene opened with two enormous lakes, one covering the basin country of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and eastern Oregon, the other occupying the province of the plains. Both of these Pliocene lakes, as do the Miocene, contain the remains of rich faune. The extent of the Tertiary exposures are seen in Map IV., and the sequence of the Tertiary lakes at p. 458. The close of the Pliocene period was signalized by another considerable movement, which affected differently the area occupied by its sediments, and was followed by the varied series of deposits of the Quaternary age, described in Section V. (pp. 459—529), which is full of interesting matter, not only as relating to glacial phenomena and the lake deposits of the period, but also as to the structure and origin of the remarkable gorges or caiions, which are wholly within this period. Reviews—Olarence King—Survey of Fortieth Parallel. 471 “During the Quaternary period most modern mountain topo- graphy received its present form. Most, if not all, of the sharp canons were carved, and the mechanical results of that erosion are seen in the great accumulations of subaerial gravel in regions of interior drainage like the Great Basin, and in deposits of unknown thickness classed as Lower Quaternary, which gathered on the beds of the Quaternary lakes.” It has therefore been the object of Mr. King in Chapters II. to V. to give a general account of such facts as seemed to be necessary to a comprehension of the sequences and subdivisions of sedimentary geology. In the 120,000 feet of these accumulations, the grander divisions of the Archean or Azoic, Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, are distinctly outlined by divisional periods of marked unconformity. From the first of the Cambrian age to the present day every important interval of time is recorded in the abundant gathering of sediments, which are with singular fullness characterized by appropriate and typical life forms. Of the 77,000 feet of beds from the Lower Cambrian to the close of the Tertiary, nearly 20,000 feet are limestone, the rest is purely detrital, the limestones, however, throughout the entire Cretaceous and Tertiary are all fragmentary, and are simply the pulverized sediments which were washed down from the neighbouring limestone formations. Chapter VII. comprises the more important facts accumulated during the Exploration relative to the Tertiary volcanic rocks as to sequence, geological dates, modes of occurrence, reciprocal relations, and petrographic distinctions. The latter subject has also been fully treated in the admirable and instructive memoir by Prof. Zirkel, forming vol. vi. of the series. The material is classed under three groups: Ist. The detailed occurrence of species; 2nd. The relations of each rock to the orographical actions which brought it to the sur- face, and the succession of each species; 3rd. The origin of igneous fusion and the genesis and petrological classification of volcanic rocks. The close of the Jurassic age was characterized in Nevada and Utah by scattered eruptions of middle-age eruptive rocks, including diorite, diabase, and porphyries; with a doubtful exception, all the other volcanic series are referable directly to the Tertiary. The natural sequence of the volcanic rocks observed in the Fortieth Parallel corroborates the previous researches of Richthofen, which is as follows: 1. Propylites; 2. Andesites ; 3. Trachytes; 4. Rhyolites ; 5. Basalts. The acidic products are enormously in excess of the basic products (as shown in Map VII.), and almost equally in excess of rocks of mean constitution, as the hornblende propylites, andesites and trachytes. Taken as a whole, Rhyolite is the predominating voleanic rock of this field, and considerably exceeds the Basalts, which rank next in territorial area. These two families, at once the most acidic and most basic, cover together ten times as many square miles as all the rest of the volcanic series combined. The section on the fusion and genesis of volcanic rocks (pp. 696- 725), and their classification, is well worthy of the attention of those 472 Reviews—Prof. L. G. de Koninck— interested in this branch of geology, especially as regards the author’s view of volcanic fusion. After alluding to the various hypotheses on this subject, the author says :—‘‘ Suppose above the temperature of fusion is a column of thirty miles of rock, and suppose three miles are rapidly removed by erosion. The position of the couche of temperature of fusion will constantly tend to retire towards the centre of the earth. If it retires at the same rate as erosion, the effect of pressure on the couche of the temperature of fusion will remain the same; but if the rate of erosion and consequent removal of pressure is greater than that of the recession of the couche of temperature, plus that of general secular recession, the effect, it would seem, must be to create a local fusion.” The orography of the region forms the subject of the eighth chapter, and is further explained by five coloured maps, showing the exposures of successive orographic disturbances ; of these—‘“ the post-Carboniferous, post-Jurassic, post-Cretaceous—taken together— were the main building-times of the modern American continent, and each of these orographical disturbances were most violent at the western edge of the region involved” (p. 759). The limited space at our disposal prevents us from entering into more details of the contents of this suggestive work, which the reader must consult for himself in order to fully appreciate its nature as a piece of connected history, bearing in mind, however, “that it is not a geological survey, but a rapid exploration of a very great area, in which literally nothing but a few isolated details was before known. It is an attempt to read the geology of the Middle Cordilleras, and to present the leading outlines of one of the most impressive sections of the earth’s surface film.” For our own part we fully recognize, after perusing this work, not only the arduous labours of Clarence King and his colleagues during their ten years’ exploration in the field, but, also, the instructive and systematic manner in which some of the most striking geological and physical features of the region are recorded, as further illustrated in the twenty-eight beautiful plates and the twelve analytical geolo- gical maps, interspersed throughout the 800 pages of letterpress. J. M. I].—Fatne pu Catcarre CarBonrrireE DE LA Beterque. Par L. G. pE Kontnex. Folio, pp. 182. Atlas 31 Planches. (F. Hayez: Bruxelles, 1878.) F ANY apology were needed for the appearance of this valuable addition to paleontological literature, that offered by the dis- tinguished author as the raison détre of this initial volume of a series to be devoted to the fauna of the Carboniferous Limestone of Belgium is surely a most valid one. In 1842 Professor de Koninck, in a somewhat similar work, raised the number of known species from two hundred to nearly five hundred described forms. At the present time, however, more than double that number, or from one thousand to twelve hundred species, from that horizon, are contained Fauna of the Belgian Carboniferous Limestone. 473 in the rich collections of the Royal Museum of Natural History, whence the chief part of the material for this, and the contemplated volumes of “ Extraits des Annales du Musée Royale de la Belgique,” have been, or will be, derived. Prefacing his first volume with a brief but clear outline of the limits and nature of the lowest division of the Carboniferous forma- tion, in Belgium, the Carboniferous or ‘ Mountain” Limestone,—M. de Koninck proceeds to a further subdivision into three main groups, each of which is characterized by a distinct biological fauna. Here, as usual in Paleozoic deposits, the Brachiopoda are to the fore as classificatory indices. The position of the Visé Limestone, overlying the Devonian, is definitely settled. It comprises the uppermost or most modern beds. This reverses Murchison’s grouping, originally followed by the author and other Belgian geologists, but now shown to have been erroneous. The Upper or Visé Limestone is charac- terized by Productus giganteus, the middle series by Spirifer striatus, and the Lower or Tournai Limestone by Spirifer mosquensis. The entire series, about 800 métres in thickness, is again subdivided into six beds according to the arrangement of M. E. Dupont. | As no reptilian or amphibian remains have as yet been furnished by the Belgian Carboniferous rocks, this volume is occupied by figures and descriptions of the forty-three species of fishes occurring in the Upper and Lower divisions. The middle beds are entirely barren of piscine remains, and the conditions were evidently un- favourable to their preservation during the deposition of the whole series. For the number represented is less than half that of the described British species from the same epoch. Some of the Belgian forms are, however, very remarkable. Forty belong to the Selachii and the remaining three to the Ganoidei. The interesting Dipnoid discovered by the author and M. van Beneden, Paledaphas insignis, does not find a place in this volume, as the horizon originally given as Carboniferous is now known to be of Devonian age. The classifi- cation adopted throughout is Dr. Traquair’s Miillerian modification of Professor Huxley’s system. But M. de Koninck gives only necessary classificatory details, leaving the systematization of the Carboniferous fishes to those possessed of more ample material. Of the fifty-two species of Nautili figured and described, twenty-two are new to science. Several forms are restricted to certain horizons; none make their appearance prior to that epoch, and not one survives it. The genus is abundantly represented in Belgium, but occurs but rarely in Australian deposits of similar age. The specific descriptions, clear though not diffusive, are accompanied by careful comparisons with Huropean, American, and Australian forms, and liberal recognition is awarded to the labours of pre- decessors and contemporaries in the same field of inquiry. The atlas comprises thirty-one folio plates of fishes and cephalopods, beauti- fully executed by G. Severeyns. The work gives promise of a mine of information for comparative purposes to all interested in the history of the fossils of this rich formation, and cannot but add to the acknowledged repute of the author as a distinguished A474 Reviews—M. J. Barrande’s Bohemian Brachiopoda. paleontologist. In a word, the ‘‘Faune Caleaire Carbonifére de la Belgique,” with the Silurian System of M. Barrande, and the “ Jura Normand” of M. Eugene Deslongchamps, may be taken as excellent illustrations of the method adopted by foreign authors as historians, not of one especial group of organisms, but of the physical characters and complete fauna of an entire geological formation. By this means local variations in general physical conditions are duly recognized, and uniformity of geological grouping and zoological classification is secured. No English works of a similar nature can rival those above cited in excellence of paleontological illustration, save the decades of the Survey, or the volumes of our Palzon- tographical Society. NEC: IiI.—Bracuropopes Hruprs Locares. Par Joacnuim BaRRanbE. Svo. pp. 3835, and 7 Planches. (Prague, 1879.) Ay Ei have here another of those excellent memoirs in which M. Barrande reviews his former labours in the same field; an epitome, in fact, of those lengthened researches, the results of which are embodied in his classical volumes on the Silurian system of Bohemia. To the student these most instructive résumés are in- valuable as an author’s summary of his own investigations, affording information on important points, with references to the exact locale of further details. They furnish the author at the same time with an opportunity for revision and addition, rendered necessary by in- creased discoveries, and for drawing those inferences and conclusions which he is necessarily best qualified to supply. Although only two species of Brachiopods were known in Bohemia prior to 1840, M. Barrande now transmits about six hundred and forty named Silurian species to his successors. A number which illustrates the exceptional richness of the Bohemian deposits, and the thorough investigations to which they have been subjected through the energy and laborious industry of the author. It considerably exceeds Mr. Davidson’s provisional estimate of 210 species from the British Silurian rocks, and almost amounts to half that given by Dr. Bigsby (1422) in his “Thesaurus Siluricus” as the approximate total of known species from the Silurian deposits of the world. Only two of the Bohemian forms are primordial, 124 occur in the second zone, and 521 in the third. Thirty-nine are common to France, and forty-two to the “‘Septentrional” zone of Europe and America. Three new genera, Clorinda, Mimulus, and Paterula, all Secondary, or local types, are added. In this memoir M. Barrande gives some very interesting and novel facts concerning the variations observed in Bohemian forms, treats of their vertical distribution, and specific relations with those of other Paleozoic areas. Thus, it would appear from these researches that neither longevity of type nor the fecundity of a species can be considered as the primary cause of variability. For the long-lived forms often exhibit but few variations, while a species but sparsely represented may be accompanied by numerous ex- Reviews—Skertchly’s Gun-Flints. 475 amples. Furthermore, that the numerical abundance of a species, on the same horizon, and with a limited area, has apparently no influence upon, or connexion with, the origin of varieties. Some appear simultaneously with the type, others during its existence, while the mutatory forms do not come into being until after its disappearance or extinction. The average vertical distribution is extremely limited. These facts, M. Barrande concludes, are opposed to the conception of the adaptability of the Brachiopods to the environment, and afford no support to the theories of descent by modification. At the same time, it is en evidence (Table, p. 162) that generic forms enjoying the longest vertical range, such as Atrypa, Discina, Orthis, and Rhynchonella, are invariably represented by the greatest number of species. These local studies in Brachiopoda may not perhaps be of such general interest as the preceding volume on the Cephalopods, but to the student and specialist they afford valuable and novel data with reference to a group of organisms daily becoming more useful as indices of paleontological time. Nor can those who are not prepared to accept M. Barrande’s views with regard to the separate origin of every individual species, or variety, fail to admire the marvellous energy and vast labours of one of the most distinguished and indefatigable of pioneers in paleeontological science. Js Or TV.—On toe MAnuracrure or GuN-FLINTS, THE Metuops or Ex- CAVATING FOR Furnt, THE AGE OF PaLmoLitHic MAN, AND THE ConNNEXION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC ART AND THE GUN-FLINT TRADE. By Sypney B. J. Sxerrcuty. [Memoirs of the Geological Survey. 8vo. pp. 80. (London, 1879.) Price 17s. 6d. ] HE title of this Geological Survey Memoir gives its contents at a elance, and introduces to our notice subjects that possess a far wider interest than do most of the Survey publications. The neigh- bourhood of Brandon, so well known, through the labours of Messrs. Prestwich, Evans, and Flower, for its paleeolithic and neolithic im- plements, has recently been invested with much additional import- ance from the researches made by Mr. Skertchly into the geological position of the earlier works of art, and which he has determined to belong to deposits of Interglacial age. In his present work, the author first places before his readers a very careful and detailed account of the modern manufacture of gun-flints, a trade now steadily dying out, though this decline is not owing, as he tells us, to a falling off in the demand, but to a lack of hands, the boys preferring agricultural and other labours to the con- finement of a knapper’s shop. Under such circumstances, the record of the trade, while illustrat- ing the economic applications of geology, possesses an archological value which time will no doubt enhance. The particular layers of flint with their local names are described and illustrated in a section of the Chalk at Lingheath, where the flint now manufactured at Brandon is obtained. Other localities, 476 Reports and Proceedings— formerly worked, are likewise described, including the gun-flint manufacture once carried on at Beer Head in Devonshire. The various tools employed are explained and figured, and the methods of digging the flint, and of drying, quartering, flaking, and knapping it are similarly illustrated. And in this part of ‘the subject the author acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr. W. J. Southwell, a practical knapper, in whose workshop he learnt the trade, and wrote many of his notes. Hach form of gun-flint, from that of the musket to the pocket pistol, is engraved, and full descriptions are given of a set of specimens deposited in the Museum at Jermyn Street. The author observes that from Paleolithic times to the present day the vicinity of Brandon has been one of the great emporia for flint, and he briefly sums up his conclusions that the early paleo- lithic implements found in the “ Brandon Beds” are older than the Chalky Boulder Clay. The present flint-knappers at Brandon he regards as the direct descendants of the old workers in stone who dug the ancient flint-pits at Grime’s Graves, which have been so well described by Canon Greenwell. V.—JouRNAL OF THE Soh MicroscoptcaL Socrety. Edited by Frank Crisp, LL.B., B.A., F.L.S., ete. Vol. Il. No. 2, April; No. 3, Extra Number, May, 1879. 8vo. (Willams & Norgate, London.) HERE are so many points in the natural history of plants and animals, and in the nature of rocks, that the microscope assists the geologist in determining, and so many microscopists work ardently at the elucidation of these matters, that we cannot take up any part or volume of the Proceedings of the several Microscopical Societies now flourishing at home or abroad without meeting with some, and often with important, additions to our knowledge. This is the case with the Journal before us. The industrious accumulation of notes and memo- randa from British and foreign works adds much to the value of this work ; and, with the Bibliography, these are now arranged on a classi- fied plan, referring (1) to the histology and embryology of the Verte- brata; (2) structure and natural history of the Invertebrata, according to classes and orders; (3) general histology and embryology of the Phanerogamia; (4) the Cryptogamia in order; (5) Microscopy and Miscellanea. IRIDI-SOsiRayS) YNaypapy 1-43 OQC12 psoas GS ———_>——_ British AssocraTIoN FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, Forry-ninta Mererinc, SHerrietp, Aucust 20TH, 1879. J.—Tittes or Papers Reap tn Section C. (GEOLOGY). President—Professor P. Martin Duncan, M.B. (Lond.), F.R.S., V.P.G.S. The President’s Address. Rev. H. W. Crosskey, F.G.S.—Seventh Revel of the Committee appointed for the purpose of recording the position, height above the sea, lithological characters, size, “and origin of the Erratic Blocks of England, Wales, and Ireland; reporting other matters Forty-ninth Meeting of the British Association. AT7 of interest connected with the same, and taking measures for their preservation. J. H. Lee, F.G.S.—Notice of the occurrence of a Fish allied to Coccosteus in a bed of Devonian Limestone, near Chudleigh. J. E. Lee, F.G.S.—Notice of Fossils found in a bed of Devonian rocks at Saltern Cove, in Torbay, and in a quarry of the Old Red Sandstone, near Caerleon, in Monmouthshire. P. H. Carpenter, M.A.—On the Nomenclature of the Crinoidal Calyx. V. Ball, M.A., F.G.S.—On the Coal Fields and Coal production of India. J. F. Blake, M.A., F.G.S.—On Geological Episodes. F. M. Burton, F.G.S.—On the Keuper Beds between Retford and Gainsborough. F. M. Burton, F.G.S.—On the Northerly extension of the Rhetic Beds at Gainsborough. W. Pengelly, F.R.S.—Fifteenth Report on the Exploration of Kent’s Cavern, Devonshire. J. Evans, LL.D., F.R.S.—Report on the Bone Caves of Borneo. Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S.—On the Bone Caves of Derbyshire. fi. J. Ussher and Professor A. L. Adams, M.A., F.R.S.—Discovery of a Bone Cave near Cappagh, County Waterford. C. Ricketts, M.D., F.G.S.—On some remarkable Pebbles in the Boulder-clay of Cheshire and Lancashire. The Abbé A. Renard and T. Murray.—On the Volcanic Products of the Deep Sea of the Central Pacific, with reference to the “ Challenger’? Expedition. C. Moore, F.G.S.—On Ammonites and Aptychi. E. W. Claypole-—Notes on a Fossil Tree from the Upper Silurian of Ohio. J. W. Davis, F.G.S.—On Ostracocanthus dilatatus (gen. et sp. nov.), a Fossil Fish from the Coal-measures, S.E. of Halifax, Yorkshire. E. Wilson, F.G.S.—On the Age of the Pennine Chain. M. Blair—On the Foundations of the Town Hall, Paisley, with Notes on the Rocks of Renfrewshire. Dr. J. Phené, F.S.A.—On the Deposit of Carbonate of Lime at Hierapolis, in Anatolia, and on the Efflorescences of the Lime- stone at Les Baux, in Provence. Prof. A. S. Herschel, M.A., F.R.A.S., and Prof. G. A. Lebour, M.A., F.G.S.—Sixth Report on the Conductivities of certain Rocks. (Read also before Section A.) Prof. J. D. Everett, F.R.S.—On some broad features of Underground Temperature. Prof. W. C. Williamson, #.R.S.—On the Botanical Affinities of Sigillaria and Stigmaria. S. B. J. Skertchly, F.G.S.— Evidence of the Existence of Paleolithic Man during the Glacial Period in Hast Anglia. (Read also before Section D.) J. H. Collins, F.G.S.—On the Geological Age of the Rocks of West Cornwall. J. Perry.—On the Surface Rocks of Syria. 478 Reports and Proceedings—British Association. Rev. G. Blencowe.—On certain Geological Facts observed in Natal and the Border Countries during nineteen years’ residence. C. E. De Rance, #.G.S.—¥ifth Report on the Underground Waters in the Permian, New Red Sandstone and Jurassic Formations. W. Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S.—Report on the Progress of the “ Geo- logical Record.” W. J. Sollas, M.A., F.G.S.—On the Replacement of Siliceous Skeletons by Carbonate of Lime. G. R. Vine—On Carboniferous Polyzoa and Paleeocoryne. H. Hicks, M.D., F.G.S.—On the Classification of the British Pre- Cambrian Rocks. (See p. 483.) R. A. C. Godwin-Austen, F.R.S.—On some further evidence relating to the range of the Paleozoic Rocks beneath the South-east of England. Prof. G. A. Lebour, M.A., F.G.S.—On “Culm” and “ Kulm.” I].—Tities or Papers, Brartne upon Gronogy, READ IN OTHER SECTIONS. Section B.—Cuemicat Scrence. W. Ivison Macadam.—On the Chemical Composition of a nodule of Ozokerite found at Kinghorn-ness. Thos. Andrews.—On some curious Concretion Balls derived from a Colliery Mineral Water. W. Thomson, F.R.S.H.—Notes on a sample of Fuller’s Earth found in an old Fullonica recently excavated at Pompeii. Suction D.—Brotoey. Report of the Committee on preparing plates illustrating a Mono- graph on the Mammoth. S. B. J. Skerichly, F.G.S.—On a new Estimate of the Neolithic Age. E. B. Tylor, D.C.L., F.R.S.—Address to the Department of Anthro- ology. Tones Knowles.—On Flint Implements from the Valley of the Bann. V. Ball, M.A., F.G.S.—On the Forms and Geographical Distribution of Ancient Stone Implements in India. J. W. Davis, F.S.A., F.G.S.—On the Discovery of Chipped Flints beneath Peat on the Yorkshire Moors. Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S.—On the Geological Evidence as to the Antiquity of Man. S. B. J. Skertchly, F.G.S.—On the Survival of the Neolithic Period at Brandon, Suffolk. John Milne, F.G.S.—On the Stone Age in Japan. Section EH.— GroGraPny. C. Rk. Markham, C.B., F.R.S.— Opening Address.—The Valley of the Don. B. Tower.—The Physical Aspects of Zululand and Natal. Trelawny Saunders.—On the Orography of the north-west frontier of India. Section G.—Mecnanican Scrence. Baldwin Latham.—On the Temperature of Town Water Supplies. Joseph Lucas.— On the Quantitative Hlements in Hydrogeology. ———— Correspondence—Prof. T, Rupert Jones. 479 CORRESPONDENCE. — A NEW LAKE IN THE PISTOJESE MOUNTAINS. Srr,—An interesting example of lake-formation has recently been noticed in one of the valleys of the Apennines by my friend Captain Cecil Norton, 5th Lancers. The road from Florence by Pistoja to Modena crosses the mountain-range at Boscolungo, where the lime- stone rocks form a semicircular arc, facing the south; and from the northern side of this ridge a spur juts out towards the north-east, and forms a V-shaped valley, giving rise to a small tributary of the river on which Modena is situated. On the neighbouring heights the snow occasionally lies until late in the year. During the last summer, as late as August 25th, snow was lying near Abetone, the mountain -top of Boscolungo, and about 4,500 feet high ; also away eastward, on the hill-tops on the southern side of the gorge beyond Monte Cimone, which is the crest, 6,700 feet high, at the head of the valley above mentioned. As in the Alps and elsewhere, these Italian snows are subject to sudden meltings, though it is said to be fifty years since so rapid a thaw, or such a flood of snow- water, has been recorded as that of this year. The mountains here, it will be remembered, are composed of limestone and sandy macigno, and therefore so highly susceptible of frost-action that the accumulation of débris on and at the foot of the slopes is often considerable. Some time in June last so sudden and rapid a melting of the snow occurred as to sweep down a large mass of débris, sufficient indeed to completely block the bed of the rivulet above mentioned, forming one of the head-waters of the Modena river. The result was the formation of a lake, some 300 or 400 yards long, by 150 or 200 yards wide, at the time when it was seen (from the pass) on the 24th August. It will be interesting to notice hereafter what effect the retention of the water will have on the dam of this little lake. Will the dam be violently cut through, or totally swept away, by gradually ac- cumulated water ? Will it be strong enough to withstand the pressure ? Will it be quietly worn down by the overflow, so as to allow of the gradual lowering of the lake? Will it be undermined by the destruction of its lower part? In any case the débris left will be moraine-like in character; and might, but for the want of the regular série, be mistaken for the results of an old glacier. Thus, it may be instructive to place on record this formation of a moraine-like heap, which, without careful examination as well of detail as of general appearance and situation, might at some future time be attributed to the action of a force very different from that which brought it to its place. T. Rupert Jonzs. Starr CoLLEGE, CAMBERLEY, Sept. 16th, 1879. 480 Correspondence—Dr. James Croll— Rev. W. Downes. INTERGLACIAL PERIODS. Str,—In the last Number of this Macazrnr Mr. McGee does me the honour to refer to the theory which I have advanced to account for those warm interglacial periods, of which the records are preserved in most highly glaciated regions which have been examined with adequate attention. As Mr. McGee appears to have misunderstood what I have written, and to have fallen into a misapprehension in regard to the melting of polar ice, perhaps you will kindly allow me, for the sake of those not familiar with the subject, to point out where he has gone wrong. I have not, as he supposes, assumed that the comparative disappearance of ice on the warm hemisphere, during the period of high excentricity, is due to any additional heat derived from the sun in consequence of the greater length of the summer, for there is no such increment. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. ser. 2, 1847. 6 In Mines and Miner. Statistics of N.S. Wales, 1875. 7 Paleontographica, 1878-79. 8 On some Ichthyolites from New 8. Wales Q. J. G.S. vol. xx. 1864, p. 1. 9 Tclass it with Thinnfeldia. Dr. O. Feistmantel—The Flora of FE. Australia. 487 Hawkesbury beds.” (I explain further on that the quotation of it in the ‘‘ Newcastle beds ” is a mistake.) 3. Upper Paleozoic (Clarke, l.c. p. 27). Mr. Clarke distinguishes several subdivisions (see l.c. p. 66). a. Upper Coal-measures, or otherwise called Newcastle beds. Localities: Black-man’s-swamp, Bowenfels, Guntawang, Mudgee, Illawara, Mulubimba, Newcastle, Wollongong, ete. Fossils: Urosthenes australis, Dan. (heterocercal). Plants very frequent—mostly: Phyllotheca australis, Brong., Vertebraria (australis, M‘Coy), several species of Sphenopteris, several species of Glossopteris (very numerous), one Gangamopteris, Cycadeaceous leaves (Néggerathiopsis and Zeugophyllites), etc. These Coal-beds were considered by Prof. M‘Coy as “ Oolitic,” and Mr. R. Etheridge (l.c.) also classes them as “Mesozoic,” while Mr. W. B. Clarke includes them under his heading ‘“ Paleozoic.” I myself classed them under the heading “Strata above the marine Fauna,” and my belief is, that they are younger than the Lower Coal-measures (below the marine Fauna). - b. Upper Marine Beds. ce. Lower Coal-measures. Localities: Anvil Creek, Greta, Harper’s Hill, Rix’s Creek, Stony Creek, etc., with Phyllotheca, several species of Glossopteris,t and Néggerathiopsis. Also an Annularia. Localities: Arowa, Port Stephens and Smith’s Creek, with “ Lower Carboniferous plants,” as Calamites radiatus, Brong., Sphenophyllum sp., Rhacopteris comp. inequilatera, Gopp., and several other species; Archgopteris, Cyclostigma australe, Fstm., Lepidodendron Volkmannianum, Sternb., Lep. Veltheimianum, Sternb., etc. Also a Glossopteris.? d. Lower Marine Beds. 4, Middle Paleozoic.—Devonian strata, of Goonoo-Goonoo, on the Peel River and Back Creek diggings, on the Barrington River, with Lepidodendron nothum, Ung. (Carr.), and Cyclostigma, sp. Equivalents: The Devonian beds of Queensland, with the same fossil plants. III. Vicrorta. For the stratigraphy and fossil Flora of the plant-bearing beds in Victoria, we have to consult :— . M‘Coy, Prodromus of a Paleontology of Victoria, Decades I.—-V. (1874-77). Brough Smyth, Reports of Progress of the Geol. Survey of Victoria, 1876 et seq. 1. Upper Mesozoic (Bellarine beds).—Localities : Barrabool Hills, Bellarine, Cape Paterson, Coleraine (Wannon River). Fossils (plants): Phyllotheca australis, Brong., Alethopteris australis, Morr., Teniopteris Daintree’, M‘Coy, and three species of Zamites (partly Podozamites). 1 Several species described by myself. 2 This is on the authority of Prof. M‘Coy, who quotes from Arowa a Glossopteris linearis, M-Coy, together with an Otopteris ovata, M‘Coy, which, however, is a Rhacopteris, comp. ineguilatera, Gopp. 488 Dr. O. Feistmantel—The Flora of E. Australia. Equivalents: Mesozoic beds in Queensland, in New South Wales (and in Tasmania). 2. Lower Mesozoic beds (Bacchus Marsh sandstones), of Bacchus Marsh (W.N.W. of Melbourne) ; also termed the Gangamopteris beds, having yielded, as far as known at present, one genus of fossil plants only, namely, Gangamopteris, M‘Coy, with four species: Gang. angustifolia, longifolia, spatulata, and obliqua. Gangamopteris is a genus allied to Glossopteris, having the same netted venation—but no midrib. This circumstance, as well as the occurrence of Gang. angustifolia, M‘Coy, in the Upper Coal-measures (Newcastle beds) in New South Wales, brings these beds in a certain relation to the Bacchus Marsh sandstones, which, however, very likely are a little younger—but at all events not older than the Neweastle beds. This is of great importance, as I believe that the Bacchus Marsh sandstones, with their abundance of Gangamopteris, represent, to a certain extent at least, the basal beds (the Talchir beds) of the Indian Gondwana system, in which Gangamopteris is also very numerous, in which case it would then be impossible to correlate the Indian Coal-strata (Damuda Series) with the Lower (Paleozoic) Coal-measures in Australia. 3. Carboniferous (Avon River sandstones), on the Avon River, in Gippsland, with Lepidedendron australe, M‘Coy. 4. Devonian (Iguana Creek sandstones), on the Iguana Creek, Gippsland, with Sphenopteris Iquanensis, M‘Coy, Aneimites Iguan- ensis, M‘Coy, Archgopteris Howitti, M‘Coy, Cordaites australis, M‘Coy. IV. Tasmanta. 1. Mesozoic. — Count Strzelecki described certain beds on the Spring Hills, Jerusalem’s Basin, containing Pecopteris (Alethopteris) australis, Morr., Pecopteris odontopteroides, Morr., and Zeugophyllites elongatus, Morr., as doubtfully dipping below other beds, with Pachydomus globosus, from which it was, of course, afterwards inferred that these plant-beds were Paleozoic. But Prof. M‘Coy* clearly stated that Mr. Selwyn, the Director of the Victorian Geol. Survey, who made an official Survey of the Tasmanian Coal-fields, found the Pachydomus-beds in their natural position, under the Coal-beds. Moreover, Mr. Crepin, in his note? on Pecopieris odontopteroides from the Jerusalem’s Basin in Tasmania, states, that on the same specimens of shale together with this species occurred still another fossil plant, Sphenopteris elongata, Carr., just as it was observed on specimens from the Mesozoic beds in Queensland, which certainly leaves little doubt as to the homotaxis of these beds in Tasmania, when compared with those in Queensland, and consequently also in New South Wales and in Victoria. I shall now enumerate and shortly discuss the fossils (including the few fishes), as we know them at present from the Australian plant-bearing (coal-bearing) strata. 1 In Trans. R. Soc. of Victoria, vol. v. 1860, p. 104. 2 Bull. de l’Acad. Royale de Belgique, 1875, vol. xxxix. pp. 258-263. Dr. O. Feistmantel—The Flora of £, Australia. 489 A. Anmmaura.— PISCEHS :—Urosthenes Australis, Dan., a hetero- cercal fish, from the “Upper Coal-measure” (Newcastle beds) in New South Wales. Paleoniscus antipodeus, Egert., Wianamatta beds, N. 8S. W.; heterocercal. Cleithrolepis granulatus, Eg., Wianamatta and Hawkesbury beds, N.S. W. (not apparently heterocercal). Myriolepis Clarkei, Eg., Hawkesbury beds, N. S. W. (tail not known). B. Puanta.—1.—HQUISETACEA :—Genus Phyllotheca. This genus appears in Australia in the ‘“ Lower Coal-measures” (below the first marine Fauna), is most numerous in the Upper Coal- measures (Newcastle beds), and is still found in the Upper Mesozoic beds. Otherwise the genus is known in Europe from Jurassic beds only (Italy), in Siberia also from the Jura, and in India from the upper portion of the Coal-beds. Phyllotheca australis, Brong., Victoria (Upp. Mesoz.) and New South Wales (Upp. Coal-m.). Jam not aware whether the form in the Lower Coal-measures belongs to this species also, or to another’ one. Genus Vertebraria, Royle —a plant of doubtful systemaiical position—but most probably rhizome and rootlets of an Equisetaceous plant—very likely of Pyllotheca. Known from the Upper Coal- measures (Newcastle beds) in N. 8. W., and from the Indian Coal- beds. The species is Vertebraria australis, M‘Coy. Calamites radiatus, Brong. From the Lower Carboniferous beds, Smith’s Creek, near Stroud, N. 8. Wales. (Figured by me for the first time.) Amnularia australis, Fstm. From the Lower Coal-measures at Greta, N. 8. Wales. The only form of this genus in Australia. Sphenophyllum sp. Fragmentary specimens from the Lower Car- boniferous at Port Stephens, N. 8. Wales. 2.—FILICES :—Genus Sphenopteris—six species from the Upper Coal-measures (Newcastle beds) in N. S. Wales (by Morris and M‘Coy) ; one species from the Devonian in Victoria (Iguana Creek). Sphenopteris elongata, Carr. (together with Pecopt. odontopteroides), from the Mesozoic coal-strata in Queensland (Tivoli Mines), and Tasmania (Jerusalem’s Basin). Aneimites Iqguanensis, M‘Coy, Devonian, Iguana Creek, Victoria. Archeopteris Howitti, M‘Coy, Devonian, Iguana Creek, Victoria. Arch. Wilkinsoni, Fstm. Archeopteris sp., Lower Carboniferous, Smith’s Creek (near Stroud), N. 8. Wales. Genus Rhacopteris was rather numerous in the Lower Carboni- ferous beds. Rhacopteris, comp. inequilatera, Gopp., Smith’s Creek (Stroud), N.S. Wales. Mr. W. B. Clarke sent also two specimens of M‘Coy’s Otopteris ovata from Arowa; but after careful comparison, I arrived at the conclusion that this species is identical with those forms which I refer to the above species, so that the locality Arowa is also to be included amongst the Lower Carboniferous localities. 490 Dr, O. Feistmantel—The Flora of E. Australia. Rhacopteris intermedia, Fstm., Port Stephens; Rh. comp. Rémeri, Fstm., Smith’s Creek (Stroud) ; Bh. septentrionalis, Fstm. ibidem. Thinnfeldia (Pecopteris) odontopteroides, Morr. Prof. Morris described in Strzelecki’s work certain ferns from the Jerusalem’s Basin in Tasmania as Pecopteris odontopteroides; it was found in those beds, which I mentioned before, as doubtfully dipping below the Pachydomus beds. Prof. M‘Coy referred it to Gleichenites. Mr. Carruthers described and figured it again as Pecopteris odontopteroides from Queensland.’ Recently, Mr. Crepin (l.c.) discussed and figured several specimens of this species, also from Tasmania; they agree very well with those from Queensland. Relying apparently upon Count Strzelecki’s description, he considered the Jerusalem’s Basin as Carboniferous, and took the plant to be an Odontopteris, comparing it with Prof. Geinitz’s Odontopteris alpina. But, at the same time, he made the important statement, which I mentioned before, about the association of this plant with Sphenopteris elongata in Tasmania. In my papers on the Australian Flora, I gave figures of specimens from Queensland, Tasmania, and from the Wianamatta and Hawkes- bury beds in N. S. Wales. A careful examination of these specimens from the different localities showed them to belong to one and the same form, and I think that, from reasons which I have given elsewhere, it belongs to Thinnfeldia. It is known from the Upper Mesozoic beds in Queensland and Tasmania, and from the Wianamatta-Hawkesbury beds in New South Wales—but not from the “ Upper Coal-measures ” (Newcastle beds) in N. 8. Wales. The quotation of this species from the New- castle beds in my paper was a mistake, caused by my considering the locality ‘“Clark’s Hill,” in New South Wales, as belonging to the Upper Coal-measures, while it belongs to the Wianamatta beds. Odontopteris microphylla, M‘Coy, Wianamatta beds (and not New- castle beds). Cyclopteris cuneata, Carr., Upper Mesozoic, Queensland. Alethopteris (Pecopteris) australis, Morr. At present known from the Upper Mesozoic beds only (Clarence River, New South Wales ; Victoria; Tasmania); but not from the Newcastle beds in N. 8S. Wales. Pecopteris? tenuifolia, M‘Coy, and Gleichenia dubia, Fstm., from the Wianamatta beds, N. 8S. Wales. Teniopteris (Angiopteridium) Daintreei, M‘Coy, Upper Mesozoic beds in Queensland (Talgai) ; New 8. Wales (Clarence River), and Victoria. Macroteniopteris Wianamatte, Fstm., Wianamatta beds. Genus Glossopteris, Brong. This genus, as far as is known at present, begins, in Australia, in the Lower Carboniferous beds, and is most frequent in the “ Upper Coal-measures” of New South Wales. In India it is found in the Coal-measures (Talchir and Damuda Series), in the Panchet group, and in the Jabalpur group (Jura). In Africa in the Karoo beds. ‘ His specimens differ, however, somewhat from Morris's original type—but later quite similar forms were also found in the Jerusalem’s Basin, Tasmania; Morris’s specimens were altogether badly preserved. Dr. O. Feistmantel—The Frora of E. Australia. . 491 Prof. Trautschold described one species from the Russian Jura. Glossopt. Browniana, Brong., Gl. elegans, Fstm., Gl. primeva, F'stm., Gl. Clarkei, Fstm., Gl. linearis, M‘Coy, from the Lower Coal- measures (Greta, Stony Creek), New South Wales, and the Lower Carboniferous (Arowa), N.S. W. Glossopt. Browniana, Brong., Gl. ampla, Dan., Gl. reticulum, Dan., Gl. elongata, Dan., Gl. cordata, Dan., Gl. Teeniopteroides, Fstm., Gl. Wilkinsoni, Fstm., Gl. parallela, Fstm., from the Newcastle beds (Upper Coal-measures), New South Wales. Gangamopteris obliqua, Gang. spatulata, and G. angustifolia, M‘Coy, from the Bacchus Marsh sandstones (Lower Mesozoic), Victoria. The importance of these forms, was pointed out before, when the Bacchus Marsh sandstones were mentioned. _ Gangamopteris angustifolia, M‘Coy, from the Newcastle beds (Upper Coal-measures). Sagenopteris rhoifolia, Presl, from the Talgai diggings, Queensland. Sagenopt. Tasmanica, Fstm., from the Mesozoic beds in Tasmania. 3.—LYCOPODIACE :—Lepidodendron nothum, Ung. (Carr.), Devonian, Queensland (Mt. Wyatt, Broken River, etc.) ; New South Wales (Goonoo-Goonoo on the Peel River, Back Creek diggings on the Barrington River). Lepidodendron Veltheimianum, Sternb., and Volkmannianum, Sternb., Lower Carboniferous, Smith’s Creek (near Stroud), New South Wales. The Rev. W. B. Clarke’s specimen of Lepid. rimosum, Sternb., of which he sent a photograph, seems to belong to Lep. Veltheimianum, Sternb. Lepidodendron dichotomum (?), Sternb., Lower Carboniferous, Smith’s Creek (Stroud), New South Wales. Cyclostigma australe, Fstm., from the Lower Carboniferous, Smith’s Creek (near Stroud), New South Wales. This plant, together with the others from the same locality, appeared to me to indicate Prof. Heer’s “ Ursastufe.” 4.—CYCADEACE :— Otozamites (comp. Mandels/ohi,’ Kurr.).— The first Otozamites from Australia, Talgai diggings, Queensland (Upper Mesozoic Coal-beds). Genus Néggerathiopsis, Fstm.—I established this generic name (1878) for those leaves which, in India and Australia, were described as Néggerathia. When examining, last year, the Indian leaves, I found that they differed from Néggerathia, and named them Noggera- thiopsis; finding afterwards that the Australian leaves also belong to this genus, the same name is now used for them. Similar leaves were described from the Altai by Prof. Goppert, also with the generic name Noéggerathia, and the formation was described as Permian. Prof. Schmalhausen (Kiev) has, however, recently stated that this Flora from the Altai, and another Flora on the Upper Tunguska (which at first was also considered Carbon- iferous), are, in fact, of a Jurassic age; the said Néggerathia was placed by him in a new genus, Rhiptozamites; it appears that Noggerathiopsis and Rhiptozamites are closely allied genera, probably identical. 1 This is probably a misprint for Mendelsohnii—Epiv. Grou. Mac. 492 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, ete., from Sumatra. Noggerathiopsis prisca, Fstm., Lower Coal-measures, Greta, New South Wales. Négg. spatulata, Dan., and N. media, Dan., Upper Coal-measures (Newcastle beds), New South Wales. Zeugophyllites elongatus, Morr.—At first described by Prof. Morris, from Tasmania, from the doubtful beds, which, however, from the evidence of Thinnfeldia (Pecopteris) odontopteroides, Morr., sp. (F'stm.), and Sphenopteris elongata, Carr., appear to be Mesozoic. Later, also found in New South Wales (in the Upper Coal- measures, Newcastle beds). Cordaites australis, M‘Coy, Devonian, Iguana Creek, Victoria. Zamites (Podoz.) ellipticus, M‘Coy, Zam. (Podoz.) Barklyi, M‘Coy. Zam. longifolius, M‘Coy, Upper Mesozoic beds in Victoria. CONIFER! :—Brachyphyllum australe, Fstm. Upper Coal- measures (Newcastle beds), N. S. Wales. Cardiocarpum australe, Carr., Upper Mesozoic, Queensland (Tivoli Mines). The most important deductions are: 1. The doubtful strata in Tasmania (Jerusalem’s Basin) are, from a palzontological point of view, equivalent with the Upper (Meso- zoic) Coal-strata in Queensland, consequently also in N.S. Wales and Victoria. 2. Phyllotheca, which in Europe and Siberia is Jurassic, appears in Australia already in Paleozoic beds, and is found still in the Upper Mesozoic beds in Victoria. 3. Glossopteris appears in Australia in Paleozoic beds (for the first time with Lower Carboniferous plants), is most frequent in the Upper Coal-measures (Newcastle beds), continues in India and Russia into Jurassic beds. 4. Néggerathiopsis begins in Australia in Paleeozoic beds, and has a closely allied representative (Rhiptozamites) in the Jurassic beds in Siberia. 5. The Lower Carboniferous Flora of Port Stephens and Smith’s Creek (Stroud), New South Wales, is of great importance for the knowledge of the geographical distribution of the Lower Carbon- iferous Flora. II].—Furtuer Nores on a Courection oF Fosstn SHELLS, ETC., FROM SUMATRA (OBTAINED BY M. VerBeuk, DirEcTOR OF THE GroLoGicaL Survey or THE West Coast, Sumatra). Parr III. By Henry Woopwarp, LL.D., F.R.S., etc. ; of the British Museum. (PLATES XII. ann XIII.) 28. Conus, sp. (cast). Pl. XII. Fig. 1. This cast indicates a subfusiform shell with a somewhat elongated conical spire, but the apex is imperfect: volutions contiguous and convex ; the body-whorl gradually tapering to a somewhat acute base. 1 Continued from the October Number, p. 444. Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, etc., from Sumatra. 493 Dimensions :—Length about 3 inches; width of broadest part nearly 12 inch. Number of whorls 6-8. This cone in its general form is evidently near to the Conus Noe of Brocchi (Conchiologia Fossile Subapennina, 1814, tom. ii. p. 2938, tab. ili. fig. 3); but as it is only preserved to us in the form of a cast, it is impossible to do more than point out approximately its specific relations. . Formation :—Obtained by M. Verbeek from the bed marked (5), consisting of Tertiary Coral limestone, including internal casts of Gasteropods and Conchifers, etc. (Verbeek, Grou. Mac. 1877, p. 444). Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 29. Conus substriatellus (cast), H. Woodw. PI. XII. Fig. 2. This cast—which approaches most nearly to Conus striatellus of H. M. Jenkins (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1863, vol. xx. p. 54, pl. vii. figs. 3a, 3b) from Java, and particularly with the figures of a cone referred to that species by Dr. K. Martin, in his work “ Die Tertiar- schichten auf Java” (Univalves), Leyden, 1879, p. 9, tab. i. figs. 2 and 2a—represents a conical ventricose shell; the axis being short in proportion to its breadth; the whorls narrow, volutions 7-8 in number, apex depressed, aperture narrow, slightly dilated at the base. Dimensions :—Height of shell 40 mm.; breadth of shell at widest part 28 mm. The figure given by Mr. Jenkins is evidently that of a young individual, whereas our cast is that of an adult shell; Dr. Martin’s figures represent three stages of growth, and his Fig. 2 most nearly corresponds with M. Verbeek’s specimen. It must, however, be borne in mind that the Javan fossils are represented by specimens having the shell preserved, whereas the Sumatran fossil is only a cast. I have therefore preferred to name it C. substriatellus. Formation and Locality:—From the bed marked (5), found with the preceding species. 30. Cyprea subelongata, H. Woodw. Pl. XII. Fig. 3. This species is represented by four examples, two of which have the shell partially preserved, which was tolerably thick ; in general form it is somewhat amygdaloidal or ovato-elongate; the spire is slightly visible, but depressed; the aperture is narrow at the upper part, and somewhat dilated from the middle towards the base; there are well-marked indications of crenulations on the inner lip. Dimensions: — Length of figured specimen 33 wmillimétres; breadth of shell 214 mm. The three other specimens referred to this species are somewhat smaller. This shell closely resembles, in general form, the so-called Ovula elongata of D’Archiac (Descrip. des Animaux Fossiles de l’Inde, 1854, p. 331, pl. xxxili. fig. 9 and 9a) from the Hala Chain; but as the Sumatran fossil affords distinct evidence of crenulations on the body-whorl, as above stated (although, unfortunately, our artist has omitted to indicate them in Fig. 3), we have not ventured to refer it to that species. Possibly—as the Indian shell is so like a Cyprea in general form—the artist of M. D’Archiac’s plate may 494 Dr. H, Woodward—On Fossil Shelis, etc., from Sumatra. have in a similar manner overlooked the indications of crenulations on the body-whorl. We have, however, considered it safer to refer this Cyprea to a new species, and have named it C. subelongata. Formation and Locality :—Obtained with the preceding species. 31. Cerithium, sp. (casts of). Pl. XII. Fig. 4. Our figure represents a cast of four somewhat convex volutions, very gradually increasing in size, and exhibiting traces of longi- tudinal ribs. Two other casts, probably belonging to the same species, indicate a considerably larger form. From their general character they no doubt indicate a species of Cerithium; but from their state of preservation, it is difficult to assign them to any particular species. They resemble somewhat the casts figured by D’Archiac (plate xxvii. fig. 18 and 14, p. 308, op. cit.) from the Nummulitic formation of India. These casts of Cerithium do not, however, exhibit any external indications of ribs. They might have represented the interior of Cerithium Montis-Sele, K. Martin, plate xi. fig. 1 (Die Tertiirschichten auf Java, Leiden, 1879). Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 02. Turbo (Borneensis? Bottger). Pl. XII. Fig. 5. This is represented by the cast of a turbinated shell showing about four rapidly increasing very convex volutions, separated by a deep suture; portions of the shell remaining apparently indicate a thick and smooth test. Base umbilicated. Dimensions :—Height of shell 36 mm.; breadth 86 mm. Thick- ness of body-whorl 19 mm. It seems probable that our specimen is closely allied to, if not actually identical with, the Turbo Borneensis of Dr. O. Béttger (Paleontographica: Beitrage zur Naturgeschichte der Vorwelt, Supplement III. Lief. I. 1875, 4to. p. 11, table i. fig. 3, a, b, c, and 4), obtained from the Nummulitic Limestone of Pengaron, Borneo, and also from the Tertiary formation of Sumatra. This cast may also be compared with the Turbo Pendjabensis, D’Archiac and Haime (pl. xxvii. fig. 2, op. cit.), from the Tertiary Calcareous Marl, Punjaub, India. Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species in bed marked (5), by M. Verbeek. 08. Turbo, sp. (not figured). There are two other casts of a much larger form, probably belonging to the same genus, indicating a more discoidal shell, the body-whorl being much expanded, and the spire more depressed, the shell having also fewer whorls and a larger umbilical cavity. Dimensions :—Height 14 inch; breadth 24 inches. Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding. 34, Phusianella Oweni, D’Archiac, 1854. Pl. XII. Fig. 6. An oval elongated shell composed of 6-7 somewhat convex volutions, that increase very regularly and are separated by a well- marked suture. The aperture is subovate and the shell is not umbilicated; body-whorl equalling in length the height of the spire. Dimensions :—Actual height of shell 833 mm. (Height of shell with the spire restored, about 41 mm.) Breadth of body-whorl 25 mm. Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, etc.. from Sumatra, 495 This species is represented by two casts which agree closely with the Phasianella Oweni, D’Arch. (pl. xxvii. fig. 3, 3a., D’Archiac and Haime, Animaux Fossiles de l’Inde, p. 298), from the Nummu- litic Limestone of the Hala Chain, and the compact Chalk-marl of the Salt-range, Punjaub. It presents also some slight resemblance to the figures given by Dr. O. Béottger of his Buccinum Pengaronense (Paleeontographica : Beitriige zur Natur. der Vorwelt. Suppt. III. Lief. I. 1875, taf. ii. fig. lla., b. p. 16), from the Nummulitic Limestone of Pengaron, Borneo, and the Eocene formation of Sumatra; but the form of the aperture differs. It might also be compared with Dr. K. Martin’s Natica Bandon- gensis, K. Martin, p. 82, tab. xii. fig. 15 (but not fig. 16), Die Tertiirschichten auf Java, 4to. 1879, from the Tertiary beds of Java. Formation and Locality:—The same as that of the preceding species. 35. Trochus, sp. (casts of). Pl. XII. Fig. 7. This species is represented by three casts. Shell trochiform, with six flattened volutions gradually increasing in size with a distinct suture, and ornamented with from 6 to 7 longitudinal ribs, broader than the spaces which separate them: base expanded, umbilicus deep and conical. This shell presents some points of resemblance to the Trochus radiatus, Gmel. (see Dr. K. Martin, Die Tertiirschichten auf Java, 1879, Lief. I. p. 72, tab. xi. fig. 16); but the outer surface not being preserved in our specimens, it cannot be compared satisfac- torily with this or allied forms. Formation and Locality :—The same as the preceding species. 36. Prenaster, sp. Pl. XII. Fig. 8a, 8b. The diagram of an Echinoderm on our Plate (Figs. 8a, b.) was transmitted with the collection to Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., and submitted by him to Dr. Wright, F.R.S. His note has since been mislaid; the diagram-figure on the Plate only serves therefore to record its occurrence in the Sumatran Tertiaries. In a letter lately received from Dr. Wright, he observes :—“ In the absence of the specimen, I cannot venture to give a definite opinion about M. Verbeek’s Echinoderm. If my memory serves me, when I first saw the diagram, I concluded that it was a Miocene Urchin differing from any that had been figured as coming from Java, and it reminded me of a form I had described from Malta belonging to the genus Prenaster,! which comprehends ovoid Urchins with inflated tests, having the ambulacral summit very excentric; the petaloid ambu- lacra slightly depressed, nearly level with the surface, and very divergent; often almost perpendicular; the anteal sulcus is 1 This observation is extremely interesting, as M. Verbeek had already noticed in Grou. Maa. 1877, p. 444, under head of bed 5, the occurrence of ‘“ casts of Gastero- pods and Conchifers, together with Hchinide, comparable with the Eocene forms Prenaster alpinus, Desor, and Pertaster sub-globosus, Desor,’ which Dr. Wright's observation tends to confirm. 496 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, etc., from Sumatra. nearly obsolete. The form I figured as Prenaster excentricus re- sembles the diagram-sketch on your Plate more than any other species that occurs to me now, so that your Sumatran Hchinoderm may be an allied form belonging to the genus Prenaster. More than this I cannot say.” 37. Conus Niasensis, H. Woodw. PI. XIII. Fig. 1. Shell conical-elongate, concentrically-striated, strie wider apart towards the base of shell and rather more strongly accentuated ; spire conical, apex obtuse, showing about seven volutions, concen- trically striated and crenulated, the outer margins ornamented with a series of flattened tubercles ; aperture narrow. Dimensions :—Height 15 millimétres; breadth at widest part of shell 65 mm. The ornamentation of the upper portion of the whorls around the apex presents a close agreement with Conus acutangulus, Chemn., as figured by K. Martin from Java (Die Tertiirschichten auf Java, p. 11, tab. i. fig. 2) ; but the apex of this species is more regularly conical and the shell itself is more robust. | Dr. Bottger also figures a cone under the name of Conus gracili- spira, Bottg., from Pengaron, Borneo (p. 18, taf. ii. fig. 18, 14 a, and b, Paleontographica, 1875) ; but the apex is too truncated, and the specimen, being a cast, cannot be compared certainly with our fossil. Formation :—Tertiary Grey Marl. Locality :—Hiligara, Island of Nias, Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 38. Oliva mustelina? Lamarck. PI. XIII. Fig. 2 a, 6. The specimen figured consists only of the body-whorl, the apex being wanting; the shell is much eroded, and it would be difficult of identification, but it presents a great similarity to the Oliva mustelina, Lamarck, which is commonly met with on the coast of Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore. The following is the description of Oliva mustelina (from Sowerby’s Thesaurus Conchyliorum (1871), part xxx. p. 22). “Shell oblong-cylindrical, subtruncated at both ends, thick; colour greyish yellow, marked with obliquely-longitudinal undulating lines; spire short, broad, suture acute, punctated ; columella plicated throughout, terminating posteriorly in a thick elevated callus, having a few very strongly-oblique plice in front; aperture violet within ; lip thick, elevated behind, interior and exterior smooth.” Formation :—(Sub-fossil ?) Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 39. Oliva pseudoaustralis, H. Woodw. Pl. XIII. Fig. 3. This is a smooth ovate shell with a conical spire, and having a strongly ribbed columella which is thickened towards the base. It appears to be allied to the Oliva australis of Duclos, but it is rather shorter, and has a more conical spire. This species may also be compared with the Oliva Javana, K. Martin, (op. cit.) tab. iti, fig. 8 and 8a, but the spire of this latter Species is more acute. GE OL.MAG.1879. mpsad aasnere: gan eeseseees \ at? wp. 43% SASS RAEI ti thetexe C.L .Griesbach delet lith, Dit, CADn, Me ViOI Wal. Pi, Ae Xa ae West,New mae b Co.tmp. Sumatran Tertiary Fossils. GEOL.MAG.1879. DECADE II.VOL.Vi.PLATE Xm. C.L Griesbach del.et lith.. West, Newman b& Co. imp. Sumatran Tertiary Shells &c. te Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, etc., from Sumatra. 497 Dimensions :—Length 20 mm. ; greatest breadth 10 mm. Formation :—From Grey Tertiary Marl-clay. Locality :—Island of Nias, Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 40. Oliva pupeformis, H. Woodw. PI. XIII. Fig. 4. This is a more attenuated and cylindrical shell than the preceding, with a produced and pointed spire, the columella having only two folds upon it. The aperture of the shell is narrow. Although resembling several small living species, yet upon close comparison it appears to be distinct. Dimensions :—Height 18 mm.; breadth 7 mm. In general proportions it agrees very nearly with Sowerby’s Oliva pupa, from Soomrow, Cutch (Trans. Geol. Soc. 1840, vol. v. 2nd series, pl. xxvi. fig. 32). Formation :—From Grey Tertiary Marl-clay. Locality :—Island of Nias, Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 41. Ancillaria, sp. Pl. XIII. Fig. 5. This is a narrow cylindrical shell, with moderately wide aperture ; columella with eight folds; marked by a broad and smooth band at the base ; apex subacute. Dimensions :—Height 14 mm.; breadth 6 mm. Formation and Locality :—The same as preceding species. 42. Terebellum, sp. (cast). Pl. XIII. Fig. 6. This narrow cylindrical form is destitute of any test, but from its general characters may very well be compared with the Terebellum subulatum, Chemnitz, a species distributed in the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, and the neighbouring seas of China, ete. The spire of the Sumatran fossil, however, is shorter, the sutures are less oblique, and the body-whorl near the spire is rather more tumid than in the recent form. (See Sowerby’s Thesaurus Conchyliorum, vol. iii. 1866, pl. 218.) Dimensions :—Height 20 mm.; breadth 5 mm. Formation :—In light-coloured Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Island of Nias, Government of West Coast of Sumatra. 43 Cyprea, sp. (cast). Pl. XIII. Fig. 8a, b. This is a smooth and polished cast of a short and very ovate and tumid Cypreea, which was probably not unlike the Cyprea Reevit, from Swan River. The spire seems to have been exserted ; outer lip broad and marked by small but numerous teeth; the inner lip was also denticulated, especially towards the anterior end ; the aperture is narrow near the centre, but expands somewhat towards each extremity. Dimensions :—Length of shell 31 mm.; breadth 21 mm. Formation :—In light-coloured Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of West Coast of Sumatra. 44. Cyprea nucleus, Linn. Pl. XIII. Figs. 7a and 6. Shell (in living state) white, or reddish-yellow ; ovate; produced at the extremities, elevated dorsally, irregularly tuberculate, with faint traces of ribs between the tubercles; base rounded, denticula- tions numerous, the intermediate ones diverging at margin of aperture, DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. XI. 32 498 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, etc., from Sumatra. terminal ones distinct, divaricating; aperture narrow, dorsal cicatrix rather broad. My colleague, Mr. Edgar Smith, having compared this fossil shell with the recent examples in the Collection, remarks : “‘ Undoubtedly this is the Cyprea nucleus, Linn., whose geographical range extends from the Mauritius to the Philippines, Borneo, and the islands of the Pacific.” Dimensions :—Length of shell 15 mm.; breadth 94 mm.; height 7 mm. Formation :—In bluish Clay-marl (Miocene ?), Tertiary. Locality :—Island of Nias, Government of West Coast of Sumatra. 45. Cyprea erosa, Linn. Pl. XIII. Fig. 10 a, 6. Shell ovate-oblong, solid, somewhat depressed, colour (in living specimens) golden-yellow on the back, scattered over very commonly with minute white spots, more obscurely marked with a few chestnut spots ; sides somewhat expanded and thickened, white at the extremities, marked by reflexed chestnut bands, and close-set crenu- lations; painted with a large dark-brown quadrate spot in the centre; base somewhat flattened, white, sometimes marked by puncta and converging lines of reddish chestnut. Aperture somewhat broad, expanded in front, bluish within; dentations 14 to 19 in number, short on the columella, prolonged on the lip; lip at the marginal terminations crenulated. There is no doubt about this species, although subject to great variations. It occurs widely distributed, being recorded living from the Mauritius, Mozambique, Ceylon, Seychelles, Andaman Islands, North Australia, New Guinea, and several islands in the Pacific. Dimensions of Fossil :—-Length of shell 31 mm.; breadth 20 mm.; height 15 mm. Formation :—In light-coloured Clay-marl (Tertiary). Locality :—Government of West Coast of Sumatra. 46. Bulla (Hydatina) crebristriata (cast), H. Woodw. Pl. XIII. Fig. 9 a, b. The cast of this shell shows it to have been roundly oval, umbili- cated, the spire retuse; the surface closely and finely striated both longitudinally and transversely. Aperture wide near the umbilicus, and decreasing to one-half the width near the spire. Dimensions :—Height of shell 24 mm.; greatest breadth 23 mm. The nearest analogue to our fossil is to be found in the Bulla physis of Linnzus from the Mauritius (see Sowerby’s Thesaur. Conch. 1855, vol. ii. p. 565, pl. cxx. fig. 9), but the aperture is wider in the recent shell. 2. physis is also similarly striated. — It may also be compared with the Bulla vexillum, Chemnitz (Sowerby, Thesaur. Conch. loc. cit. pl. exx. figs. 12-14), from Ceylon. Being a cast, however, it is difficult to relegate it to any existing species. Formation :—In light-coloured Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 47. Pyrazus palustris, Linn. Pl. XIII. Fig. 11. Shell large, pyramidal (colour brown in living examples), whorls Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells, ete., from Sumatra. 499 straight, longitudinally plaited, and spirally distantly sulcated, interstices flat, aperture (broken in fossil) subquadrate, canal short, outer lip produced in front of the canal below. (The outer lip of the fossil shell is, however, broken.) Operculum not preserved—but in living shell spiral, with the whorls fluted. Habitat:— This specimen is identical with the recent Pyrazus palustris, of Linnzus (see Reeve’s Conchologia Iconica, vol. xv. genus Pyrazus, May, 1865). A very common species found in salt-marshes at the mouths of rivers, in the Eastern Archipelago, in Ceylon, in North Australia, and other localities. Dimensions of fossil: —Height 4 inches; greatest breadth 1} inches. Formation :—(Subfossil ?) Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 48. Terebra subacuminata, H. Woodw. PI. XII. Fig. 12. Shell elongated, turriculated, very tapering, solid, with simple closely-united and numerous whorls, only a little rounded, and with but slightly indented sutures. Hach whorl, at a distance of one- third of its breadth below the suture, is circumscribed by a single indented line, or fold,’ parallel to the suture, and equally as clearly marked, which follows the course of the whorls of the shell from the apex to the aperture. The shell is ornamented with numerous fine obliquely-curving parallel raised lines, the curvature of which is reversed above the indented line or fold. Aperture (broken) very small in proportion to the shell, elongated and deeply emarginated at the base. Columella simple, curved, with a single fold near the base. Nine whorls of our Sumatran fossil only are preserved, giving a length of 24 inches. If the spire were restored, the length would have been about 4 inches. This specimen approaches very closely to many recent forms of Terebra, but it differs from each in some minor points of form, orna- mentation, or growth. It presents considerable affinity to Terebra duplicata, a species common to China and Singapore, but the costz are much more strongly marked than in the fossil. Terebra Lamarckii, from Zanzibar, may also be compared with it, but the ornamentation in the living shell is too coarse. In Terebra sene- galensis and in T. pertusa the parallel strize agree better with our fossil, but in the former, the rate of increase of the shell is greater ; whilst in the latter the ornamentation follows a different curve. Its nearest fossil analogue appears to be found in the Terebra acuminata, Borson (Saggio di Oritt. Piem. Mem. della Accad. di Torino. t. xxv. p. 224, t. 1, fig. 17; and Hornes, Die Fossilen Mollus- ken des Tertiaer-Beckens von Wien, 1856, Bd. i. p. 180, taf. 11, figs. 22, 23, 24, a, 6), but the cincture or fold is less distinct and nearer to the suture than in M. Verbeek’s specimen. The ornamental lines or strize agree very nearly with 7. acuminata. 1 This indentation, or fold, reminds one of the similarly situated line or fold marking the position of the filled up slit, or notch, near the suture in the lip of Pleurotoma ; there is no slit in the lip of Zerebra, but in the recent Terebra duplicata the lip is slightly indented. 500 E. Wilson—Age of the Pennine Chain. I have ventured, however, to consider this fossil as distinct, and have named it Terebra subacuminata. Formation :—From Tertiary Grey Marl-clay. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 49. Celosmilia? Pl. XIII. Fig. 13. An imperfectly preserved Coral with the habit of growth of a Coelosmilia. EXPLANATION OF PLATES XII. AND XIII. Prats XII. Fic. 1. Conus, sp. (cast), Tertiary Coral Limestone, Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. » 2. Conus substriatellus, H. Woodw., Gov. of the West Coast of Sumatra. » 8. Cyprea subelongata, H. Woodw. i ws » 4. Cerithium, sp. (cast) is Je » 95. Turbo (Borneensis ? Bottger) 3 i » 6. Phasianella Oweni, D’ Archiac on SS », 7. Trochus, sp. (cast) 3 i 8 . Prenaster, sp. a a upper, 4 under side (Drawn from a Diagram.) Prats XIII. Fic. 1. Conus Niasensis, H. Woodw., Tertiary Grey Marl, Hiligara, Island of Nias, ~ Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 2a,b. Oliva mustelina ? Lamarck (subfossil?), Government of West Coast of Sumatra. . Oliva pseudoaustralis, H. Woodw., Tertiary Grey Marl, Government of West Coast of Sumatra. . Oliva pupaformis, H. Woodw., Government of West Coast of Sumatra. . Ancillaria, sp. on ie . Terebellum, sp. (cast). In light-coloured Tertiary Clay-marl, Ditto. . Cyprea nucleus, Linn. Miocene Clay-marl, Island of Nias. - fae sw Sp. (cast) ” i 9 55 . Bulla crebristriata, H. Woodw., Ditto, Government of W. Coast of Sumatra. Me . Cyprea erosa, Linn. . Ss Pe . Pyrazus palustris, Linn. (subfossil ?) ss 3 4 i) 6 7 be Sb 9 10 11 99 12. Terebra subacuminata, H. Woodw., Grey Tertiary Marl. # », 18. Celosmilia ? sp. 59 (To be continued in our neat Number.) TV.—Tue Ace or THE “ PENNINE CHAIN.” By E. Wison, F.G.S. HE “Pennine Chain” is the name (restored about fifty years ago by Conybeare and Phillips from the ‘Alpes Penini” of the Romans) for that hilly tract of country that stretches from the borders of Scotland on the North to the centre of Derbyshire on the South. This important range possesses the structure of a great, though complex, anticlinal, the result of a meridional movement of upheaval that took place at a remote period in the physical history of our island. This axis of elevation, which ranges a little west of North through North Derbyshire and West Yorkshire, throws off the Coal-measures of Yorkshire and Derbyshire on the one side, and those of Lancashire and North Staffordshire on the other, with a steeper dip on the West, and a gentler inclination on the Hast. The maximum of this upheaval is attained in North Derbyshire, where a dome-shaped mass of Mountain Limestone has been exposed at the surface at an altitude of 1500 feet above the sea. E. Wilson—Age of the Pennine Chain. 501 In many ways this prominent feature in the physical structure of our island is worthy of notice. It has had a great deal to do with the distribution of the mineral wealth of the North of England, and if, as one result of that elevation, a vast amount of valuable Coal-measures have been swept away, still many mineral substances of great economic value have been brought within our reach, that would otherwise have been hopelessly buried in the bowels of the earth; while we are at the same time indebted to this ancient earth-movement for that bold and beautiful scenery, moorland and mountain, scar and dale, that characterizes the Pennine Chain in its range through the counties of Derby and York. It is not, however, from an economical or an esthetic, but from a physical point of view, that I propose to consider this ancient mountain chain. In particular I seek to arrive at its age. The age of the Pennine Chain has long been a matter of doubt and debate among physical geologists. While all are agreed that the upraising of this great anticlinal took place before the Triassic epoch, the question still remains whether it was or was not also Pre-Per- mian. In 1861, Prof. Hull stated his belief that the Pennine Chain was elevated into land during the deposition of the earlier Permian strata.1 In 1868, however, the learned Professor had come to the conclusion that this earliest upheaval took place between the close of the Permian period and the commencement of the Trias, “that it belonged to that period of general stratigraphical disturbance which marked the close of the Paleozoic age.’* As a rule, geologists appear to have been content to follow in the wake of so high an authority.? Several years ago my local rock studies in the adjoining county of Nottingham led me to believe that the Pennine Chain was older and not younger than the Magnesian Limestone, and sub- sequent observations have tended to fortify me in that opinion. Let us first, however, examine what is to be said in favour of the opposite view. The chief, if not the only item cited by Prof. Hull in support of a Post-Permian upheaval, is the supposed identity in origin (in Lancashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire) of two important lines of fracture respectively known as the Anticlinal Fault and the Red Rock Fault.* The Anticlinal Fault and the Red Rock Fault run meridionally (approximately) parallel with each other and with the Pennine Chain. Professor Hull, therefore, concludes that all three were the results of a common movement: The Anti- clinal Fault near Leck passes under Bunter (conglomerate) with- out faulting that rock, therefore this common movement was Pre-Triassic ; the Red Rock Fault near Stockport faults Permians, consequently this common movement was Post-Permian. But, 1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 63. 2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 323. Triassic and Permian Rocks, p. 111. Coal-fields of Great Britain, 1873, p. 468. 3 Grou. Mac. 1872, p. 889; 1879, p. 110; West Yorkshire, p. 9; President’s Address to Geological Section, British Association Meeting, 1879. * Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 323. 502 E. Wilson—Age of the Pennine Chain. the same Red Rock Fault elsewhere, viz. near Macclesfield and Congleton, displaces Upper Keuper rocks. To get over this dif- ficulty, then, Professor Hull assumes that the Red Rock Fault is the result of two independent displacements, the first Pre- Permian, the second Post-Triassic. To this style of reasoning I object: in the first place, that it is unphilosophical to base an argu- ment on assumptions; in the next place, that on the hypothesis of two movements for the Red Rock Fault, the failure of participation in the second of such movements by the Anticlinal Fault shows that faults may run parallel to one another and to great anticlinals with- out being contemporaneous; and lastly, that on the assumption that the Red Rock Fault, the Anticlinal Fault and the Pennine Chain were coéval, and that the Red Rock Fault has undergone a second displacement, there is yet no evidence to show that it was not the second of such movements that for the first time faulted the Permians near Stockport and that the earlier displacement of the Red Rock Fault was, with the Anticlinal Fault and the Pennine Chain, Pre-Permian. Having now disposed of the theory of a Post-Permian origin of the Pennine Chain, I proceed to the consideration of the evidence I have been able to gather together in favour of a Pre-Permian upheaval. . I. The great Yorkshire Coal-basin was evidently formed before the commencement of the Permian period, for all along the eastern borders of the exposed portion of the Coal-field, wherever the Coal- measure strata are seen to pass under the Magnesian Limestone, the easterly dip of the Coal-measures is more or less evidently greater than that of the Permians. Now, as the North and South axis of the Coal-field runs parallel with the Pennine axis, we may safely assume that these had a common origin. Consequently the Pennine Chain is also Pre-Permian. In some magnificent sections, recently opened out by railway extension at Kimberley, near Nottingham, the Middle Coal-measures may be seen dipping north-east at angles varying from 5° to 10° or 15° beneath Permians (Marl-slate, and Lower Magnesian Limestone) that dip east at about 1°. In con- sequence of this greater inclination of the Coal-measures, any par- ticular seam of Coal is found at constantly increasing depths going east. The “Top Hard” or Barnsley seam, for instance, which, at Kimberley, is only 284 feet below the Permians, is 630 feet beneath the same at Cinderhill, two miles to the east. Again, this Coal at Clowne is €90 feet deep, but at Steetley, which lies about three miles further east, it is 1590 feet down to it. “All along the edge of the escarpment of the Magnesian Limestone,” says Prof. Hull, ‘‘and for a short distance beyond, in Notts and Derbyshire, as far North as Rotherham, the Coal-seams are found to dip eastward at a greater angle than the Limestone itself, which (with the Lower Red Sandstone) rests unconformably on the Coal-measures.” ! IJ. The Marl-slates, slowly but surely, alternate in a westerly direction as if approaching a margin. In some recent unsuccessful 1 Coal-fields of Great Britain, 8rd edition, 1873, p. 245. E. Wilson—Age of the Pennine Chain. 508 explorations for Coal at South Scarle, Lincolnshire, the Permian rocks proved to be much more developed than in West Notts. At Searle the Lower Magnesian Limestone and Marl-slates together amount to a thickness of 219 feet, at Bestwood to 95 feet, and at Kimberley to from 538 to 33 feet only, while west of the Erewash no Permians are found, and Triassic rocks repose directly on various members of the Carboniferous formation. III. Coincidently with this attenuation the Magnesian Limestone becomes intermingled with sedimentary materials on the west. The Lower Magnesian Limestone, though no thicker on the east than on the west, is a very different rock. Under Lincolnshire, it is a pure cream-coloured compact limestone; while in West Notts it is instead a coarse granular dolomite, interleaved with seams of marl and micaceous sand, and may become gritty, and even conglomeratic. These phenomena would seem to indicate the shallowing of the waters, and the vicinity of land on the west in Zechstein times. IV. Mountain Limestone pebbles are said to have been found in Permian rocks on the east, and certainly occur in Permian breccias west of the Pennine Chain. The basement Permian breccia of Notts is largely composed of the debris of Coal-measure rocks. Such fragmental materials could only have been derived from the denudation of a central tract of land composed of Carboniferous rocks in Permian times, and clearly indicate not only that the Pennine Chain had come into existence in Pre-Permian times, but also that denudation had supervened to such an extent, that rocks so low down as the Mountain Limestone were then laid bare in that range. V. Though the Bunter Sandstone of West Notts and East Derby- shire contains numerous fragments of Carboniferous rocks,—Lime- stone, chert, and Millstone Grit,—no fragments of Permian rocks are to be found in that or any other member of the Trias. This fact, though negative, and therefore inconclusive, would seem to show that the Permians were formed subsequently to the elevation of the Pennine Chain, and consequently were not uplifted so as to be exposed to denudation on the flanks of that range in Triassic times. VI. The absence of Permian outliers, at any distance west of the Magnesian Limestone escarpment, taken in conjunction with the absence of fragments of Permian rocks in the Triassic rocks of the neighbourhood, indicates that the original margin of the Magnesian Limestone waters did not lie very far west of the present escarpment. VII. There is no similarity either in character, thickness, or succession of the Permians on the opposite sides of the Pennine Chain. In Lancashire and Cheshire the Lower Permians are re- presented, according to the Government Surveyors, by a mass of unfossiliferous red sandstone, estimated to attain a maximum of 1500 feet (near Stockport), while the Upper Permians of South Lancashire consist of from 100 to 250 feet of red calcareous marls with thin bands of earthy limestone and gypsum.’ 1 See Geological Survey Memoirs of the district. 504. F. T. 8S. Houghton—Olivine Gabbro from Oornwall. Omitting from consideration the “Lower Permian Sandstone,” the true horizon of which seems doubtful, we still find a very dissimilar grouping of the Permians on the two sides of the Pennine Chain. In Lancashire and Cheshire we look in vain for any deposit answer- ing to the highly characteristic Marl-slates of the North-east of England, nor do we find any considerable masses of dolomite com- parable with those of Yorkshire and Durham. From Notts to Northumberland the Marl-slates, Magnesian Limestone, and Upper Marls are severally distributed, but on passing across England from Notts to Lancashire—a much less horizontal distance—we find that we cannot positively recognize one of these members of the Zechstein. This marked dissimilarity is in part at least to be accounted for by the presence of an intervening land-barrier—the Pennine Chain. We may then, I think, without hesitation, conclude that the elevation of the Pennine Chain took place before the commencement of the Permian epoch, or at any rate prior to the deposition of the Permian rocks of the North of England. I have already called attention to some of the results of the elevation of this important range. Its influence on the distribution of the rock masses of the neighbourhood, which began in early Permian times, persisted into the Keuper epoch. Having in Pre- Permian times acquired the elevation and stability of an arch, this great and complex anticlinal still maintains that relative superiority to the surrounding country that has justly earned for it the epithet of the “ Backbone of England.” Though marine denudation has planed away its top, while subaérial decay has cut deeply into its framework, the great hardness and extreme durability of its more axial rocks has enabled this ancient anticlinal to resist these agents of destruction so successfully that it still forms a broad elevated tract of country, while rearing its loftier peaks from two to three thousand feet above the sea. V.—Nor# on An Oxivine Gappro (FoRELLENSTEIN) FRoM CoRNWALL. By F. T. 8. Hoveuron, B.A., Scholar of St. John’s College, Cambridge. N Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1877, pp. 906, e¢ seg., Prof. Bonney describes a Gabbro from Coverack, on the eastern coast of the Lizard peninsula, which he remarks bears, macroscopically and microscopically, a close resemblance to the Forellenstein of Volpers- dorf. In order to investigate further the nature of the rock, I made, at his suggestion, an analysis of it. The piece selected had proved on microscopic examination to be almost free from pyroxenic con- stituents. No. I. was decomposed by fusion with alkalies. No. II. by hydrochloric acid. The residue in this case was white, and probably consisted of undecomposed felspar, showing that at any rate it was not all anorthite. No. III. is an analysis of the Volpers- dorf rock quoted by Zirkel (Lehrb. der Petrog. ii. 139). F. T. 8. Houyhton— Olivine Gabbro from Cornwall. 508 I. Il. JO. i Winter vascteeess) tees oe 4580" Weea siees BG 65g G00 8°30 Silica este oes aves AOR Oug te eye eg EAs occas coe meme S, Alumina Sno ede ee) weclhynices PINAY Bae coc 13°56 Ferric Oxide Homes UST y eit asoember 0286) Sets 2°19 Herrous) Oxidem seceweerorOl cee eee Sian veel a ees 6°19 ITE) Ae og cod EPA 5 cn SPUD) eco cor 6-72 WERIGSE). wees) “back TUS Co geae Gao MUIR eaS” cae 9 PE Potash Boa Mec EIOLO4 es Moset vase OB dd. onc 0°83* SOO 55 ecg deo PRE og coe 2S) cog cae 0:96 Residue soc cod ws SPY eco = INOOOB. cog ane! MOIST = oh Soo UMBRO) * This proportion of Potash and Soda hardly agrees with that given in the analysis of the felspar (2). From a comparison of these analyses, the two rocks would appear, at first sight, to be of very different natures; but on examining the results, it is seen that, whereas the Cornish rock contains only 38 per cent. of olivine, the Volpersdorf has 45 per cent.; a difference in proportion quite observable under the microscope. There being this great difference in the proportion of the minerals, it remained to determine the composition of the felspar. A sufficient quantity, freed as much as possible from olivine, was submitted to analysis with the result detailed in No. I. No. II. is an analysis of the felspar of the Volpersdorf rock quoted by Zirkel (loc. cit.). I. II. Wiateticens sercieec meu Or) Uae-reumiacoh ee lcO, SHUEIEE, G60 cba. (coo FED an con © ID ANION, 455 ap BEB sca Iron Oxides soo OB) co 00 1 56 TFG p00 coo coo PNG dc NO WIEST, G55 con WED oa can 0-09 TROIS vacg Gao. ono OES bade “ced 0:78 Soda Ges ar SEU SOW ese oes 2-10 99-51 100°42 Oxygen ratios 1:3:5°7 1:2°7:4°5 This gives a composition for the felspar of the Cornish rock of 11 {A1,0,. CaO. (Si0z)2} + 3 {Al0,. Naz. (Si0,)5} Anorthite Albite which is an excess of two molecules of anorthite over that necessary to form labradorite. The felspar thus proves to be—like that of the Volpersdorf rock—not a true anorthite, but possibly a decom- posed labradorite, which has lost some of its alkalies ; this being suggested by a slight excess of silicate of alumina over and above that required by the formula above given. Vom Rath suggests a similar origin for the felspar of the German Forellenstein. We may, therefore, without hesitation, place the Cornish rock among the Forellensteins—adding another locality to the few already known for this rock. 506 Prof. John Milne—On the Form of Volcanos. ViI.—Furruer Notes upon toe Form or Voucanos.! By Joun Mitne, F.G.S., Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Imperial College of Engineering, Yedo, Japan. URING the last summer I made a OLED from Yedo as far north as the southern end of Kamschatka.? As when upon this trip I saw and visited many volcanos in Yezo and the Kuriles, I venture to offer a few remarks in addition to those which I have already expressed upon the form of this interesting class of mountains. In the Grotogican Magazine, August, 1878, I endeavoured to show that the sides of all regularly- formed volcanos are not straight slopes, but have a curvature which in form is logarithmic. This form, it was pointed out, was that which would be assumed by any heap of loose materials such as those out of which we may suppose a volcano to be built. From this it was inferred that these regular volcanos were natural forms, and not forms which had been produced by the wearing away of one part and the bolstering up of another, as we find spoken of in treatises on volcanos and physical geology. It was also pointed out that from the external form of a mountain it might be possible to calculate the dimension of any internal core. To illustrate these views, I used several profiles traced from a series of photographs of two volcanos. From the volcanos which I have subsequently seen in Yezo, the Kuriles and South Kamschatka, I see that my views were very poorly illustrated, and had I the means when there of obtaining other profiles, I feel that the case stated in the above- mentioned paper might be more satisfactorily demonstrated. In looking at the illus- trations which I have given, it will be observed that some of my curves, although generally logarithmic in character, are by no means absolutely so. By comparing the curves of each profile it will be seen that the discrepancy in the fourth column is greatly due to not having had any true method of fixing an axis, and it would have been better to have taken the mean of each pair of ordinates and treated the two sides of a profile as a single curve. Another point to be observed is, that if the logarithmic curve drawn for purposes of comparison had been placed on profile No. 4 rather than upon profile No. 2, it would have been seen to have a nearer coincidence with the curvature of the mountain. Notwithstanding these misleading illustrations, the logarithmic character of the curvature is clearly to be recognized. Similarity in curvature.— When in the Kuriles, I saw many beauti- fully formed volcanos, and these, almost one and all, showed a slope which, so far as I could judge, was similar to that upon the mountains which have been shown to have a logarithmic curvature. Unfortu- nately I was unable to take an outline of these mountains which, for purposes of geometrical measurement, would be of any value. All that I can say is that these contours appeared to have a general 1 For my previous paper, ‘‘On the Form of Volcanos,’ see Guox. Mac, 1878, Decade II. Vol. V. pp. 337—345, Plate IX. 2 See Grou. Mac. 1879, Decade II. Vol. VI. p. 337, Pl. IX. Prof. John Mitne—On the Form of Volcanos. 507 character, and that this character was similar to what I have already described. One confirmation of this identity I find by reference to my sketches. Another confirmation was obtained whilst taking the angular distance between several of these mountains by means of a sextant held horizontally. By this I was enabled to carry the reflected image of one mountain and place it in juxtaposition with the image of its neighbour, the latter being seen directly. Whenever this was done the similarity in the curvature of the two mountains was very striking. Experiments of this sort were made at several places. The first were made along the north-west shore of Paramushir, where there are a number of extremely well-formed mountains. The only one of these which bears a name is Mount Fuss. Another well-formed mountain is the Island of Alaid. Curvature of hills, piles of debris, ete.—Curvatures which appear to be similar to those we see upon the sides of volcanos are to be seen upon the slopes of many hills. These are especially noticeable upon the surface of debris lying beneath steep scarps. These curves are, however, seldom to be observed. The reason is that it is only rarely we can obtain their profile view. In looking at a range of hills, we usually see them curving downwards towards the low ground, and if we ascend them we usually remark that the climb- ing becomes more difficult the higher we go up. When the slope of hills like these can be looked at from the end of the range instead of from the front, a peculiar curvature will be observed, and this is not unlike the logarithmic curvature of volcanos. Profile views of curvatures are strikingly exhibited upon the sides of Hakodate Head. This is a solitary mountain at the south end of Yezo, upon which the town of Hakodate is built. Its position and its shape make it very like Gibraltar. It consists of a mass of trachytie rock covered with alluvium. Near the top of the mountain, which is more than 1,100 feet in height, the alluvium is thin, but near the base it is many feet in thickness. From its nature it is to a large extent evidently the result of the degradation of the rocks on which it rests. Materials from high levels have been constantly rolling to low levels, larger stones rolling farther than smaller ones, and the consequence has been that from the base to near the summit long curvatures have been formed. As the mountain is a solitary one, these curvatures can be seen in profile, and their form is remarkably like that exhibited by volcanos. Experiments upon the form of heaps.—In order to determine the form which a heap of loose material assumes, I made several ex- periments by allowing a stream of sand and gravel to fall through a funnel upon a level floor. The heaps which were produced were as follows :— 1. Fine sand.—This fell from a height of about 3 feet until it formed a heap 27 inches high. The sides appeared to be straight, and they had a slope of 31° 30’. 2. Fine gravel.—This fell until it formed a heap 21 inches high. ‘The sides of this were also straight, and the slope was 31° 30’. 508 Prof. John Milne—On the Form of Volcanos. 3. Fine gravel mixed with sand.—This fell to form a heap 26 inches high. Round the base a slight curvature was observed. 4. A mass of sannal mixed with sand was formed by throwing it against a board, on which a sheet of paper had been stretched. Here also a slight curvature was obtained, which was marked off upon the paper. Taking these experiments as a whole, it will be observed that I did not obtain much evidence in favour of my views. In experi- ments number 8 and 4, where slight curvatures were obtained, it must be noticed that I was using a material the particles of which were of different sizes. Had the experiments been upon a larger scale, ] think the results might have been more satisfactory. Also, if the sand and gravel, instead of falling in a column, had fallen as a rain upon the heap, and the heap had subsequently been left some months to settle, the curvatures would in all probability have been more decided. By allowing water to fall for some time as a light shower over the heaps, I endeavoured to imitate the effects of denudation. Although many of the showers were infinitely greater in proportion to the size of my heaps than the showers of rain which fall upon a mountain are to the mountain and its materials, the dragging of materials to the base was not sufficient to produce any observable curvature. This would seem to show that it is not denudation of a kind like this to which we must turn in order to find an explanation for the curvatures of volcanos. In looking at any large heap of materials, the component parts of which are of different sizes, a curvature will, I think, be always observed. A short time ago I observed this upon a number of heaps of gravel, which, for purposes of measurement, had been piled in large rect- angular cases. These cases had subsequently been removed, and the heaps left to themselves. First, the sides had fallen downwards and outwards, the larger stones rolling the farthest, and a curvature had been produced. Since the first general form had been assumed, a similar action had been slowly going on under the combined influence of gravity, and, to a slight extent, the weather. These heaps were about 3 feet high. Their curvature was best observed by standing at a distance, and then stooping until you brought your eye on a level with the heap. As the result of these experiments and observations, IT would classify the principal causes which tend to affect the form of a volcano under the following three heads :— Ist. Causes tending to give a volcano its characteristic curvature. a. The tendency of a aire naeeene heap under the influence of its own weight to spread outwards at the base. This would tend to give a logarithmic curvature. b. The tendency during the building up of a mountain of “ihe larger particles to roll farther than the smaller ones. This will also depend on the specific gravity, the porosity, etc., of the particles thrown out during an eruption. We may regard this action as extremely rapid denudation carried on by gravity. e. Denudation by weather and gravity. This tends to efface a mountain by digging away materials from the top and making its steepness less and less. At the bottom of the mountain, where denudation is also going on but at a slower rate than it takes place near the top, these materials are deposited and spread out. Prof. John Milne—On the Form of Volcanos. 509 It must here be noticed that on a volcano, and especially near its summit, material is seldom to be found lying at an angle which is less than its angle of repose. Of this fact I have convinced myself that it is the case upon the slopes of many volcanos; 1st, by ob- serving that the materials on any particular slope were uniform in size; and, 2nd, that if upon such a slope I dropped a piece of material larger than those of which the slope was made, it com- menced to roll towards a lower level. If this be granted, then the levelling action of denudation cannot have played a very important part in giving the form to a volcano; otherwise we should expect to find materials lying at angles less than that which a heap of them would naturally exhibit. However, denudation must have had some effect, and as this effect will pro- bably have been nearly the same on all sides of the mountain, it will not materially affect its regularity. 2nd. Causes principally affecting the regularity of a mountain. About these I have written before. Briefly they are as follows :— 1. Position of the crater. If this is central, we should expect the mountain to be regular. 2. Lateral and parasitic craters will tend to destroy the regularity. 3. Direction of the wind during an eruption. 4. Nature of the eruptions. If these have been paroxysmal, and have blown away portions of a crater,—if lava has flowed on one side more than on another, etc., we have causes tending to destroy regularity. 3rd. Causes partially affecting the form of a volcano, but prin- cipally its height. The movement of the strata upon which a volcano is built. As has been pointed out by Mr. Mallet, the weight of a volcano may tend to crush the strata on which it rests so as to form a saucer- shaped depression. Round the bottom of the mountain the ground may be caused to rise. Evisceration or honeycombing beneath a mountain may also cause a depression to take place. I would also suggest that because it is probable that during the period of activity, which is a length of time to be measured by many years, the rocks beneath the protective covering which has been built above them must become extremely hot, and the mountain will have an augmented height due to the expansion of the beds upon which it rests. When the activity becomes less intense, con- traction sets in, and a sinking may take place. To form any accurate idea of the effect which may be produced by any action of this description is very difficult. If we think of the small amount of heat which passes through the bricks of a fur- nace, we might suppose that the conduction of heat from the heated nucleus of a volcano into the surrounding rocks would be too small to produce any appreciable effect, whilst if we think of the rapidity with which heat travels through a glass into which we pour hot water, we might arrive at opposite conclusions. The rate at which 510 Prof. John Milne—-On the Form of Volcanos. heat flows through rocks is a subject of which we have little or no personal experience, and about which we cannot therefore form any prima facie opinion. To give some idea of what actually must take place, the case of an infinite mass of rock heated from a plane surface of constant temperature has been taken as the simplest case for which calcula- tions can be made. The temperature of the plane is taken at 2000° Fahr.; and the time during which conduction has taken place at 2000 years, the object being to find the temperature at various distances from the hot plane in the surrounding rock. We might consider the hot surface to be spherical or a vertical cylinder, but the simple case of a plane surface kept constantly at a high tempera- ture is easier to calculate, and at the same time sufficiently illustrates my idea. If the isothermal surfaces are parallel planes, and x is measured at right angles to these planes, then an element of rock of unit area and thickness dx, if it is at a temperature v at the time ¢, receives heat when increasing in temperature dv ;— C.D. dv. dx in the time di, where C.D. is the capacity for heat of the rock. But through one face it receives heat by conduction in the time dt, and through the other face it loses by conduction, and the dif- ference is— K being the conductivity, and hence— dv dv dv K. dv di GOD. dz? The initial conditions are that where x=0, the temperature v is constant ; when =0, then v=0 everywhere except where s=0, and the above equation leads under these circumstances to the result— d == — ee — g € 4 kt dat VTkt. This equation cannot be integrated in finite terms, but the follow- d ing table of values for — = has been calculated; ¢ being 2000 years, K as equal to 400 in Foot, Year, Fahrenheit units,1 and V, the temperature of the melted rocks which fill the plane fissure, being at least 2000° Fahr. 1 For this value I am indebted to the experiments of Professors Perry and Ayrton, ‘On the Conductivity of Stone,’ Phil. Mag. 1878. Prof. John Milne—On the Form of Volcanos. 511 x wx in feet. dz OPPS OE RT aay 1:2500 SOON WF Fee eeat Ree 1°1560 TUN Sy ie Tae vetoes ey ee 1:0690 THOX OX) tii sy a ea 0:9140 ZO OO tere een rcs, res kaos 0°3580 SOOORM PE Hires eT bE Oat 0:0751 SOOO a Wy rte sash Cscoreets 0:0005 A curve was drawn with these numbers as co-ordinates, and it is evident that the area of this curve up to any value of aw is the difference between the temperature at that point and 2000° Fahr. In this way the following table showing the temperature at various distances from the hot surface was obtained. Rise of Temperature Produced in Distance from Hot Surface in feet. 2000 Years. 0 2000° Fahr. GOON MEY ey Ln Rt 7b We SOOM MM Ante enn ie, ieee tl pic's 10622 ONO RT ae eee a 862). MOO. ee thts vevtten cfeccou: Litsteal cease 667° ,, LOO when hince OEE SA Wt RAP OO OMIM RR Ntsc in ee Gin’ AGES US OOP abr ibn crore eto sed By. AOU 7 RN NSE a SMS MALO 22 OOM pee een yore iS QAO ORM ehh hic Aen en Came Sh ime: 12, Oza PATO Aa Ses Mice rank LANL cs: Q2P ti me DSO On| wiceae cae cheb tatty le 642) SOO Opera! aun us mesg eel ce AP, On looking at these results, it will be observed that they are far greater than might have been anticipated. Perhaps it may be objected that the conditions which have been taken as compared with those which occur in nature have been overrated. I think quite differently. First, 2000 years is hardly an overestimate of the length of time during which a volcano may remain in activity. Vesuvius is recorded as having erupted in the year a.p. 79, and it still continues in activity. Before that time it was a recognized volcano, but how many thousands of years it may have been in existence we do not know. In Ischia and neighbouring places there were eruptions 400 years previously. All that we can say is that, as evidenced by the large amount of ejected matter which was in existence before the eruption of 79, it was even then a mountain of some antiquity. Secondly, a temperature of 2000° Fahr. for molten matter, such as that about which we speak, is an estimate which is extremely low. Sir William Thomson, in his calculations relative to the age of the earth, takes the temperature of molten rocks from 7000° to 10,000° Fahr., but these temperatures are purposely taken as large as possible. Bischof, in his “ Geologie,” p. 98, takes as the melting point of lava 2250 °Fahr. When speaking of this temperature, it must be remembered that it is not supposed to exist in molten rocks near the surface, but in 012 Prof. John Miine—On the Form of Volcanos. rocks beneath the base of a volcano, which at their central parts are buried beneath a mass of material equal to the height of the volcano, which will usually be many thousands of feet. And just as the water at the bottom of an Icelandic geyser is hotter than that near the surface, so we may expect the rocks of which we speak to have an augmented temperature. Another condition is that of the heated plane. From what is known of the internal structure of a volcano, a central column termi- nating in a crater above, and provided with many branches ramifying through the mass of the volcano, would be a truer representation of the actual conditions than those which have been taken. These ramifications would probably be continuous into the ground beneath, and deep down it is not at all unlikely that they converge towards a highly heated nucleus from which all the molten matter emanates. If these are anything like the conditions beneath a volcano, and I see no reasons why they should not be, then the plate of heated matter is but a very feeble representative of the heating surfaces which actually exist. The only point about which I think any doubt can be expressed will be relative to the length of time during which such a heating surface may be imagined to retain a constant temperature. Whilst a volcano is in actual activity, the temperature deep down beneath the crater probably remains constant far above 2000° Fahr., and — during the intervals which fall between the eruptions, whilst the volcano is only perhaps giving out wreaths of vapour, it does not seem at all improbable that, if it were possible to take the temperature some thousands of feet below the crater from which the steam is issuing, we should also find a temperature far above 2000° Fahr. It must be also remembered that the heating effect which takes place is over and above any original temperature which the rocks may be supposed to have had before any volcanic eruption took place. On the whole, therefore, I think the conditions of the given case have by no means been overestimated, but rather, were we able to take the conditions which actually exist, we should find temperatures far above 2000° Fahr., acting over periods longer than 2000 years, and, what is more important, instead of heat being given off from a single plane, it would be found to be given off from a multitude of sur- faces, and the effect dependent on these temperatures enormously exaggerated. Confining one’s self to the example which has been taken, it now only remains for us to consider what these effects might be. In vol. ii. p. 288, Lyell, in his “ Principles of Geology,” says, “Tt was ascertained that fine-grained granite expanded with 1° Fahr. at the rate of -000004825 ; white crystalline marble -000005668 ; and red sandstone ‘000009532, or about twice as much as granite. Now, according to this law of expansion, a mass of sandstone a mile in thickness, which should have its temperature raised 200° Fah., would lift a superimposed layer of rock to the height of ten feet above its former level. But suppose a part of the earth’s crust fifty Prof. John Milne—On the Form of Volcanos. 513 miles in thickness, and equally expansible, to have its temperature raised 600° or 800°, this might produce an elevation of between 1,000 and 1,500 feet. The cooling of the same mass might after- wards cause the overlying rocks to sink down again and resume their original position.” In the case we have been considering, we see that temperatures are produced far greater than those spoken of by Lyell, and conse- quently the effect will be correspondingly augmented. But the effect produced by simple expansion is not all. The rocks distant from the heating surface will offer resistance to the expanding mass which lies between them, and cause it to elevate itself towards the centre, the action being not unlike that which is exhibited by the iron arch of a bridge when expanding on a hot day. In the bridge the rise is only perhaps one or two inches. To us this is almost imperceptible. But if the same fact could be communicated to a creature no larger than a fly which lived upon the bridge, it would seem to be immense. Similarly if we could only learn the height to which a volcano is elevated by the heat developed during its period of activity, we might be equally astonished ; for, when reckoned in feet, it is probably very great. So far we have only considered the heat beneath a volcano as an agent producing expansion, and consequently elevation. If we imagine the heat to be much greater than that which I have taken, it is possible that in certain tracts it might produce fusion or at least plasticity, the result of which might be that the pressing downwards of the superincumbent weight would produce depression. However, if such conditions have any existence, I fancy that their extent is limited; and anyhow, outside the plastic area there will be expansion and consequent elevation. ; Results of elevation or depression.—As elevation or depression beneath a volcano, such as those of which I have been speaking, will, in all probability, take place so slowly, the effect cannot be expected to materially alter the form of a volcano, degrading influence tending to produce a natural form compensating sufficiently rapidly to out- weigh the influence of these motions. ‘The effect which will be pro- duced is rather a change in height. We have here perhaps in part the means of explaining why the measurements of the heights of certain voleanos when made at long intervals apart should have given different results. We may carry these ideas from a single volcano to a volcanic district. During periods of activity we should expect to find the heat gradients steeper than during periods of repose, and therefore during such periods of maximum temperature, elevation might be expected. Also the rate at which the steepness of a heat gradient in a district varies might indicate the approach or recession of volcanic agency, and perhaps may even yet give us a measure of the time by which such actions are removed. 1 J think that these discrepancies have been noticed and written upon in the “ Geographical Magazine,” October, 1877, but I have not the means of making reference. DECADE II.—vVOL. VI.—NO. XI. 33 514 Notices of Memoirs—Mr. G. W. Stow— Conclusion.—In this, and a preceding paper already referred to, I have endeavoured to point out, firstly, what are the actual forms of certain volcanos, and secondly, the principal causes which produce and subsequently modify these forms. Taken as a whole, these causes are very varied in their character. If we examine them singly, we can but barely form an idea as to the nature of their actions, and when we remember that, not only are they irregular in themselves, but that they act irregularly in their relations to each other, we see that the task of unravelling their complications becomes quite hopeless. In cases like this mathe- matical investigation helps us to obtain a clearer idea of an action, but it is seldom that it can be made to measure it. All that we can do is to fall back upon opinions, observations, and common-sense, the ordinary weapons which build up or destroy geological hypo- theses. INCOME eAwS) Ol IMn IM Orunieys. — a — J.—Coat anp Iron 1n Soutu Arrica.! (From the “ Friend of the Free State,”’ etc., Bloemfontein, August, 7, 1879.) HE following extracts from Mr. G. W. Stow’s Geological Report on the Orange-River Free State show what immense supplies of coal and iron-ore await the arrival of the miner in that region :— Taking the road to Rietvlei, before reaching the homestead of Fieldcornet Stoffel Bosman, the old partially metamorphosed sand- stones* are again met with, cropping up above the surface. Here they are pinkish-white, fine-grained, and dip to the W.S.W. at an angle of 54° to 55°. The most important feature connected with their appearance at this spot is the great beds of iron-ore associated with them. These become distinctly visible immediately in the rear of Mr. Bosman’s house. I was first struck in finding fragments of these ferruginous rocks employed in building portions of the fences round the land and kraals. Once upon their trail they are easily traced for miles. At one spot, about a couple of miles from the homestead, three beds are most clearly exposed. They are as follows :—On the top of a high bank the first bed is exposed on the surface for a breadth of about sixty feet, with a westerly dip of about 60°; about 450 feet from this a second bed makes its ap- pearance, with a surface exposure of 45 feet, continuing towards a lower bank on the right about 750 feet distant; a third, but smaller, bed next crops out, with a surface exposure of about 25 feet. The dip of these last is similar to the first. These beds, therefore, run parallel one to another, and are regularly interstratified with the sandstones. The true thickness of the respective beds is: first bed, 50 feet; second bed, 40 feet; third bed, 20 feet; making a total thickness of 110 feet. A considerable quantity of magnetite, or magnetic iron-ore, is found in them, which quickly makes itself 1 Kindly communicated by Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S. 2 See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxx. p. 624, etc. Coal and Iron in South Africa. 515 known by its influence on the compass. In a mile’s length, the two largest of the iron-ore beds must contain in a breadth of 300 feet on the surface of the plain amass of ore equal to 5,280,000 tons; in a breadth of 600 feet, a mass of ore equal to 10,560,000 tons ; in a breadth of 1,000 feet, a mass of ore equal to 17,555,000 tons or 52,800,000 tons at 600 feet in a length of five miles. Outcrops of these beds show themselves at intervals as far as the farm Klipdrift, on the banks of the Lower Rhenoster River, a distance of more than fifteen miles. There is, therefore, every reason to believe that they are continuous for that distance. The value of iron-ore, delivered at the smelting furnace, is about £1 per ton; but, however large the quantity of iron-ore may be, it is valueless unless fuel can be obtained for smelting within a convenient distance. ‘Thus, the excellent iron-ore in Griqualand- West is unavailable at present for this reason. That of the Free State is found under more favourable circumstances. The outcrop of these metalliferous rocks on the high ground, near Klipdrift, is within a few miles of a sixteen-inch seam of coal cropping out near that river-valley at two separate places, both above and below where the iron-ore is found. While the greater outcrop at Rietvlei is within 20 or 30 miles of the great coal-bed, and so situated that any train or railway which may hereafter be constructed for the conveyance of the coal to such great centres of consumption as the Diamond Fields, must of necessity pass within a very few miles of the place where the largest quantity of iron-ore is exposed, and will thus bring the fuel and the ore almost into juxtaposition. This is an advantage which cannot be over-estimated; but I must leave others to decide the important bearing a discovery of this kind must have upon the posperity of the State, when these buried treasures are properly utilized, and the inhabitants avail themselves of such resources. Mr. Stow, F.G.S., reports that the following useful materials occur in the Free State :— 1. Nodular limestone, such as used in other countries as cement- stone, scattered over various parts of the State. 2. Great beds of old crystalline limestones (siliceo-calcareous rocks). 3. An immense area of country filled with porphyritic rocks, which would vie with granite for durability and beauty. 4, An abundant supply of magnetic and other rich iron-ores, within a convenient distance of the necessary fuel for smelting. 5. A great coal-bed. In a former report he stated that, judging from the excavations made in the Sand River district, the coal underlying that portion of the country would, at a low estimate, amount to some 145,800,000 tons. We can now safely state that in the new coal-field, since dis- covered in the Vaal River valley, the minimum quantity would be some 350,000,000 tons; making a total, in the two coal-beds, of 495,800,000 tons, which, at five shillings a ton, would represent a money-value of more than £128,900,000. If, however, instead of 516 Notices of Memoirs—M. D. Ghlert—On New Crinoids. taking a minimum quantity, we take an average, we should find, even leaving the Sand River coal out of the calculation, that in the Vaal River coal-bed alone there must be some 1,225,120,000 tons awaiting the miner—a quantity of coal which, at the same low rate as that before mentioned (5s. per ton), would represent a value of £300,000,000. From calculations based on those used in England, Mr. Stow finds that the Free State coal-supply would be sufficient to allow of a yearly consumption of more than 6,000,000 tons for a period of 1,200 years! It is not improbable that, as great outcrops of coal in this portion of South Africa show themselves in the Free State, along the Vaal Valley, and also in the Transvaal, west of the Drakensberg, asso- ciated with the rocks dipping eastward, and as they again appear in the Utrecht Division of the same province, as well as at Biggarsberg (Newcastle) in Natal, to the east of the same great range, these are all parts of the same great coal-field; the Drakensberg mountains occupying their synelinal trough. If, after proper investigation, such should prove to be the case, the supply of South-African coal will be enormous, throwing the figures above quoted, vast as they appear, completely in the shade. The Free-State coal has not yet been analyzed; but, as a rule, the amount of “ash” in this Sonth-African coal is much greater than that imported from Hurope. Some of the duller kinds leave “clinkers ”’ when burnt; but all those I have tried, says Mr. Stow, give out an intense heat. Mr. North, the Colonial Engineer, in his excellent Report upon the subject, considers that with specially constructed furnaces and movable fire-bars, the objections raised against Cape coal may be overcome; while Mr. A. N. Ella, who consumes large quantities of fuel for steam-purposes, considers that ~ a ton (of 2000 Ibs.) of Indwe coal at 40s., would be cheaper than two loads of firewood at the same price, besides the labour saved in chopping up the latter. In the present Report Mr. Stow has not touched upon the addi- tional scientific knowledge gained during this geological survey ; but the facts collected fully bear out, he believes, the deduction to which he was led by a study of similar rocks in Griqualand- West. Although much work has been done, a reference to the map of the Report will show that much of the Free-State has yet to be examined; and it is to be hoped that the completion of this im- portant Survey will be fully carried out. IJ. — DEscrIPTION DE DEUX NOUVEAUX GENRES DE CRINOIDES DU TERRAIN Di&VoONIEN DE LA Mayenne, par M. D. Giutertr. (Bull. Soc. Géol. de France, 3° série, t. vii® pp. 6-10.) eee with the beds of shelly Devonian Limestone at La Baconniére, Saint-Germain and Saint-Jean (in the Depart- ment of Mayenne), are some layers of black schist. These schists contain but few fossils, the following, excepting the subjects of this paper, being the only species yet found :—Spirifer Rousseau, S. Reviews— Hitchcock's Geology of New Hampshire. 517 levicosta, Terebratula sub- Wilsoni, Chonetes sarcinulata, Tentaculites Velaini, and a few Polyzoa. The Crinoidal remains that M. Gihlert has been so fortunate as to discover in these beds are, he thinks, sufficiently complete to establish the existence of two new genera, each represented by a single species. For these our author proposes the respective names of Thylaco- erinus Vannioti and Clonocrinus Bigsbyt. The genus Thylacocrinus comes nearest in its formule to Rodo- erinus, Miller, and Eucrinus, Angelin; whilst Clonocrinus, we are told, greatly resembles Angelin’s figure of Melocrinus spectabilis. This last-named species M. Gihlert is inclined to consider has been erroneously referred by Angelin to the genus Melocrinus as founded by Goldfuss, and he ventures to suggest that it might, perhaps, be more properly classed as another species of this new genus, Clonocrinus. (The Plates are not given.) B. B. W. REVIEWS. —— I. —Tue Grotocgy or New Hampsuire. By C. H. Hirencocr, State Geologist, and Assistants, Vol. II., Part 2, Stratigraphical _ Geology ; Vol. III., Part 3, Surface Geology ; Part 4, Mineralogy and Lithology ; Part 5, Economic Geology. Accompanied by a Folio Atlas of Maps and Jllustrations. (Concord, 1877-78.) HESE two volumes, published in 1877-78, conclude the report on the Geology of New Hampshire, and give the results of the exploration of that State, under the direction of Mr. C. H. Hitchcock. Filling more than 1,200 pages, they contain a detailed account of the geology of the different districts of the State, preceded by a brief notice of the relations of the geology of New Hampshire to that of the adjacent territory. ‘The second volume, on the Stratigraphical Geology, is mostly due to the labours of Mr. Hitchcock, chapters i1. and v. and parts 3 and 4 being supplied by his assistant, Mr. Hunt- ington. There are no formations in the State of later date than the Lower Helderberg, save the surface deposits. The stratified groups comprise in descending order—l. The Cenozoic,—include the glacial and modified drifts, about 450 feet. 2. Paleeozoic,—Lower Helder- berg, Coos group and Cambrian Slates, 15,800 feet. 3. Strata doubt- fully referred to the Paleozoic, 11,600 feet. 4. Hozoic, comprising, Upper Huronian, 12,129 feet, Labrador system, Montalban, 11,370 feet, Laurentian, 34,900 feet. The Labrador system is in very limited amount, and recent investi- gations make it difficult to say that the Labrador rocks are not of eruptive character, and whether (as at Waterville) they really represent the Labrador system of Canada. With regard to the Montalban rocks, Mr. Hitchcock differs from Dr. Sterry Hunt as to their position, and from the observations of the former we are led to the view that they underlie and not overlie the Huronian, though the precise relationship is not beyond controversy (p. 669). The eruptive 518 Reviews—Hitcheock’s Geology of New Hampshire. masses consist of various kinds of granitic, felspathic, and augitic rocks. The third volume will probably be found of more interest than the second, as under the head of “Surface Geology” there are two important chapters on the Glacial period, and associated phenomena of New Hampshire, which are perhaps as well shown there as in any part of the earth. The first, by Mr. W. Upham, treats fully of the observations made by him in the different districts, and includes the “ Lower Till” deposited during the Glacial period, and found throughout the State. This is succeeded by the Upper Till, and the Champlain period, which embraced the time occupied by the final melting of the great ice-sheet, during which the abraded materials contained in the ice-mass were washed away and deposited as kames, kame-like plains, and valley or modified drift; these were followed by the recent or terrace period, during which deep and wide channels were excavated in the Champlain deposits; a table is given showing the formations which have been described in the chapter, arranged in the order of their deposition (p. 176). The general characters of the glacial drift are also further de- scribed by Mr. C. H. Hitchcock, who treats, amongst other points, of the causes of the glacial cold, of interglacial deposits, and the length of the Glacial period, concluding with his most recent opinions on the order of events occurring in New Hampshire, in the Glacial, Champlain, and subsequent periods. The Glacial period of the northern hemisphere has been a subject of considerable attention among geologists and physicists, and various theories have been suggested to account for the cause of the glacial cold, but none have been universally accepted. Every additional information tending to enlarge our knowledge of the origin, extent, and movement of the ice-sheet, as fully indicated for New Hampshire by Mr. Hitchcock, will be usefully consulted by those interested in the subject. Part 4 contains a description by Mr. G. W. Hawes of the minerals and rocks of the State, illustrated by eleven plates showing their microscopic structure. Part 5 gives an account by Mr. Hitchcock of the localities, modes of occurrence, and quantity of materials valu- able for economic purposes, as metals and their ores, building materials, and natural fertilizers. The vast amount of information systematically arranged in these volumes, on the physical features, agricultural character, geological structure, and economical products, will be of great advantage to those persons more directly interested in the natural resources of the State. But the value of the descriptive portion is further enhanced by the fine folio atlas which accompanies the work, con- taining two topographical maps of the State, in the years 1784 and 1816; a large map showing the geological features and position of the mines in the Ammonoosuk mining district, the details of which are given in vol. il. p.272; a series of panoramic views and camera profiles, illustrating the contours of many picturesque parts of the country; five maps showing the position of the modified drift and Reviews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunt’s Pennsylvanian Report. 519 direction of the glacial strize so fully described in vol. iii. (chapters 1 and 2); besides a geological map in six sheets, clearly illustrating the description of the stratified and other rocks given in the second volume. This map, while indicating the results of the labours of the State Geologist and his colleagues during their explorations, will, besides its local interest, facilitate the comparison of the geo- logical features of New Hampshire with those of the surrounding territories. J.M II.—Sprrecitan Report on THE TRap-pyKes AND Azorc Rocks OF SourH-nasterN Pennsytyania. By T. Srerry Hun. Part I. Historical Introduction. (Harrisburg, 1878.) | ees work forms the first portion of a special report by Dr. Hunt on the Azoic Rocks, Trap-dykes, and Iron Ores of Pennsylvania. It contains an Introduction to the Geology of South-eastern Pennsyl- vania, an account of the Cambrian Rocks of Europe and America, and three chapters (II. III. V.) on American Pre-Silurian Geology, which comprise an historical and critical review of the progress of our knowledge bearing on the older rocks of North America, during the last sixty years,—from the publication of Maclure’s map in 1817, until the present time. It would be impossible to condense satisfactorily, in this brief notice, the opinions and descriptions of the various writers cited throughout the work, which Dr. Hunt has himself so concisely and clearly treated, as well as interspersed many suggestive remarks, on the characters, origin, and sequence of the Azoic rocks, considered to be of Pre-Paleozoic age, and which are also fully noticed in his Chemical and Geological Essays. As, however, the recent researches of Dr. Hicks and others in this country (see Guot. Maa. ante, p. 483) have shown certain crystal- line rocks to be of Pre-Cambrian age, it may be useful to give the results of the recent studies of Dr. Sterry Hunt on the older rocks of Eastern North America, including the Lake Superior region. These terranes are, in descending order, as follows :— 8. StnuRo-Camprran.—The Upper Cambrian of Sedgwick, part of the Lower Silurian of Murchison, and of the Matinal of Rogers. : : 7. Camprian.—The Lower and Middle Cambrian of Sedgwick, the Lower and Upper Cambrian of Hicks; the Upper Taconic of Emmons, and the Quebec group of Logan; the Primordial, and part of the Lower Silurian of Murchison. : 6. KrEwEENntan.—The Copper-bearing series of Lake Superior, found in the same geological interval as the aconian, but not identified with it. : 5. Tacontan.—The Lower Taconic of Emmons, including a part of the Primal, Auroral, and Matinal divisions of Rogers, and constituting, with the Montalban, what was once called Terranovan by the writer. 4, Monratpan.—The White Mountain or Mica-schist series. 3. Hurontan.—The Green Mountain series, or altered Quebec group of Logan. 2. Nortan.—The Labradorian, or Upper Laurentian of Logan. Litre 1. Lavrentran.—A lower division, the Ottawa Gneiss, and an upper division, the Grenville series, between which is a supposed unconformity. These two con- stitute the Lower Laurentian of Logan. With regard to the five lower terranes, they have, notwithstanding their differences, certain lithological resemblances with each other. “All of them include quartzites, and crystalline limestones, in 520 Reviews—Jukes-Browne—Post-Tertiary Cambridgeshire. which certain mineral silicates, such as serpentines, hornblende, and micas, are occasionally met with. It is in those aluminiferous rocks which are without lime and magnesia, that are found the essential and characteristic differences, and these depend upon a progressive diminution in the proportion of the alkalies to the alumina, as we pass from the older to the newer geognostical groups” (p. 210). The above classification is different from the opinions held by the author previous to 1871, as he maintained that the crystalline rocks of the Green Mountain and White Mountain series were altered Paleozoic sediments, but which he now considers to be of Pre- Cambrian age. Some of Dr. Hunt’s views given in the report are.not in ac- cordance with those of Pennsylvania geologists of the first or second surveys, and although the State Geologist (J. P. Lesley) feels “it is somewhat premature to dogmatise about the Taconic system; as it is impossible yet for any competent judge to express a positive opinion respecting such terms as Montalban, Norian, etc., in Penn- sylvania,” yet he fairly acknowledges “that a debt of gratitude is due to Dr. Hunt for this historical monograph, which will supply a deeply felt deficiency in the literature of our science.’ J. M. I1J.—Tue Post-Tertrary Deposits or CampripGEesHire. By A. J. JuKES-Browne. 8vo. pp. 85. (Cambridge, Deighton, Bell & Co., 1878.) Price 2s. 6d. ia 1876 the Sedgwick Prize was awarded to Mr. Jukes-Browne for fi an essay on “The Post-Tertiary Deposits of Cambridgeshire and their relations to deposits of the same period in the rest of Hast Anglia.” This with some few additions is here reproduced. and is so neat in form and moderate in price that our Geological Survey authorities might well take a lesson from it. Commencing with some historical notices on the study of drifts in general, the author proceeds to review the various works dealing with the tract he describes—from the time of the Rev. Professor Hailstone in 1816 to the date of his own publication. After a brief account of the physical features of Cambridgeshire, he turns at once to the description of the Glacial Beds. These include the Chalky Boulder-clay, usually classed as Upper Glacial, and certain gravels. Mr. Jukes-Browne considers that the Boulder-clay was accumulated during the period of most intense glacial cold, and he would not exclude other beds from the glacial series simply because they happen to lie above this particular clay. No deposits of Lower or Middle Glacial age are recognized by him in the area, for although here and there certain sands and loams are interposed between beds of Boulder-clay, he regards this feature as probably the result of contemporaneous current action. Brief mention is made of the great boulder of Gault and Chalk seen in the celebrated pit at Roslyn Hole, and which has been described in detail in Prof. Bonney’s “Cambridgeshire Geology,” and in Mr. Skertchly’s ‘Geology of the Fenland.” Reviews—Dr. A. Fritsch’s Permian Amphibia of Bohemia. 521 The “ Hill Gravels” are next described ; these overlie the Boulder- clay, where it occurs, and contain many fragments derived from it. Much of the gravel is described as coarse and unstratified. Succeed- ing these in point of time are the “Valley Gravels of the Harly River System.” These are similar in composition to the Hill Gravels, but are entirely separated from the Glacial deposits. While they appear to have a distinct relation to the valley systems in which they lie, yet in their lower prolongations in the Cam Valley they stretch away almost at right angles to its present course. Still their fluviatile origin remains conspicuous. The March gravels which form little islands in the Fenland are described with these valley gravels, although they contain marine shells. Their con- nexion is not discussed. Prof. Bonney and Mr. 8. V. Wood, jun., hold them to be coeval with the older (Cyrena fluminalis) gravel of Barnwell. The ‘Valley Gravels of the Present River System” are then described ; the first determination of the waters towards which is marked, according to Mr. Jukes-Browne, by the series to which the Barnwell gravels belong. A short chapter is devoted to the correlation of the Cambridge- shire drifts with those of the Hastern Counties. Mr. Jukes-Browne is not satisfied with the evidence brought forward by Messrs. Wood and Harmer to make an unconformity between the Lower and Middle Glacial deposits of Hast Anglia; indeed he suggests that the Cromer Till, Contorted Drift, and Middle Drift might be bracketed together as Lower Glacial; and the Chalky Boulder-clay and over- lying Plateaux or “‘Cannon-shot” gravel, as Upper Glacial. This view, which considerably simplifies the geology of the Hastern Counties, is one in which we cordially agree. From the title of the work it might have been expected that descriptions of the Alluvial strata of the Fenland would have been included ; this, however, was considered to be beyond the scope of the subject proposed. JV.—AMPHIBIANS FROM THE PrRMIAN Rocks oF BoHeEmta.’ R. ANTON FRITSCH, whose important works on the fossils of the Cretaceous formation in Bohemia are well known, has com- menced to publish, with the assistance of the Imperial Academy of Vienna, a Fauna of the Coal and Limestone of the Bohemian rocks of Permian age, of which the first part is just issued. This mono- graph, which, when completed, will extend over three volumes, will rank as one of the most important modern contributions to Palzeonto- logy, on account of the large number of new and singular types of life which it describes and makes known by splendid illustrations. It is essentially a descriptive work, and the author treats his subject rather from the zoological point of view than that of the comparative anatomist. 1 Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Permformation Béhmens, von Dr. Ant. Fritsch, A O. Professor der Zoologie an der Universitat in Prag. Band 1. Heft I. (Prag. 1879.) 522 Reviews—Dr. A. Fritsch’s Permian Amphibia of Bohemia. This Fauna has been discovered during the last ten years, and in the preface a detailed account is given of the gradual augmentation of material, which comprises in all some forty-three species of Amphibians, thirty-three Fishes, and eleven Arthropode, besides a single shell of the genus Anthracosia. This first part con- sists of ninety-two pages of text, with many woodcut illustrations and twelve quarto plates. The work opens with an interesting geological description of the deposits which have yielded the remains. It describes with the help of excellent sections the structure of the Pilsen basin, giving some useful lists of the plant remains and other fossils, and then at less length describes the Schlan- Rakowitz basin: so that the horizons of the specimens are all accu- rately determined. To this memoir succeeds a systematic list of the Species, giving an enumeration of the materials available for descrip- tion. The next section of the work is called a history of the classification of Labyrinthodonts, in which the views of Owen, as stated in his Paleontology, and of Dawson, are briefly referred to ; but the bulk of the article is a verbatim translation of Prof. Miall’s two reports to the British Association upon the Carboniferous Labyrinthodontia; and in conclusion, the work of Prof. Cope on the American Amphibians, and of Prof. Gaudry on Protriton, is briefly noticed. This preliminary matter occupies the first sixty- seven pages. The remains described in the succeeding pages are all referred to Cope’s order Stegocephali, which is co-extensive with the Labyrinthodontia, Ganocephaia, and Microsauria, and defined by the supra-occipital and epiotic bones forming well-developed ossifica- tions, by the temporal fossa being covered by the supra-temporal and post-orbital bones, by the presence of a parietal foramen, and by the lower pelvic elements being well developed. The genera now described are named Branchiosaurus, Sparodus, Hylonomus, and Dawsonia. Branchiosaurus resembles the Harth-salamanders, and especially the young forms, in possessing gills, and the author remarks that the broad anteriorly rounded head, the short thick body, and the well- developed extremities terminating in digits, together with the rudder- like tail, strongly suggest the larval forms of the living Urodela. Branchiosaurus salamandroides is known from ten complete speci- mens, and fragments which may have belonged to fifty or sixty other individuals. The skeleton ossifies at an early period in life, and all the bones of the skull, vertebral column, and extremities are already defined in examples sixteen millimétres long. And in a somewhat larger individual even the sclerotic plates, ribs, and pha- langes are distinctly seen. The largest specimen of this species is 64 millimétres long. If Dr. Fritsch is right in referring all these remains to one species, they present the remarkable condition of the growth of the limbs remaining stationary while the body increases in size and length. Both the humerus and fore-arm are absolutely longer in the animal, measuring 44 millimétres, than in that which has a length of 64 millimetres, while in the hind-limb the bones are of equal length in both specimens. 523 Reviews—Dr. A. Fritsch’s Permian Amphibia of Bohemia. The skin was dense, and its impression is preserved in most specimens, as may be seen in the subjoined and following figures. SEY S Fist WS ee A SSH SS a: SINS OY \ SAe> WS)! SS y, aN MM SJ) WS x Y, SS ¥ ‘a 5 eS SSG ) SF AN, OC INS Ws pe 7 NSS RN ONY \ ASS ii NAS Is S q S WY xy REA S S WN ASG NARA SSS x = = Fic. 1.—The largest example of Branchiosaurus salamandroides, Fritsch. Dorsal view. Enlarged three times. 524 Reviews—Dr. A. Fritsch’s Permian Amphibia of Bohemia. When highly magnified, slight ridges are seen upon it; these are the first indications of scales, which become more developed on Fic. 2.—Branchiosaurus salamandroides, Fritsch. Enlarged to twice the natural size. Fie. 3.—Upper side. Restoration of the skull of Branchiosaurus salamandroides, Fritsch. Enlarged six times. the under-side of the body. The scales are ovate, truncated in front, and somewhat irregular behind. In the median part of the abdomen the scales are long, and assume Reviews—Dr. A. Fritsch’s Permian Amphibia of Bohemia. 525 a V pattern. The impressions of small rounded bodies seen in this region upon the scales are considered to be eggs. The form of the skull and general relations of the bones will best be gathered from Figs. 8 and 4. The osteological details are given by the author at great length. The premaxillaries (im) are ornamented with delicate long pits, and carry from 6 to 10 short pointed teeth, which are larger than those in the maxillary bones and lower jaw ; they are smooth and have a round pulp-cavity. Fie. 4.—Under side of the skull of Branchiosaurus salamandroides, Fritsch. Six times natural size. The maxillary (MS.), which is similarly pitted, and extends back to the quadrato-jugal (QJ.), carries from 10 to 18 teeth. There are probably two or three irregular rows of teeth behind these. The nasal bones (N.) are notched in front to form with the premaxillary bones the small nasal apertures, which they border on the inner side with an elevated ridge. The lachrymal bone is absent. The frontal bone (F.) is excluded from the circle of the orbit by the triangular prefrontal bone (P.) in front, and the sickle-shaped post- frontal bone (Pt. f.) behind. Its upper surface is covered with deli- cate long pits; and the post-frontal bone is strongly sculptured. The triangular post-orbital bone (Pt. 0.) forms the outer and hinder border of the orbit. The jugal (Ju.) is a long bone which extends back from the nasal and parallel to the maxillary, so as to form part of the border of the orbit, and partly divide the quadrato-jugal (QJ.) from the supratemporal (8.T.). Between the parietal bones (Pa.) in the middle of the suture is the ovate or round foramen parietale, 526 Reviews—Dr. A. Fritsch’s Permian Amphibia of Bohemia. measuring a fifth or a sixth of the length of the suture. The Epiotic (Ep.) terminates backward and outward in a strong free process; it bounds the ear. In the outer edge of the supra-temporal bone (S8.T) is often a notch, which may indicate the outer opening of the ear. The quadrate bone (Q.) is very small. The supra-occipital (S.O.) is well developed; but the exoccipitals cannot be determined with certainty, though they may form the occipital condyles. The under-side of the skull, Fig. 4, is remarkable for the large size of the palatal apertures, which are defined by the parasphenoid bone (Ps.) in the middle, by the pterygoids (Pt.) at the outer sides, and by the palatine bones (p) in front. As in some living Urodela, there is a small aperture in the sutural line between the vomers (V.). There are traces of small groups of teeth on the hinder and outer edges of the vomerine bones. The lower jaw always becomes attenuated anteriorly. It consists of three bones, articular, angular, and dentary. The latter element carries a row of about 20 large smooth teeth. The sclerotic circle is made up of about 14 oblong plates, which are marked with concentric lines. On each side of the hinder part of the skull are two branchial arches which carry two rows of strong spheroidal bones, each bear- ing a little curved spine. The vertebral column is divided into back and tail. From the head to the pelvis there are about 20 vertebra, and all except the first bear ribs. The second to the thirteenth are all about the same size. All are compressed to the thinness of paper, so that the details of their structure are obscure. Lower down the back the vertebre slightly decrease in size. There is apparently only one sacral vertebra, which is always covered by the pelvic bones. There are about 21 vertebrae in the tail, gradually diminishing in size to a fourth of their original width. The dorsal ribs from 2nd to 13th have a length equal to three- quarters of the width of a vertebra; posterior to this they become shortened. Ribs exist in the tail, and are about half as long as the vertebrae are wide. The shoulder girdle includes seven bones, scapulz, coracoids, clavicles and thoracic scute ; and the pelvic girdle is formed by the iliac and ischiopubic bones. The hind-foot has the digits much longer than in the fore-foot, but the longest digit is the second, while in the fore-limb the third digit is longest. In the fore-limb the number of the phalanges is 2, 2, 3, 8, 2, and in the hind-limb it is 3, 4, 3, 2, 2. The other species of Branchiosaurus which are described and figured are B. umbrosus, Frit., B. Moravicus, Frit., previously described as Archegosaurus austriacus of Makovsky, B.? venosus, Frit., and B.? robustus, Frit. The next genus, Sparodus, Fritsch, is represented by two species : S. validus, Fr., and S. crassidens, Fr. It is nearly related to the American genus Hylerpeton and to Brachiderpeton. The large broad vomer carries numerous uneven large conical teeth. And the pala- tine bone has a single row of teeth, which increase in size posteriorly. Reviews—Dr. A. Fritsch’s Permian Amphibia of Bohemia. 527 In Sparodus validus there are 17 teeth in the lower jaw ; and there are 27 on each vomer, the largest rows being towards the palatine bone. The palatine bone carries 11 teeth. The skull is more wedge- shaped than in Branchiosaurus. Of Hylonomus two species are recognized, but these are only known from small portions of jaws. Hylonomus acuminatus has the teeth marked with distant parallel ribs. The last genus in the present part of the work is named Dawsonia. It is very nearly allied to Hylonomus, but the author is unable to see his way to uniting the genera, because Dr. Dawson figures elements of the skeleton which differ from the Bohemian specimens. The vomer (v) has a small group of minute teeth on its outer edge, ABAAA A Fic. 5.—Restoration of the under-side of the skull of Daewsonia polydens, Fritsch. Twice the natural size. | and both the parasphenoid (Pf.) and pterygoid (Pt.) carry numerous small teeth. The palatine bone (p) has a single row of teeth which become larger posteriorly. The hindermost and largest tooth is grooved at the base. The external surface of the skull-bones is strongly sculptured. The thoracic scute has a long rhomboidal form, and is furrowed like the skull-bones. The teeth in the jaws are smooth and of uniform size. The premaxillary is broad, with about eight large teeth of equal size. The anterior process of the parasphenoid widens in front, and is slightly forked. This skull has never yet been found entire, but has been reconstructed from several frag- ments, and is believed to have been rather broader than long. The vomer (vy) is forked behind, as though for the posterior nares. The 528 Correspondence—Messrs. Dakyns, Hicks, McGee. ¢ pterygoid shows two kinds of dentition; on its outer edge is a single row of twenty-six large teeth of equal size, which are some- what smaller than those of the maxillary bone. Internal to these on the anterior part of the pterygoid are from three to six irregular rows of short pointed teeth similar to those on the parasphenoid. In the under-jaw there are thirty teeth. This instalment of Dr. Fritsch’s work leads us to look forward to its subsequent progress with great interest. It is a monument of conscientious labour and admirable skill in deciphering remains in which the characters presented more than ordinary difficulty. H. G. SErxey. (Gln st 1S44 SON PID sstINi@ ssh THE PURPLE BOULDER-CLAY AT HOLDERNESS. Srr,—In the excellent account of English glacial deposits, given in the second edition of “The Great Ice Age,” it is stated that “in Holderness the purple clay is quite unstratified.” It is true, that in many places the “Purple Boulder-clay”’ is unstratified ; but in many others it is distinctly stratified. The stratified and unstratified por- tions are, however, so mixed up together, and run so into one another, as to be quite inseparable. The deposit has also been much shoved about, the thrust having in some well-marked cases come from the N.N.E. J. R. Daxkyns. DRirFiELD, Oct. 9th, 1879. ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BRITISH PRE-CAMBRIAN ROCKS. Srr,—Will you kindly call attention to the fact that by some mistake the word not has been left out after the word did in my paper, p. 484, line 19 from bottom of page. The sentence should read, “If these movements also did not take place, etc.” As the absence of this one little word does away with the proper meaning, I shall feel obliged if you will kindly notice it in the next Number of the Grou. Mag. Hy. Hicks. Henpon, N.W., Oct. 3, 1879. SURFACE GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. Mr. W. J. Mc Gee writes from Farley, Iowa, September 18, 1879, in reference to his communication, which appeared in the (Gxot. Magazine for August, pp. 853-362, and September, pp. 412-421 :— «Thanks for your care in revising proofs of my paper in the Gxot, Maa. A very few errors have crept in, however, which I will note. W. J. Mc Grn.” Page 358 (August No.), Zine 30, for ‘‘ mentioned ” read ‘“‘ weathered.” 55) COW) 3, Si Ones ecmassiy by OP TENORS” » 9361 $5 Fy 835) oye evel 22 Paieecliead sd » 414 (Sept. No.), ,, 11, ,, “basalt” eeuibasallae » 418 » imfootnote, ,, “p.168” oy Sido WOR.” COLUMNAR SANDSTONE IN SAXON SWITZERLAND. We are requested by Mr. Walter Keeping to make the following corrections in his article which escaped notice—namely, at p. 438, line 2 from foot, for ‘ binding’ read ‘bending.’ and on p. 441, line 8 from top, for ‘ Yorkshire,’ read ‘ Derbyshire.’— Epir. Gon. Mac. THE i GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. NEWrSERIES@) DECADE. Il; VOL, VI. No. XII—DECEMBER, 1879. (@ysvil GEN AUIby | YS Lae a na=satSs ——\_@—__ I.—Tur Parauutet Roaps or Guen Roy. By J. R. Daxyns, M.A. ; of H.M. Geological Survey of England, AST summer I paid a visit to the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, and saw certain features which must, I think, have hitherto escaped notice. It has been asserted that the roads consist of, or are cut out of, mere superficial detritus; and that they never appear where the solid rock appears; and much discussion has arisen as to the mode of formation of the roads on this supposition, viz. that they consist of detritus merely. In order to get a section of the roads, J examined several water- courses descending the side of Leana Mhor, west of the River Roy. These water-courses were cut to the depth of about ten feet in the ordinary superficial detritus of the mountain side; and where they crossed the roads, the material exposed on their sides was precisely the same as that along the rest of their course. This did not surprise. me, as I had recently read in the Gronocican Magazine for July (p. 321), ina notice of a paper by Professor Prestwich, ‘‘On the Origin of the Parallel Roads of Lochaber,” that “the Parallel Roads are terraces composed of perfectly angular fragments of the local rocks.” However, as these water-courses nowhere reached the solid rock, I was not satisfied. I accordingly went next day to the east side of the River Roy, where the roads are very well marked indeed, and are crossed by two or three comparatively large gills. These gills descend along the west face of east Leana Mhor; for there are two hills of this name given on the One-inch Ordnance Map, one on the west, and the other on the east side of the River Roy. I walked along the topmost road northward; and the first gill I came to showed me at once that the road was cut out of the solid rock. Both above and below the road the solid rock came practically to the surface, being covered with a mere film, about a foot thick, of its own detritus: the surface along the road itself was, however, hidden by a small fan of detritus shot on to the road from the gill above. ‘The section of the second or middle road was obscure along this gill. I walked on along the highest road till I came to a big gill cut deeply into the native rock, and bifurcating a little below the 1250 contour line. The highest road crosses this pair of gills above the point of bifurcation, and was so utterly destroyed as to be quite obscure; but the second road ran right up to the edge of the DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. XII. 34 530 J. R. Dakyns—The Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. deep gill, which it meets just below the junction of the two branch gills, and started at once again on the opposite side; no talus con- cealed the road; it is cut out of the solid rock. A subordinate road which occurs a little further north between the two ordinary top roads was also seen to coincide with and, in fact, to be a rock feature. I was satisfied: I went no further: I had had two clear sections of the two best-marked roads, one of each: the roads are, at all events in some cases, cut out of the solid rock. It is reasonable to conclude that where they appear to be confined to superficial detritus, it is because the rock shelf is hidden by said detritus, which has, in fact, accumulated along the road just because it is a shelf. It is noteworthy that whereas the roads on the east side of Roy, where being free of detritus they are seen to form rock shelves, are wide enough to allow two carts to pass each other. On the west side where encumbered with debris they are no broader than a good sized foot-path. The roads, though sensibly parallel and horizontal, are not abso- lutely so; for, according to the measurements of the Ordnance Sur- veyors, the first road in Glen Roy varies in elevation from 1144 to 1155 feet above the sea, the second from 1062 to 1077, and the third from 850 to 862. Such variation in height would necessarily be caused by the unequal accumulation of debris on the original shelves. It is right to say that there is an error in the mapping of the roads on the One-inch Ordnance Map, Sheet 63: on the map the top- most road is represented as crossing the big two-grained gill just below the bifurcation ; it really is considerably higher up, while it is the second or middle road which crosses the gill at the fork. Diagram showing the profile of the mountain side with the three roads, the two highest, Nos. 1 and 2, well marked, and the lowest, No. 3, not so well marked, as seen by an observer looking up Glen Roy. I have not seen the places where, as Mr. Darwin! observes, the shelves entirely disappear on crossing the part of the mountains in which the base-rock is exposed; but I would ask whether the rock ' Quoted by Sir John Lubbock, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 84. J. W. Davis—On a New Fossil Fish Spine. 531 may not be more than usually tough in these places. Generally the rock seemed to me to be of a character easily disintegrated. How then were the roads formed? Obviously by the planing action of waves acting on the rock and cutting the shore-line back. Subsequently, on the lowering of the water-line, the detritus of the mountain side falling, and being washed down hill by rain, etc., lodged on the platform of the shelves, and there accumulating gradually formed a pile of loose material sloping towards the valley, and slowly obliterating the true roads. I add a sketch of the profile of the mountain side, as seen from the big gill looking up the valley. It will be seen that my profile is quite similar to the diagram given from Macculloch by Sir John Lubbock in the Q.J.G.S. for 1868, vol. xxiv., with this remarkable difference: in my sketch the two highest roads are represented as comparatively near to one another, while the lowest is much lower down; this is the case in nature; the average heights of the roads above sea-level being, according to the Ordnance Surveyors, 1148, 1067, and 855 feet; but in Sir John Lubbock’s diagram, after Macculloch, the two lowest roads are represented as close together, and the third much higher up: the diagram has evidently been drawn or printed upside down; for turn the book topsyturvy and the diagram is right. As to the nine points then, on which, according to Sir John Lub- bock, we have a substantial agreement, the whole question of the true nature of the roads turns upon the second and third: these I would controvert thus: the horizontal roads are shelves cut out of the solid rock; and these shelves only appear when the solid rock itself appears, being in other cases entirely hidden by the debris of the mountain side, which has fallen and accumulated upon the shelves. It is further to be noted that the disintegration of the rock forming the shelves would in course of time disguise the fact that the roads consisted of rock shelves, and cause them to appear as mere heaps of detritus. IJ.—Description or A New Species oF Fosst Fisn Spring, CTENACANTHUS MINOR, FROM THE LOWER COAL-MEASURES OF YORKSHIRE. By James W. Davis, F.L.S., F.G.S., ete. ; Hon. Secretary of the Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnic Society. A SHORT time ago, whilst examining and appending the names to a number of specimens of fossil fish in the collection of the Bradford Philosophical Society, which are being arranged and exhibited in the new Corporate Museum in that town, I came across the spine which is the subject of this notice. It is from the Black- bed Coal at Dudley Hill, near Bradford. It was associated with a number of fish remains. amongst others :— Ctenacanthus hybodoides, Kgerton. Petalodus Hastingsie, Agass. Gyracanthus formosus, Agass. Acanthodes, sp. ? Pleuracanthus levissimus, Agass, Megalichthys Hibberti, Agass. Diplodus gibbosus, Agass. Celacanthus lepturus, Agass. Ctenoptychius, sp. Rhizodus Hibberti, Agass. 532 EF. Wilson and J. Shipman—The Keuper Basement Beds. Several specimens of Labyrinthodonts, in excellent preservation, have been found along with the remains of the fishes. One of them, a new genus of large size, was described and named by Professor Huxley Pholiderpeton scutigerum. The Black-bed Coal is in the Lower Coal-measures about 120 feet higher in the series than Elland Flag-rock. Immediately above the Coal there is a bed of shale containing a considerable quantity of Clay-ironstone in nodules, which is worked by the Low Moor Iron Company along with the Coal. The fossil fish and Labyrinthodonts are from this shale immediately above the Coal. Ctenacanthus minor, Davis, sp. nov. (Natural size.) Ctenacanthus minor, mihi. Spine: length, 1-4 inches; greatest breadth, -3 of an inch. The base is imperfect, and the tip of the spine is also wanting. It is slightly curved, is very strong, and has been very deeply implanted in the flesh ; the basal portion constitutes more than half the entire length, and if the specimen had been perfect would have taken up quite two-thirds ; probably a larger proportion than exists in any other species of Ctenacanthus. The lateral faces are compressed anteriorly ; posteriorly they expand and give to a section of the spine a triangular form. Along the back of the spine there is a deep groove, no posterior denticles can be seen. ‘The line dividing the exposed part of the spine from the base forms an angle to the length of the spine of about 45°. The anterior portion is pro- duced so as to form a median keel, whilst on each side there are six or seven well-defined ridges or coste separated by deep intercostal spaces. The ridges run parallel to the posterior margin for the most part, whilst those near the anterior portion run out towards the point without impinging on the median keel. This spine does not appear to be in close relationship with any of Ctenacanths hitherto described. Its short wedge-shaped form in the part exposed, and the extremely large and strong base, serve to dis- tinguish it from all other species of the genus. I suggest the specific name minor as signifying its relatively small size. TJ].—On THE Occurrence or THE Kerurrr Basement Beps 1Nn THE NriGHBouRHOOoD oF NorTiINGcHAM. By E. Witson, F.G.S., and J. SHrpMan. ITHERTO, exposures of the junction of the Bunter formation with the Keuper, in the Nottingham district, have shown the brown sandstones and red marls of the “ Waterstones,” with a band of dolomitic conglomerate at the base, resting directly on an eroded surface of the Bunter Pebble Beds.! Recently, however, between 1 J. Shipman, “Conglomerate at the Base of the Lower Keuper,’ Grou. Mac. 1877, p. 497. E. Wilson and J. Shipman—The Keuper Basement Beds. 533 these formations there have been observed to intervene certain de- posits that agree both in mineral composition and in physical cha- racters with the white sandstones and conglomerates, known as the “Basement Beds,”! that form so important a feature in the Keuper of the West Midlands. The Hunger Hills—These “ Basement Beds” were exposed to view during the progress of some excavations on the Hunger Hill Road, Nottingham, and a good section showing their junction with the Bunter Pebble Beds was supplied by a cutting for a culvert in Beverley Street. These rocks here consist of soft coarse and “sharp ” grained white micaceous sandstone. Owing to inequalities in the surface of the Bunter, they vary rapidly in thickness from a few inches only to as much as six feet. Throughout the sand- stone are scattered quartzite pebbles like those of the ‘“ Pebble Beds,” but it was in the cavities in the old surface of the Bunter that the pebbles were mostly met with. Two deep furrows in the Bunter surface trended from west to east, shallowing out on the west. About two hundred feet further east, the white sand- stones were again found resting on a ridged and undulating surface of the “Pebble Beds.” The “Basement Beds” were not at this spot proved over a greater space than about 250’ x 3800’, being cut off and overlapped by the Keuper dolomitic conglomerate on all sides, except the north-east, where they were lost to view beneath the Lower Keuper Sandstone of the Hunger Hills. They appear to occupy a shallow cavity eroded out of a plane of Bunter sloping to the east at about one in fifty. The upper surface of the white sandstone itself showed distinct signs of erosion, being worn into irregular hummocks and cavities, filled in with the rusty-coloured sand and pebbles of the Keuper conglomerate. Colwick.—The “Basement Beds” were also exposed in the tunnel for the Leen Valley Outfall Sewer, at Rough Hill Wood, near Nottingham.? These Beds consist of at least twenty feet of massive light-grey micaceous and felspathic sandstone, grit and conglomerate, with lenticular seams of red marl. False-bedding is prevalent in the sandstones, the planes sloping east at from 5° to 25°. The pebbles are nearly all quartzites or quartz, and agree with those of the Bunter Pebble Beds, except that many of them have chipped corners or angular faces as if fractured during transport or the pro- cess of deposition. In the tunnel heading near the top of the series is a bed of marl, that for a space of about a hundred feet maintains a thickness of from two to four feet, and then becomes split up into wedges that dovetail in a peculiar manner with the beds of sandstone and conglomerate that it locally displaces. These beds show signs 1 Aull, “ Triassic and Permian Rocks of the Midlands,” pp. 66, e¢ seq. 2 We are indebted to C. F. Gripper, Esq., contractor for the works, and to M. O. Tarbotton, Esq., F.G.S., Engineer to the Nottingham Corporation, for the lower portion of the third section, which was arrived at by means of a shaft sunk for the purpose at Rough Hill Wood; but owing to the water-level of the Trent valley being reached, the sinking had to be abandoned without proving the Bunter. In consequence of the great length of two of the sections referred to, their pub- lication with the present paper has been abandoned by its authors. 5984 FE. Wilson and J. Shipman—The Keuper Basement Beds. of contemporaneous erosion, the sands having been apparently cut through by channels and replaced by other sands or by marls, while the marls have been broken up and their débris, in the shape of flakes, and lumps, scattered plentifully through the surrounding sediments. Notwithstanding their intimate association with the coarser deposits, the marls keep remarkably fine and pure. These rocks are succeeded by the regularly bedded sandstones and marls of the Lower Keuper. The line of junction, which is sharply defined, is pretty level, but the “ Basement Beds” appear to have been trun- cated by denudation prior to the deposition of the Waterstones. Other Localities.—The “Basement Beds” of the Lower Keuper are very variable in thickness, and, except in their areas of typical development, very irregular in distribution. Prof. Hull long since showed that the sediments which compose the Keuper rocks of England probably came from the west or north-west; for he demonstrated that the Triassic rocks, along with other Secondary formations, attenuate in a south-easterly direction.! It was there- fore to be expected that this lowest member of the Keuper would be found to thin away going east, and such is actually the case. On the west, in Delamere Forest, and the Peckforton Hills, Cheshire, the Basement Beds proper are from 50 to 150 feet thick, but, with the overlying red and white freestones, attain a thickness of 250 feet or more.?, At Alton, midway to Nottingham, these rocks are not more than sixty feet, while still further east, at Nottingham, they probably do not exceed twenty feet in thickness. Hast of the valley of the Dove, these rocks rapidly attenuate, and are soon lost beneath newer members of the Keuper, which then repose directly on the Bunter Pebble Beds. Nor do they appear to be present between the Derwent and the Hrewash. Crossing that stream, how- ever, we again meet with them—at Bramecote, Notts—as a few feet of calcareous sandstone cropping out from beneath the “ Waterstones.” They are found at Highfields, two miles nearer Nottingham, resting on an eroded surface of Bunter Pebble Beds. Here they consist of about seven feet of thick-bedded cemented quartzose grit, with bands of compact conglomerate. They are also exposed in a small boss of rock, at their outcrop near Rough Hill Wood—the most easterly point at which they are to be seen in this country. We have not attempted to trace these rocks further south than Burton- on-Trent, near to which they are to be seen at Bladon Hill, in the Trent escarpment, as white quartzose false-bedded grits, with thin grey micaceous sandstones. Red grit and pebbly sandstone, ap- parently belonging to this series, are exposed near Ticknall, South Derbyshire, between Heath Wood and Seven-Spouts. These beds are, however, absent further east at Melbourne and at Castle Donington. Conclusions.—To arrive at satisfactory conclusions as to the physical conditions under which the Basement Beds of the Lower Keuper were formed, is no easy matter. That these rocks are all of 1 Hull, “ On the South-easterly Attenuation of the Secondary Rocks of England,” Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 66. ? Hull, ‘‘ Triassic and Permian Rocks of the Midland Counties.” Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 535 the same age, and have all had a common origin, their remarkable uniformity in mineral character and in physical structure, in dis- tricts so widely separated as Cheshire and Nottingham, satisfactorily demonstrates. The easterly attenuation of these beds indicates that their source lay in an opposite direction, whilst the nature of their materials—the angular grains of quartz, the abundance of mica, and the abundance and often undecomposed state of the felspar in the sandstones, point to their derivation from the breaking up of crystal- line rocks such as granite and highly altered schists. ‘These sediments appear to have been drifted by westerly currents along a strait or series of shallow channels, that in early Keuper times stretched across the Midlands, and which, owing to preponderating subsidence in that direction, covered a large area in the west, but became narrower towards the east. This channel was shut in by the southern flanks of the Pennine Hills on the north, and by the Carboniferous rocks that flank the Leicestershire Coal-field and Charnwood Forest on the south. For, north of a line drawn through Alton, Derby, and Nottingham, the Basement Beds rapidly thin out, while east of Burton-on-Trent they likewise speedily attenuate, and eventually disappear; nor have we any reason for supposing that they were ever deposited any distance north or south of where we now find them. TV.—Furturr Nores on a Couuection oF Fossin SHELLS, ETC., FROM SUMATRA (OBTAINED BY M. VeRBEEK, DireCTOR OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE West Coast, Sumatra). Parr IV.! By Henry Woopwarp, LL.D., F.R.S., etc. ; of the British Museum. (PLATES XIV. anp XV.) 50. Triton, sp. (cast of). Pl. XIV. Fig. 1. This cast indicates a fusiform turrited shell adorned by discon- tinuous varices ; the spire is wanting; it also shows that the shell was transversely ribbed and corrugated; the outer lip was strongly plicato-dentate internally ; the aperture rather small; canal mode- rately long. From the general aspect of this cast, I think it probably may be referred to the Triton corrugatum, Lamk., so widely distributed in our European Miocene deposits; and found living in Vigo Bay (S. P. Woodward) and in the Mediterranean. Formation :—In light-coloured (Miocene) Tertiary clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 51. Pleurotoma terebra, Basterot, 1825. Pl. XIV. Fig. 2a, b. Pleurotoma terebra, Basterot, 1825, Mém. géologique sur les Env. de Bordeaux. Paris, 1825, pl. 3. fig. 20. multinoda, Des Moulins, 1843, Revision des Pleurotomes ; Actes Soc. Linn. de Bordeaux, tome xii. p. 167. Dufourti, Des Moulins, op. cit. p. 180. (Clavatula) sinensis, Hinds, 1843, Proc. Zool. Soe. p. 38, pl. v. fig. 10, and 1844, Zool. Voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur, vol. ii. p. 17, pl. v. imieers TL 1 Continued from the November Number, p. 500. 536 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. Shell fusiform, costellated, transversely striated, whorls 8-9 in number, somewhat angular, tabulated above, smooth ; cost thick, prominent at the angles, truncated above; suture marginated ; aper- ture scarcely equal to half the length; canal straight; columella smooth ; lip thickened, expanded, striated within, sinus deep, rounded. After instituting a careful comparison between this Sumatran fossil and a series of very similar forms from the Miocene faluns of Touraine, Dax, and Bordeaux, obtained by M. Deshayes for the British Museum, and figured and described by MM. Basterot, and Des Moulins, I have arrived at the conclusion that this Pleurotoma, Pl. XIV. Fig. 2a, 6, is identical with the Pleurotoma terebra, Bast., and that Pl. multinoda, Des Moulins, and Pl. Dufourit, Des Moul., must also be considered as synonymous with it, and with the Sumatran species; the variations which they present being only individual, and too trivial to be treated as of specific value. I have further compared this Sumatran fossil with the Pl. (Clava- tula) sinensis of Hinds,—a recent shell found living at New Guinea, the Straits of Macassar, Celebes, in the China Seas, and at Malacca ;— and in doing this I have had the benefit of the opinion of my colleague Mr. Edgar A. Smith, of the Zoological Department. The chief differ- ences appear to be in the form and proportion of the last whorl to the entire length of the shell, the last whorl being smaller and shorter in the recent shell, than in the fossil. In the Sumatran fossil it is less contracted and attenuated towards the base, and occupies nearly half the entire length, but in Pl. sinensis it is much shorter in proportion. In the latter, the upper part of the volutions is more concave beneath the wavy keel, or ridge, which borders their margin, and the costee or plice: are more prominent and slightly more angular. The spiral or transverse sculpture offers but little difference in the two species. In all the larger specimens of this form from Bordeaux (especially in Pl. terebra, and Pl. multinoda) the aperture is always consider- ably less than half the entire length of the shell; but in the smaller French specimens the proportions are nearly the same as that of the smaller Sumatran one. The spire of the smaller specimens is also more acute. The following are the relative dimensions of the species of Pleuro- tome referred to :— Large Specimen. Small Specimen. Cs |e. ea 3s |S.) as Species of Plewrotoma proposed to be s £ oa Sa SS ao gs placed together. 2s bei we ay bp BEA s = @ AAS oe So Ax =| A< | S Pleurotoma terebra, Bast. Sumatra ...| 12 30 10 8 16 6 === », Bordeaux...| 10 26 8 7 19 i multinoda, Lamk. Sau- lominges, IDE, 65 con) il 30 10 9 17 a Dufouri, Des Moul. Dax.) — = = 7 17 6 sinensis, Hinds (recent) ...| 9 22 7 7 17 6 GEOL. MAG. 1879. . TSAR CuO Ae IE WOR. Wal, ISI AatIe Saye C.L.Griesbach del. et lith West, Newman & 0° imp. : pumatran Tertiary Shells. XV. DECADE II. VOL. VL PLATE GEOL. MAG.1879. imp. ° West,Newman & C C.L. Griesbach del. et lith. Sumatran Tertiary Shells. Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 537 Although the divergence pointed out between our Sumatran shell and the recent Pleurotoma sinensis of Hinds may be deemed sufficient in the eyes of recent students of Malacology to separate the two specifically, yet we venture to think it probable that we have in Pl. sinensis, Hinds, only the modern representative of the Sumatran fossil, and also of the Pl. terebra, Bast., with its associated forms from the Miocene of France. Should this view find favour, then four species, hitherto separated, will in the future be enrolled under one name, as I. terebra, Bast., or be treated as varieties only, a method particularly convenient in dealing with genera of Mollusca, which are extremely rich in species and varieties, like Pleurotoma. Formation :—In bluish-grey Tertiary Marl-clay. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 52. Pleurotoma concinna, Dunker, 1856. Pl. XIV. Fig. 3a, 6. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1856, p. 356. The following is a translation of Prof. Wm. Dunker’s description of Pleurotoma concinna :— Shell acutely-turrited, subfusiform, solid; colour light-reddish brown; mouth and canal roseate, encircled with elevated lines and ridges; whorls about 10, slightly convex; suture indistinctly divided; last whorl scarcely equal to the height of the spire; canal sub- oblique ; fissure in outer lip deep. Dimensions of recent shell: length 27 mm.; greatest breadth 9 mm. ; length of aperture 12 mm. There can be no doubt of the identity of our fossil, Pl. XIV. Fig. 3, with the living Plewrotoma concinna, of Dunker, specimens of which are preserved in the British Museum, said to have been obtained from Sibonga in the Philippine Islands, and from New Treland. It differs from that species, at first sight, in being shorter and of Jess slender build, with a shorter basal canal. (The length of the canal, however, should in all probability have been greater than the artist has represented in our Figure, as the extremity of the canal is certainly abraded.) The whorls in the fossil are more deeply excavated than in the recent specimens, both above and below the central carina, the nodules of which are more clearly defined in the fossil. The other spiral liras and oblique sculpture also offer certain differences. The suture is less deep in the fossil than in the recent shell from New Ireland, but equals that of the type specimen. In the fossil form the surface reticulations are more strongly marked than in the recent species, approaching in this respect more nearly to the Pl. cataphracta of Brocchi from Dax. It agrees also with Pl. Hantoniensis, Hdw., in having the line of tubercles upon the central carina divided into two; but the strie in Pl. Hantoniensis are some- what coarser and less markedly reticulated. This shell might also be compared with Plewrotoma turbida, Solander, and Pl. granata, Edw. Near the apex the four earliest whorls of the young shell in the fossil are seen to be roundly inflated and simply ribbed longi- 538 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. tudinally. The apex in Pl. cataphracta, and less markedly so in the recent Pl. concinna, exhibits the same embryonal character. Dimensions of fossil:—Length of smaller shell 18 mm.; of larger Specimen (anterior canal partly broken off) estimated at 21 mm. ; breadth smaller shell 74 mm. ; larger specimen 84 mm. Formation :—In bluish-grey Tertiary Marl-clay. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 53. Phos Borneensis, Sowerby, 1866. Pl. XIV. Fig. 4a, 0. Shell subfusiform, turrited, encircled with distant spiral lire and prominent nodular rounded ribs, finely striated between the ribs; costze narrow, somewhat distant (the regularity of the ornamenta- tion is occasionally broken by a few discontinuous varices, more prominent than the equidistant coste); thickened on the varix behind the aperture; aperture narrow below; canal subrostrate; hp corrugated within; whorls 7-8 in number. Dimensions :—Height of shell 21 mm.; breadth of shell 10mm. This shell appears not to be separable specifically from the living Bornean form. The whorls are perhaps a trifle less shouldered at the upper part, the spiral lire are more numerous, and the minute or subordinate sculpture is also of a finer character. The thread-like lirations within the aperture are more numerous, and the oblique simple keel which winds round the extremity of the body-whorl is more distinct. These are but trifling differences, and hardly sufficient to entitle the Sumatran fossil to separate specific rank. The general facies of this fossil and normal examples of the living shell is remarkably similar, the proportion of the whorls being identical. Formation: —In bluish-grey Tertiary Marl-clay. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 54. Phos subplicatus, H. Woodw. (not figured). Shell solid, turrited, liree seabrose, cost nodular, spirally cinctured ; spire short, 5-6 whorls, whorls somewhat rounded; coste rounded, tolerably close, more numerous near the aperture. Dimensions :—Height of shell 12 mm.; greatest breadth 7 mm. The shell of this species is much saantier in the spire, and increases in size more rapidly than that of the preceding one. It closely resembles the Phos plicatus, A. Adams (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859). It differs from the recent Phos plicatus in the less angularity of the whorls and the more rounded character of the ribs; they are also less close-set than in the recent form. We have ventured to consider this as distinct. Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 55. Turbinella subcostata, H. Woodw. Pl. XIV. Fig. 5, a, b. Shell fusiform, subturrited, thick; spire with the sutures some- what squamose, whorls about 7 in number, with prominent rounded coste transversely plicated ; plicee about three in number (more numerous upon the body-whorl); plications acute; aperture small, ovate, and canaliculate, posteriorly notched, sulcated within; columella thickened and subtransversely triplicated; canal moderately long. Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 539 Dimensions :—Height of shell 174 millimétres; greatest breadth 8 mm.; length of aperture 8 mm. This shell approaches nearly to the Turbinella subcraticulata of D’Orbigny, figured by Dr. Hoérnes (in Die Fossilen Mollusken des Tertiaer-Beckens von Wien, fol. 1856, Band I. p. 302, taf. 58, figs. 10 a, 6),—a species also found at St. Paul, near Dax. The Sumatran shell has, however, a less acute spire than that from the Vienna Basin ; the canal is straighter, the aperture smaller, and the body-whorl less in-proportion. ‘The spiral lirations are also fewer. Formation and Locality :—The same as the preceding species. 56. Pisania subdiscolor, H. Woodw. PI. XIV. Fig. 6. Shell elongated, fusiform, apex sub-acute, whorls six in number, spire delicately cancellated, body-whorl finely striated; aperture somewhat elliptical, one-half the entire length of shell, inner border of outer lip canaliculate; denticulated near the posterior extremity, anterior canal slightly produced, and notched; columella smooth, slightly thickened, with a smali denticulation near the posterior extremity of the aperture. Dimensions :—Height 10 mm.; breadth 5 mm. Most of the species belonging to this genus are represented by small shells which have very generally been confounded with Buccinum, Murex, Ricinula, and Nassa. These shells have numerous indistinct varices, or are nearly smooth and spirally striated; the canal short, inner lip wrinkled, outer lip crenated. Our Sumatran shell might easily be mistaken for a dwarfed form of Pisania (Buccinwm) discolor (Quoy and Gaimard, Voyage de l’Astrolabe, 1832, Zoologie, tome ii. p. 422, pl. 80, figs. 23-25), specimens of which in the British Museum are labelled as from the “China Seas.” On close inspection, however, the whorls are seen to be more numerous, the apical ones being smaller and less mam- millated in character. The last whorl is a trifle more constricted just below the middle, and_ the basal canal is a little longer. The style of sculpture and proportions of the whorls, however, are very similar. It may also be compared with the Pisania (Nassa) Andrei, Bast. (1825), pl. iv. fig. 7, from the Miocene of Bordeaux. Formation :—Grey Tertiary Marl-clay. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 57. Ranella ? tritonoides, H. Woodw. PI. XIV. Fig. 7. Shell subturrited, ventricose (lateral varices scarcely so continuous as in most of the species referred to this genus, and for that reason doubtfully placed under it); transversely lirate, liree numerous, three being more prominent than the rest, and becoming more dis- tinctly marked as they pass over the coste; longitudinally costated, coste prominent, body-whorl somewhat ventricose, aperture ovate, dilated anteriorly, obliquely canaliculate, columella obscurely biplicate. Neither of the two specimens of this shell have the mouth perfect. Formation and Locality :—With the preceding. 540 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 58. Borsonia granifera, H. Woodw. Pl. XIV. Fig. 8. Shell fusiform or biconical ; spire conical, acute, sutures scarcely marked, body-whorl equal in length to the spire, aperture narrow, outer lip ridged, columella with one prominent fold, surface ornamented with numerous transverse ridges distinctly granulated, the two ridges near the suture being more prominent than the rest. Dimensions :—Height 15 mm. ; breadth 8 mm. This shell may be compared with species of the genus Conorbis of Swainson, and particularly with C. dormitor, Solander, from the M. Eocene, of Barton, Hants, etc. (Edwards, Eocene Moll. part iii. 1856, p. 200, tab. xxiv. fig. 11 a, b, c, Pal. Soc. Mon.), from which it differs, however, in being more tumid and in the granulated nature of its ornamentation. ‘The prominent fold on the columella is also wanting in that species. Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 59. Cerithium Verbeekii, H. Woodw. PI. XIV. Fig. 9 a, 6. Shelli turrited, volutions nine to ten in number, flattened ; suture distinct, each volution with about four rows of prominent transverse tubercles separated by distinct striz; granulated on the body-whorl, tubercles arranged in regular rows; aperture sub-rotund, outer lip thickened, the inner margin very prominently crenated, inner lip slightly arcuate, posterior canal well marked, anterior short and oblique. Dimensions :—Height 20 mm.; breadth 10 mm. This shell may be compared with the Cerithium Duboisii of Hornes, 1856 (Fossilen Mollusken des Wiener Beckens, p. 399, taf. 42, figs, 4and 5). It differs, however, from this Austrian species, in being more robust in its spire, in the larger size of its body- whorl, in the aperture not being inflated, and lastly in possessing a thickened and prominently crenated outer lip. I dedicate this species to Mynheer Verbeek, the Director of the Geological Survey of the Government of the West Coast of Sumatra, whose careful researches have resulted in so large an addition being made to our geological and paleontological knowledge of this distant region of the earth. Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 60. Pleurotoma (Glyphostoma, Gabb) Jonesiana, H. Woodward. Pl. XIV. Fig. 10a, 6. Shell subfusiform, spire elongate; volutions somewhat convex, longitudinally costated, costes prominent, nearly straight and orna- mented or crossed by from three to five transverse ridges or lire; suture distinct and depressed, ornamented or marked with curved ridges, more numerous than the coste; aperture narrow, elongate, outer lip thickened, and strongly denticulate, inner lip distinctly and closely plicated; canal slightly produced and recurved; ornamentation on body-whorl somewhat moniliform in consequence of the greater prominence of the transverse striz as compared with the coste. Dimensions :—Height 22 mm.; breadth 10 mm. This form presents a general resemblance to the Pleurotoma strom- Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 541 billus of Dujardin (Mém. sur les Couches du Sol en Touraine, 1835, Mém. Soc. Géol. France, p. 290, pl. xx. fig. 15), but in that species the volutions are more tabulate, and the aperture is wider and shorter, and less distinctly denticulated. It may also be compared with the illustrations of the same species given by Hornes, p. 79, t. 40, figs. 1 and 2 (1856, Fossilen Mollusken des Wiener Beckens) from the Vienna Basin. I dedicate this species to my esteemed friend Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F'.R.S., F.G.S., to whose kindness I am indebted for the oppor- tunity of examining and describing this very interesting collection of Sumatran fossils. Formation :—In bluish Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 61. Ranella? sp. (cast). Pl. XTV. Fis. 11. Judging from the presence of continuous varices on this cast, we should attribute it to a species of Ranella. It represents an elongated turrited shell, with convex, rapidly-increasing, transversely-costated volutions ; outer lip strongly denticulated within ; varices continuous. Dimensions :—Height 28 mm. ; breadth 14 mm. Formation :—In white Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—-Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 62. Turbo Smith, H. Woodw. Pl. XIV. Fig. 12. Shell somewhat pyramidal, imperforate, volutions convex, whorls about five in number, banded with numerous parallel spiral lire, the larger ones prominently tuberculated or moniliform, the inter- vening ones, especially on the body-whorl, being less distinctly marked, the ornamentation becoming more squamose on the body- whorl ; aperture plain, ovate. Dimensions :—Height 17 mm.; breadth 15 mm. I venture to name this species after my colleague Mr. Edgar A. Smith, F.Z.S., whose kind assistance has been at all times most willingly afforded me in my researches. Formation :—In white Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 63. Turbo Sumatrensis, H. Woodw. Pl. XIV. Fig. 13. Shell moderately thick, turbinate, spire rather elevated, whorls tumid, slightly angular above, with numerous minute ridges crossed by very oblique longitudinal strie, giving the shell a faintly reticu- late appearance ; aperture circular ; ugg lip somewhat callous. Dimensions :— Height of shell 8 mm.; breadth 8 mm. This shell may. be compared with the Turbo squamulosus, Lamk., (see Deshayes, 1837, Descrip. des Coquilles Foss. des Envy. de Pari Atlas, pl. 32) figs. 4 and 5), but the French specimen is more strongly squamose and much larger in size. Formation :—From Tertiary deposit ? (no matrix visible). Locality :—Government of West Coast of Sumatra. 64. Monodonta submamilla, H. Woodw. PI. XIV. Fig. 14, a, b. Shell subturbinate, smooth, rather thick, volutions five in number, rounded; aperture subovate, oblique, produced, inner lip toothed, 542 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shelis from Sumatra. callous, nonumbilicate, very faintly striated; columella solid, base of shell somewhat flattened. Dimensions :—Height T mm.; breadth 7 mm. This shell presents some resemblance to the Monodonta mamilla of Andrzejowski (figured by Hornes in Fossilen Mollusken des Tertiar Beckens von Wien, p. 498, t. 44, fig. 8), but the whorls are not quite so inflated in appearance as in our Sumatran form. Formation and Locality :—With the preceding species. 65. Solarium Javanum? Martin. Pl. XIV. Fig. 15. Shell orbicular, depressed ; umbilicus wide and deep; the upper surface of each whorl encircled by about four sets of spiral moniliform lire, margin of umbilicus strongly corrugated. So far as the very imperfect state of this specimen permits us to form a comparison, we have little doubt in referring it to the Solarium Javanum of Martin (Die Tertiiirschichten auf Java, p. 74, tab. xiii. figs. 2, 2a), but the Sumatran shell is much smaller. Formation :—In bluish Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 66. Turbo Martinianus, H. Woodw. PI. XIV. Fig. 16a, 0. Shell orbicular, depressed; whorls 4 to 5 in number, convex, trans- versely finely sulcated, sulci regular, very faintly and obliquely striated between the sulcations; base of last whorl somewhat flat- tened, umbilicus closed in the adult; in specimens in which the callous has been removed by decortication, the shell is seen to be deeply and widely umbilicated, the sides of the umbilicus being striated within ; aperture of shell rounded. This shell agrees closely in form and general ornamentation with the Turbo planorbularis of Deshayes, from the Caleaire Grossier Houdan (see Descrip. des Coq. Foss. des Env. de Paris, 1824, tome ii. p- 258, pl. 33, figs. 19-22), but the French specimen is much smaller and the umbilicus is not closed. The French specimen is only 3 mm. in height and six in diameter. The Sumatran shell is 11 mm. in height, and 15 mm. in diameter. I have named this specimen after Dr. K. Martin, whose fine folio memoir, with its excellent plates, Die Tertiarschichten auf Java (1879), now in course of publication, promises, when completed,‘ to be of great value to paleontologists. Formation :—In whitish Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 67. Turritella, sp. Pl. XIV. Fig. 17. All that is preserved to us of this specimen is the upper part of the spire of a Turritella, very near to the group of Turritella imbri- cataria, in which the suture is very indistinctly marked (much less so than the artist has represented in the Plate), and the volutions are ornamented with a series of transverse ridges alternately larger and smaller, the latter being more numerous than the former. Formation :—In bluish-grey Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 1 Part I. containing the Unzvalves, with fourteen plates, has already appeared (Leiden, E, J. Brill, 1879, pp: 94, folio). Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 548 68. Cerithium, sp. Pl. XIV. Fig. 18. This is a portion of the spire only of a very much waterworn shell, belonging to the group of Cerithium mutabile, showing the suture bordered on each side by a line of tubercles both above and below, with one or more intermediate striz. It may be compared with the Cerithium Hellii of D’Arch. (Foss. Numm. de l’Inde, t. 29, fig. 1). Formation and Locality :—Found with the above. 69. Strombus Sumatranus, H. Woodw. (cast). Pl. XIV. Fig. 19. This specimen is near to, but is not to be identified with the Strombus Javanus (also a cast), figured and described by Dr. K. Martin (1879, in Die Tertiirschichten auf Java, p. 47, tab. ix. fig. 2), from Java. It is the cast of a rather ventricose shell, with a slightly produced and costated spire ; aperture long, outer lip broadly expanded, ear-shaped, corrugated within, and produced posteriorly into a rounded lobe rising above and separate from the penultimate whorl, notched at the anterior extremity ; inner lip striated. In the S. Javanus the outer lip is semicircular and shorter pos- teriorly, and the spire, which is more produced, numbering about 6 whorls, is smooth. Dimensions :—Height 25 mm. ; breadth 19 mm. Formation :—In light-coloured Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 70. Delphinula fossilis ? K. Martin. Pl. XV. Fig. 1a, 0. Shell orbicular, depressed; whorls few, angulated distantly and obliquely undulated or costated above, bordered by about 10 spines on the angle of the body-whorl; lirated and transversely striated beneath ; peristome continuous, umbilicus open, aperture round, internally nacreous. Dimensions :—Height 25 millimetres ; breadth 85 mm. The nearest recent form to this species appears to be the Delphi- nula sphera, of Kiener. It agrees with this shell in general outline and in the swollen undulations on the upper flattened surface of the whorls; but may be distinguished from it by the difference of character in the spines along the superior angle of the volutions, which in D. sphera are very greatly produced, becoming quite branch-like, whilst in the Sumatran fossil they are quite short and much .compressed, resembling in this respect, to some extent, D. aculeata, Reeve, an inhabitant of the seas around the Philippine Islands. Our Sumatran shell also closely resembles, in general appearance, the D. fossilis of Martin from Java (Die Tertiirschichten auf Java, 1879, tab. xiii. fig. 4); but the transverse ridges on the last whorl are rather more prominent on our shell than on the Javan fossil, which is, unfortunately, only represented by a broken specimen, so that we cannot fully compare it with this species. In our specimen the longitudinal coste on the upper surface of the whorls are also somewhat more prominent than in D. fossilis. Formation :—In white Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 544 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 71. Xenophora agglutinans? Lamk. Pl. XV. Fig. 2. The want of all trace of the exterior surface of this shell precludes our determining it with precision. Jt may, however, be compared with the Xenophora agglutinans, Lamarck, figured by Dr. K. Martin in his work on Javan Fossils (tab. xii. fig. 6), and with Vicomte D’Archiac’s figure of the Trochus cumulans, Brong. (Foss. Numm. de l’Inde t. xxvi. fig. 16). The portion preserved shows 5 to 6 whorls, on which numerous foreign bodies had been agglutinated during the growth of the shell. Dimensions :—Height 35 mm. ; breadth 45 mm. Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 72. Natica, sp. (cast). Pl. XV. Fig. 3. This is an imperfect cast of the last whorl of a large and very tumid species of Natica; but the want of the spire and any external shell-layer necessarily prevent any accurate description of this fossil. formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 73. Turbo (Senectus) setosus? Gmelin, Operculum of. Pl. XV. Fig. 4. This is almost identical with the operculum of Turbo setosus, Gmelin, a species at the present time found living in the Pacific. The differences are so slight that they may be treated more as indi- vidual peculiarities than as of specific value. The short granular ridges, for instance, on the exterior, near the inner side just above a groove parallel with the extreme margin, are coarser, and the sur- face, from the centre to the opposite or outer margin, is less raised, and more coarsely granulated than in the normal form of this oper- culum. Both have an orange-red stripe bordering the outer edge. Dimensions :—Greatest diameter 27 mm.; shortest diameter 25 mm.; thickness 13 mm. _ Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 74. Cassis, sp. (cast). Pl. XV. Fig. 5. At first sight this cast appears to be that of a Natica, with a some- what produced spire ; but on examining the specimen closely, we at once detect the impressions of denticulations’ on the interior of the outer lip so characteristic in the genus Cassis. Cast of shell ventricose, spire slightly produced, aperture long, auriculate, outer lip denticulated. This fossil may be compared with the Cassis Herklotzii of Dr. Martin (Die Tertiirschichten auf Java, tab. viii. fig. 7), and also with the figure of Cassis sublevigaster, D’ Arch. (D’Archiac and Haime, Foss. Numm. de V’Inde, Pl. 31, fig. 4). Formation and Locality :—Found with the preceding species. 75. Neritina subfossilis, H. Woodw. Pl. XV. Fig. 6, a, b. Shell somewhat globose and auriculate, with a depressed and nearly obsolete spire; surface smooth and shining,* body-whorl 1 Tn figuring this fossil Pl. XV. Fig. 5, the mouth-view only is given, so that one cannot see from the drawing the crenulations or denticulations on the cast, marking what was the character of the interior of the outer lip. 2 This coloration in the figure (see Pl. XV. Fig. 6, 6) unfortunately conveys to the eye rather the appearance of corrugations or cross-ridges, but the surface is really quite smooth. Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 545 retaining its colour and ornamentation, which consists of concen- trically arranged, somewhat elongated white spots upon an olive- brown ground. The painting of this shell calls to mind that of N. punctulata, Lamarck, a living West-Indian species, but the form and columellar region are different. This shell might also be compared with the Nerita Rumphit of Martin (see Die Tertiarschichten auf Java, t. xiii. fig. 19). Dimensions :—Height 7 mm.; breadth 14 mm. Formation :—(Subfossil ?') Tertiary. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 76. Neritopsis Morrisianus, H. Woodw. Pl. XV. Fig. 7, a, b. Shell subglobose, neritoid, thick, spire very short and small, sur- face ornamented with numerous linear tuberculated lire of nearly equal size, 15 to 16 in number, the tubercles being united to those in the rows above and below them by delicate oblique striz ; aperture subovate, inner margin of outer lip distinctly denticulate ; columellar margin deeply notched. Dimensions :—Height 11 mm. ; breadth 11 mm. M. Grateloup, in 1832, established the genus Neritopsis, for a fossil shell from the Miocene of Dax, Landes; which he named N. moniliformis (Actes de la Société Linnéenne de Bordeaux (tome v. no. 27, p. 125, pl. 38, fig. 1, 2). This species is four times as large as our Sumatran shell, and agrees better with the living N. radula, Linn., found in the seas around the Sandwich Islands.* From both of these it may, however, be distinguished by its shorter spire, the smaller number of the granular ridges and the coarser liree within the labrum. The abrupt notch in the columella is of pre- cisely the same form as in the recent species. The operculum of the latter is a comparatively recent discovery. It is of a thick shelly substance, and has a prominence upon the inner side, which fits into the notch in the columella. It is described by M. Souverbie (Journ. de Conchyliologie, 1874, vol. xxii. p. 199), and in the succeeding volume of the same work by M. Crosse. The curious fossil organisms from the Upper Lias of Normandy (Soane- et-Loire and Calvados), from Wiirttemberg, and from the Coral-Rag of England, upon which MM. Eudes and Eugéne Deslongchamps founded their genus Peléarion in 1859, are only the opercula of a species of Neritopsis.2 The operculum of Neritopsis has also been named Scaphanidia by J. Miiller. Mr. Ralph Tate observes * of the genus Peltarion, that it is “Founded on the mandibular armature of Tetrabranchiate Cephalopods.” 1 The fresh condition and coloration of this shell render it difficult, in the absence of more exact knowledge of these beds, to refer it to any but a very modern deposit. 2 Twenty fossil species of Neritopsis are described from the Trias?, Lias, and Oolites. Dr. Hérnes has also figured a Neritopsis (which he refers to the recent NV. radula) from the Vienna Basin. I find that Hornes considers Grateloup’s JV. monilifera to be only a synonym of N. radula (Foss. Moll, des Wiener Beckens, . 528, pl. 47, fic. 8). H 3 See apie ee (Bull. Soe. Géol. France, 2e série, t. xxvi. 1869, p. 182). 4 Manual of Mollusca, by Dr. S. P. Woodward, Appendix by Ralph Tate, 1879, pp- *12 and *13, fig. 11. DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. XII. 30 046 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. I beg leave to dedicate this interesting Tertiary representative of a Mesozoic genus, now almost extinct, to my valued friend and colleague Prof. John Morris, M.A., F.G.S., whose stores of palzon- tological knowledge are always so freely accessible to all his scientific friends, and who has rendered me much valuable assistance in preparing the present memoir. Formation :—Tertiary Clay-Marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 77. Melania subfossilis, H. Woodw. Pl. XV. Fig. 8, a, b. Shell fusiform, surface smooth, with fine longitudinal striae; whorls 7 in number, spotted around the suture with brown spots ; body-whorl with occasional brown streaks ; earliest volutions of spire distinctly costated ; suture strongly marked; lower part of body-whorl distinctly lirated ; aperture entire, oval, pointed behind, outer lip thin. This shell, like the Neritina already noticed, has all the appearance of having been living at a very recent date. It is probably near to the Melania (Aulacostoma) levissima. Dimensions :—Height 12 mm.; breadth 7 mm. Formation :—(Subfossil ?) Tertiary. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 78. Melania rivularis? Philippi. Pl. XV. Fig. 9, a, 6. The following is Philippi’s description of this species :—Shell turrited, greenish ; apex decollated, whorls 7, convex, suture strongly marked; transversely striated, the upper whorls marked with red lines, the middle series with transverse spots below the suture; aperture ovate-oblong, acute above, base expanded; lip near the base somewhat produced (length 20 mm.; breadth, 6 mm.), (Abbil- dungen und Beschreibungen Conchylien von Dr. R. A. Philippi, band. ii. lief. 6, Cassel, 1847, 4to.) The shell here figured agrees very well indeed with Philippi’s description of Melania rivularis. but differs somewhat from his fizure, which represents the whorls a trifle less convex and the aperture a little more elongated and produced at the base. M. rivu- laris is a Javanese form. M. fontinalis, of Philippi, is another closely-related species, and in fact (as suggested by the author him- self) may probably only be a local variety of the preceding species. It is found in the aqueducts in the Island of Pulo Pinang. Dimensions :—Height 16 mm.; breadth 5 mm. Formation :—(Subfossil ?) Tertiary. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 79. Melania ? (cast). Pl. XV. Fig. 10. This specimen makes us acquainted with an elongated cast show- ing six convex volutions carinated near the suture; none of the shell is preserved save the inner layer. This cast might be compared with that of the Turritella Su- bathooensis, D’Arch. (D’Arch. and Haime, Numm. Foss. de l’Inde, t. 28, fig. 1), with which it agrees in general form. If this be the internal cast of a Melania, of which there seems little doubt, it affords some grounds for assuming that the very Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. 547 recent-looking Melania shells (Figs. 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13) may, after all, prove to be exceedingly well- -preserved fossils from the same series of clays of Tertiary age. Dimensions of cast:—Height 60 mm.; breadth 25 mm. Formation :—From white Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 80. Melania pyramis (Benson), Reeve. Pl. XV. Fig. 11 a, b. Shell elongated, fusiform, whorls 9-10 in number, slightly con- vex, finely striated spirally, maculated, smooth, suture very distinct ; body-whor! nearly equalling the height of the spire ; aperture entire, oval, pointed above, outer lip sharp, columella smooth. Dimensions :—Height 20 mm.: breadth 7 mm. My colleague, Mr. Edgar Smith, has kindly assisted me in the examination of this shell, which agrees very well in most of its cha- racters with the Melania pyramis (Benson, Reeve, Conchologia Iconica, xii. sp. 51), a Bornean species, the type of which is preserved in the British Museum. The spiral sculpture is much the same in character, but is only obsolete on a part of the last whorl, and not altogether absent, as described by Reeve. In this statement he is scarcely justified, for on carefully examining the figured specimen, a few spiral striz can be distinctly traced; two other recent examples are sculptured to the same extent on the last three or four whorls, as in the Sumatran specimen; both the Bornean and Sumatran shells agree in having a deeply canaliculated suture. ~ Formation -— (Subfossil ?) Tertiary. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 81. Melania sublactea, H. Woodw. Pl. XV. Fig. 12. Shell elongated, fusiform, whorls nine in number, somewhat convex; body-whorl equalling the height of the spire; without colour-bands or ornamentation, save fine longitudinal striz ; suture distinct, aperture somewhat small, entire, oval, pointed posteriorly ; outer lip sharp, columella smooth. Dimensions :—Height 17 mm.; breadth 7 mm. This shell resembles the Melania lactea in form, but the whorls are less in number (7), and are not quite so convex; the columellar border of the recent shell is thickened, which is not the case with the fossil one. Formation :—(Subfossil ?) Tertiary. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 82. Melania costata, Quoy and Gaimard, 1884. Melania costata, var. glabra, H. Woodw. Pl. XV. Fig. 18. Shell subulate, elongated; spire acute; whorls 9, smooth, slightly striped beneath the suture; upper volutions ornamented with fine spiral strize, body-whorl nearly equal in height to the spire. Dimensions :—Height 56 millimetres ; breadth 15 mm. The shell here figured appears inseparable from the Melania costata of Quoy and Gaimard, 1834 (Voyage de l’Astrolabe, Zoologie, tome ili. p. 105, pl. 56, figs. 34-37), one of the most variable species in form and sculpture of the whole genus. Certain specimens in the 048 Dr. H. Woodward—On Fossil Shells from Sumatra. British Museum from the Philippine Islands are just of the same smooth unplicated or uncostated character, with similar fine spiral strie on the upper volutions, and painted with the same short reddish stripes just beneath the suture, as in the Sumatran shell. The lip of the latter is considerably broken away, and consequently displays a less patulate aperture, and a different curve at the columella. Formation :—(Sub-fossil ?) Tertiary. Locality :— Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. 83. Dentalium, sp. Pl. XV. Fig. 14. This is a fragment only of a smooth form of Dentalium, but the Specimen is too fragmentary for description. Formation :—In light-coloured Tertiary Clay-marl. Locality :—Government of the West Coast of Sumatra. In concluding this description of M. Verbeek’s Fossils, I must beg leave to tender my best thanks to my colleague, Mr. Hdgar A. Smith, of the Zoological Department, for his many notes and sugges- tions with regard to recent species; also to my friend Prof. Morris, M.A., for his kindly and valuable assistance in preparing this paper for publication. At the suggestion of Professor T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., F.G.S., the whole of the specimens sent from Sumatra by M. R. D. M. Verbeek have, with the sanction of the Dutch-Netherland Government, been presented to the British Museum, where they are preserved for reference. EXPLANATION OF PLATES XIV. AND XY. Puate XIV. Fie. 1. Triton (cast of). In Grey Tertiary Clay-marl, Govt. West Coast Sumatra. », 2. Plewrotoma terebra, Bast. In Bluish Tertiary Clay-marl ; loc. cit. ahonito. concinna, Dunker. 13 0 et 4, eiaek "Borneensts, Sby. ‘a Bi a 5. Turbinella subcostata, H. Woodw. a es - 6. Pisania subdiscolor, H. Woodw. 5 ‘ 99 7. Ranella ? tritonoides, H. Woodw. 0 39 5 8. Borsonia granifera, H. Woodw. “ iy th 9. Cerithium Verbeekti, H. Woodw. % A » 10. Pleurotoma Jonesiana, H. Woodw. » ll. Ranella ? sp. (cast). In white Tertiary Clay-marl, 30 » 12. Lurbo Smithii, H. Woodw. os » 13. 4, Swmatrensis, H. Woodw. Tertiary, dp » 14. Monodonta submamilla, H. Woodw. _,, - » 15. Solarium Javanum ? Martin. In bluish Tertiary Clay-mazl, ,, » 16. Turbo Martinianus, H. Woodw. In white . op » 17. Lurritella, sp. In bluish Tertiary Clay-marl, . » 18. Cerithium, sp. oy » 19. Strombus Sumatranus, H. Woodw. In white $0 7 Puate XV. Fic. 1. Delphinula fossilis ? K. Martin. White Tertiary Clay-marl, Government West Coast Sumatra. ss 2. Xenophora agglutinans 2? Lamk. us loc. cit. » 3. WNatica, sp. (cast). a: 3) » 4. Lurbo setosus ? (operculum of). mS i 99 5. Cassis, sp. (cast). . >” 6. Neritina subfossilis, H. Woodw. Wariory: op Notices of Memoirs—Limestone an Index of Time. 549 Fie. 7. Neritopsis Morrisianus, H. Woodw. Clay-mavrl, Tertiary, Zoe. cit. 5) 8. Melania subfossilis, H. Woodw. Tertiary, @) rivularis 2 Philippi. is 9 ” ” ’ » 10. 4, ?(castof). White Tertiary Clay-marl, ai op, lle » pyramis, Benson. Tertiary, PA an LDS » sublactea, H. Woodw. ,, 5 cm ge Se 1, _ costata, var. glabra, H. Woodw. Tertiary, ay » 14. Dentalium, sp. Tertiary Clay-marl, Me NOTICES OF MEMOIRS. I.—“ Limestone aS AN INDEX or GerotocicaL True.” By T. Metiarp Reaves, C.H., F.G.S. [From the Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 192, 1879. ] HE geological history of the globe is written only in its sedi- mentary strata, but if we trace its history backwards, unless we assume absolute uniformity, we arrive at a time when the first sedi- ments resulted from the degradation of the original crust of the globe. There is no known rock to which a geologist could point and say “that is the material from which all sedimentary rocks have been derived,” but analogy leads us to suppose that if the earth had an igneous origin, the original materials upon which the elements first began to work were of the nature of granite or basalt. From a variety of considerations drawn from borings, mines, faults, natural gorges and proved thicknesses of the strata of certain mountain chains, the author arrives at the conclusion that the sedi- mentary crust of the earth is at least of an average actual thickness of one mile, and infers from the proportionate amount of carbonates and sulphates of lime to materials in suspension in various river waters flowing from a variety of formations, that one-tenth of the thickness of this crust is calcareous. Limestone rocks have been in process of formation from the earliest known ages, but the extensive series of analyses of water made by Dr. Frankland for the Rivers Pollution Commission, shows that the later strata in Great Britain are much more calcareous than the earlier. The same holds true of the continent of Europe, and the balance of evidence seems in favour of the supposition that there has been on the whole a gradual progressive increase or evolution of lime. The “Challenger ” soundings show that carbonate of lime in the form of tests of organisms is a general deposit characterizing the greater part of the ocean bottoms, while the materials in suspension are, excepting in the case of transport by ice, deposited within a distance of 200 miles of land. This wider distribution in space of lime, the author thinks, must also profoundly influence its distribution in time, and he shows this by example and illustration. It can also be proved to demonstration that the greater part of the ocean bottom must at one time or another have been land, else the rocks of the continents would have become gradually less, instead of more, calcareous. Thus the arguments drawn from the geographical distribution of animals are reinforced by physical considerations. 500 Notices of Memoirs—Limestone an Index of Time. The author goes on to show that the area of granitic and volcanic rocks in Europe and the part of Asia between the Caspian and the Black Sea, as shown in Murchison’s Map of Europe, is two-twenty- fifths (325) of the whole; much of this is probably remelted sedi- ments, and some of the granites the product of metamorphism. From considerations stated at length, it is estimated that the area of exposures of igneous to sedimentary rocks would be for all geo- logical time liberally averaged at one-tenth (35) of the whole. These igneous rocks are either the original materials of the globe protruded upwards, or they are melted sediments or a mixture of the two. The only igneous rocks we know of are of the nature of granites and traps. If these rocks do not constitute the substratum of the earth, and all known rocks, igneous as well as sedimentary, are derivative, either geological time is infinite, or the rock from which they are derived is, so far as we know, annihilated geologically speaking, and we have no records of it left. If we assume the latter as true, the past is immeasurable, but in order to arrive at a minimum age of the earth, the author starts from the hypothesis that the fundamental rocks were granitic and trappean. From eighteen analyses by Dr. Frankland, it is shown that the water flowing from granitic and igneous rock districts in Great Britain contains on an average 3°73 parts per 100,000 of sulphates and carbonates of lime. The amount of water that runs off the ground is given for several of the great continental river basins in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The annual depth of rain running off the granitic and igneous rock areas, taking into consideration the greater height at which they usually lie and the possibility of greater rainfall in earlier ages, is averaged at 28 inches, and the annual contribution of lime in solution in the forms of carbonates and sulphates at 70 tons per square mile. With these elements, and giving due weight to certain physical considerations that have been urged in limitation of the earth’s age, the author proceeds to his calculations, arriving at this result, that the elimination of the calcareous matter contained in the sedimentary crust of the earth must have occupied at least 600 millions of years. The actual time occupied in the formation of the groups of strata as divided into relative ages by Prof. Ramsay, is inferred as follows :— MILLIONS oF YEARS. Laurentian, Cambrian, and Silurian ..... ...... Bee Eee i teae 200 Old Red, Carboniferous, Permian, and New Red ............... 200 Jurassic, Wealden, Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and uPostlvocene meceeeeeeteeeereadececoecseestocenecece sees 200 —— 600 The concluding part of the paper consists of answers to objections. The author contends that the facts adduced prove geological time to be enormously in excess of the limits urged by some physicists, and ample to allow on the hypothesis of evolution for all the changes which have taken place in the organic world. Notices of Memoirs—Fossil Forests of Yellowstone Park. 551 II.—Fossiz Forests oF THE YELLOWSTONE Park. kh. W. H. HOLMES has given a brief but interesting account of the voleanic Tertiary beds of the Yellowstone region (Bull. U.S. Geol. and Geog. Survey of the Territories, vol. v. p: 125), which are stated to cover or to have covered an area of not less than 10,000 square miles. The chief materials consist of volcanic fragments apparently distributed by water, and now form breccias, conglomerates, and sand- stones, and contain an abundance of silicified wood. Where typically developed, as in the valley of the Hast Fork, they have a thickness of 5,000 feet, and rest upon eroded surfaces of granitic and Paleozoic rocks. The lowest observed occurrence of these beds is in the valley of the main Yellowstone, between the first and second cajions, at an elevation of about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. They appear to be destitute of animal remains, but the greater part of this immense group of strata is filled with the silicified remains of a multitude of forests. The roots and stems are found in situ, and prostrate trunks are of frequent occurrence, besides branches, leaves, and fruits. These old forests are well exposed at successive levels in the 2,000 feet of strata exposed on the north face of Amethyst Mountain, and from the character of the vegetation, Prof. Leo Lesquereux considers the strata to belong to the Lower Pliocene or Upper Miocene. In many cases the wood is completely opalized or agatized, and the cavities are filled with beautiful crystals of calcite, quartz, and amethyst. J. I1I.—Rerort on THE SrormBERG Coan-FIeELD. By Mr. HE. J. Duny. 4to. pp. 86. (Solomon & Co., Cape Town, 1878.) N R. DUNN describes the constituent strata of the Stormbergen as—at top—l. Volcanic: lavas, tuff, agglomerate, ash-beds, and amygdaloids, with volcanic bombs in sandstone, about 400 feet. 2. Cave-sandstone: buff-coloured, pinkish, greenish, white and grey, fine-grained, thick-bedded sandstone; about 150 feet; with fragments of Sauroid bones. 3. Red beds: friable, red and purple, arenaceous shale, and similar sandstone, mottled green, alternating with grey felspathic sandstones, also conglomerate (p. 8) ; about 600 feet ; with Sauroid bones; and fossil wood in the lower beds, scarce. 4, Coal-measures: grey and light-coloured sandstones, generally felspathic, alternating with shales, in which coal-seams occur, and conglomerates ; about 1,000 feet; carbonized plant-remains abundant in the sandstones, ferns in the shales; fossil wood abundant ; fossil bones very rare. Doleritic dykes penetrate the whole series. The “ Stormberg ”’ strata, he says, continue throughout the Drackensberg range, and the series is as strongly marked near Harrismith as in the Stormbergen. They lie conformably on red, greenish, and grey shales, with grey sandstones, rich with Dicynodont and _ other reptilian remains. Mr. Dunn separates the latter series, as “ Upper Karoo Beds,” from the former (as “Stormberg Beds”) ; but why the whole should not remain, as heretofore, as parts of the great ‘‘ Karoo Formation ” of A. G. Bain, is not at all clear. The Coal-bearing beds of the Stormberg as seen on the north 502 Notices of Memoirs—Report on the Stormberg Coal-field. side (Albert), and the conditions of working, are described at pages 5 and 6 and 16-383. The seams of coal are not numerous nor thick; the aggregate being not more than 6 feet 6 inches, at Bushman’s Hoek and the Indwe River, with 4 feet more represented by “ one or two thin seams of inferior coal, occupying a higher position in the series,” a few miles to the south. Ferns from the coal-shales are identified (p. 19) with Pecopteris odontopteroides (p. 11), Cyclopteris cuneata, and Teeniopteris Daintreet of Queensland. The “‘ Red Beds” are described at pages 7-9. The ‘Cave Sand- stone,” described at pages 9 and 10, forms conspicuous precipices, being at some places a solid freestone more than 150 feet thick, almost withont any lines of bedding. Water, running over its edge, or oozing out from beneath, forms the numerous caves to which it owes its name. One of these is 330 feet wide at the entrance, 144 feet deep, 60 feet high at mouth, lessening to nothing at the back of the cave. The kloofs (gorges), krantzes (precipices), kops (little hills), blocks, caves, and fantastical masses (pulpit-rocks, ete.), of this sandstone give rise to picturesque and sometimes grand scenery. The felspathic material in this sandstone, acted on by infiltrating rain-water, gives the calcareous stalagmite (drip-cale) seen in some of the caves and krantzes. In this sandstone, as in the “ Coal- measures” and ‘“‘ Red-beds,”’ ripple-marks and mud-cracks are present, also “‘ tracks of crustaceans.” The ‘“ Voleanic rocks” are described in detail at pp. 10-16. “Two of the cores still preserve a crater-like form ;” these are of very great interest, and are “Glat Kopjes” and “Telemachus Kop.” Pipes, throats, flues, plugs, ete., of old voleanos are also met with among the ‘“‘Stormberg beds” in the Nieuwveldt and Karreebergen (near Caernarvon). ‘The numerous dykes of igneous rock all over the region are referred to; also the agate-gravel of many rivers of South Africa is noticed as having been derived from the amygda- loids ; and the origin of “ pipe-agate,” as due to the uprise of steam in hot vesicular and siliciferous lava from the damp ground over which it flowed, is concisely stated among other interesting facts connected with this division of South-African Geology. We may mention that in the “Cape Monthly Magazine,” new series, vol. ii. 1873, p. 60, is Mr. Dunn’s earlier report on the Storm- berg Coal; and that Mr. Evans, of Queenstown, has given some useful notes on the Stormberg Coal as known in 1870 (see the “ Mining Journal,’ January 14, 1871); also that Mr. G. W. Stow, F.G.S., has described and illustrated the Geology of Dordrecht and other places north and south of the Stormberg, in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxvii. 1871, pp. 523, ete. In conclusion, Mr. Dunn states (p. 32) :—‘'The tract of country over which coal-outcrops may be expected to occur on the South slopes of the Stormberg, lying between Bushman’s Hoek and the Indwe, has not been examined. From the position the coal-measures occupy, it is clear that coal-outcrops will be found right round the base of the Drackensberg, and equally clear that the seams are thicker and the quality better the further they occur to N.E. from the Notices of Memoirs—Report on Camdeboo, ete., Coal-beds. 558 Stormberg. In Natal, at Biggar’s Berg, is a seam of coal, eight feet thick, of better quality than the Stormberg coal. In the Transvaal equally thick seams of superior coal are known in the High Veldt. A few outcrops are known in the Free State. Properly directed explorations would result in tracing the outcrops through Kaffirland, Natal, the Transvaal, and Free State. In the higher parts of Basuto- land, and, in fact, along the higher portions of the Drackensberg chain and its spurs, no coal will be found; the seams do not occur at such altitudes.” Shee Ie IV.—ReEport oN THE CamMpEBOO AND NiguwetptT Coat, Care or Goop Horr. By HE. J. Dunn, Esq. 4to. pp. 24, with several Sections and Plans. (Solomon & Co., Cape Town, 1879.) HE occurrence of two sets of Coal-bearing beds on the N.H. margin of the Stormberg (near Bushman’s Hoek), north of Queenstown,—one of probably old ‘‘Carboniferous” age, and the other belonging to the upper part (‘‘Stormberg”’) of the great Karoo Series, —was indicated in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1871, vol. xxvii. p. 52; and, though the Report above noticed does not support that view, something like it is now proved to be the case at about 150 miles W. by 8. from Queenstown. Mr. Dunn has found an exposure (inlier) of some underlying coal-bearing (anthracitic) strata, distinct from the surrounding and unconformable Karoo Beds, at Buffel’s Kloof, on a spur of the Camdeboo Mountains, between Graaf-Reinet and Beaufort West; and again at Brandewyn’s Gat, by the Leeuwe River, on a spur of the Nieuwveldt, 386 miles N.W. of Beaufort West, and 100 miles W. of Buffel’s Kloof. By making careful sections of the strata between Beaufort and Graaf-Reinet, and by examining the sections opened out by the new railway running §.W. from Beaufort, across the Dwyka, Bloed, and Buffel’s Rivers and the Wittenberg range, Mr. Dunn has fully explained the relation of the horizontal Karoo series as unconformable to the underlying tilted, folded, and broken “ Ecca Beds,” with their inclosed and conformable “‘ Dwyka Conglomerate” (Dunn). This remarkable rock, once thought to be of igneous origin (‘‘T'rap-breccia,” etc.), is now known to be com- posed of dense sandy mudstone and blocks, and to be probably of elacial origin. Having thus successfully traced these Ecca Beds, from the (Devonian or Carboniferous) sandstones of the Witteberg, with which they are conformable, to the Camdeboo district, Mr. Dunn shows good reason why the inlier of highly inclined coaly rocks under the horizontal Karoo beds there are part of the Ecca group; and the more so because anthracite and a highly carbonaceous limestone occur in one part of that group of strata near Buttel’s River on the Beaufort and Cape-Town line of railway. The author, however, is not correct in stating that the Karoo Beds have always been supposed to be conformable to the Heca Beds. In 1857 and 1858 (‘Eastern Province Monthly Magazine,’ No. 17, December, 1857, p. 187, and Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xv. pp. 197, 198) the late Dr. Rubidge argued that in the Eastern Province of Cape-Colony the “ plant-beds of Hcca” (the lower portion, at 054 Reviews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunt’s Ohemico-Geological Essays. least) were of Devonian age, that they did not belong to the Karoo series, and that the latter abutted against them unconformably ; and these conditions are expressed in Mr. Pinchin’s sections in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxi. 1874, p. 106, pl. 4. At Buffel’s Kloof the diggings and shaft clearly show that one or more rather thick seams of coal (anthracite) in the underlying inclined beds have been broken and crushed by a fault, and even forced up into the higher fissures contained in the overlying horizontal Karoo beds, which do not hereabouts contain coal. The shales in which the coal is bedded contain “Glossopteris and Calamites.” The value of these fossils in proving the exact age of the bed depends on many circumstances; and, although not quite so good as the Lepidodendron and Sigillaria from the northern margin of the Stormberg, yet Calamites, at least, evidently belong to beds below the Karoo Series, and Glossopteris may be old “Carbo- niferous,” as in Australia. Hcca shales with plant-remains in the Eastern Province, and fossil wood on the Pataties and anthracite on Buffel’s River, in the West, indicate this to be a carbonaceous formation. Mr. Dunn suggests _that there may be plenty of good coal in the covered-up “ Ecca Beds” of the Camdeboo and neighbouring hills, to be found by judicious boring ; and, although the exposures now known show only crushed anthracite, not only the crushing, but the metamorphic change from coal (hydrocarbon) to anthracite (carbon) may there be due, as else- where, to local pressure and disturbance. The descriptions and sections in this Report elucidate the nature and relative positions of the Eeca Beds (pages 6-10), and of the lower portion of the Karoo series (pages 10-24) omitting the Stormberg portion, well described in the foregoing Report, very satisfactorily, and thus add very much to our knowledge of South-African Geology. 4 cee REVIEWS. Se I.—Cuemicat anp Grotocican Essays. By Tuomas Srerry Hunv, LL.D. Second edition. (London, Tribner & Co., 1879). daa recent issue of a second edition of Dr. Sterry Hunt’s Chemical and Geological Essays, which first appeared as a separate volume in 1875, affords a fitting opportunity for noticing some of the questions with which the author is so well qualified to deal. The work consists of a series of papers published in various scientific journals during the last twenty years, which are now reproduced more or less verbatim, with short introductory notes occasionally prefixed by way of explanation. There are twenty essays in all, dealing with a variety of subjects, most of which may be grouped under the following heads :— 1. Chemical and dynamical speculations on the early condition of the planet, and on subsequent volcanic phenomena. 2. History of the crystalline rocks. 3. Essays in chemical geology not directly related to either of the above subjects. Reviews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunts Chemico-Geological Essays. 555 4, Purely chemical and mineralogical essays. Some of these essays have appeared in the columns of this Magazine, and we may, therefore, suppose that many of our readers are familiar with them; but as the first and second group of essays deal with subjects which have been provocative of constant and progressive discussion, a brief notice of some of the points on which they touch may not be without interest. Chemical and dynamical speculations, etc.—A vision of chemical cosmogony is presented to us about the period in the general history of Kosmos, when the partially cooled globe—our planet— began to settle down to what must always be a subject of interest to a geologist, viz. the formation of the nearest approach to rocks we can conceive. ‘Two principal hypotheses have been maintained with respect to this consolidation. 1. That of a solid crust resting on an uncongealed nucleus. This is perhaps the view which has been most generally believed. 2. That solidification commenced at the centre, and advanced towards the circumference, but that at the close of this process a condition of imperfect liquidity supervened, resulting in the formation of a superficial crust which retained a liquid zone between itself and the solid centre. This portion of uncongealed matter would be the seat of volcanic action, the evident facts of a flexible crust requiring something of this sort. In the lecture which he delivered at the Royal Institution in May, 1867, “‘ On the Chemistry of the Primeval Earth,” Dr. Sterry Hunt adopted the theory of a solid crust, partly on the grounds that “numer- ous and careful experiments show that the products of solidification (always excepting water) are much denser than the liquid mass.” To this view the late lamented David Forbes took exception, as indeed he did to almost every point in our author’s lecture. The consequence of this was a somewhat embittered controversy carried on between these eminent geological chemists, for the most part in the pages of this Magazine. That was a time when few persons in this country availed themselves of chemistry and the allied sciences in the study and grouping of the rock-masses; a time when almost any rock that was green might be put down as a “greenstone,” and when the numerous analyses which had been made on the Continent and in America were almost unknown to our geologists. The return of David Forbes from a long sojourn in foreign countries was marked by a not unsuccessful effort on his part to assert the importance of chemical geology. He thus acquired great and well-merited influence in fashioning and controlling opinion in this country on all points relative to the chemistry of rocks. Although doubtless Dr. Sterry Hunt laid himself open to criticism in some respects, as, for instance, when he states that “ quartz can only be generated by aqueous agencies and at comparatively low temperatures,” it may be questioned whether Forbes was particularly happy in his criticisms or in the reasons by which he sought to enforce them. Let us take, for instance, his appeals to the results seen on a small scale in the cooling of melted metals; where, as observed by Hunt, the conditions of a liquid congealing in an atmo- i] 596 Reviews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunt's Chemico- Geological Essays. sphere greatly below its own temperature, and having a crust growing out from and supported by the sides of the vessel, are widely different from those of a liquid globe slowly cooling beneath a very dense and intensely-heated atmosphere. The composition of the Harth’s crust and atmosphere are the next subjects discussed. The original crust, says Sterry Hunt, is now everywhere buried beneath its own ruins, and he considers that it must have resembled certain furnace slags or volcanic glasses, whilst the primeval atmosphere would contain all the carbon, chlorine, and sulphur in the form of acid gases with nitrogen, watery vapour, and a probable excess of oxygen. Forbes took strong objection to these speculations, especially as regards the primitive atmosphere. No excess of oxygen, he said, could exist with so much sulphurous acid; moreover, hydrochloric and sulphurous acids at high tempera- tures decompose each other with the formation of water, chlorine and sulphur. From the affinity of sulphur for the metals, and from the fact that sulphurous acid is decomposed by metals with the formation of sulphides and oxides, he infers that this element (sulphur) in reality united itself to the metals, and thus formed dense sulphides which at once sank through the lighter fluid layer. So far as he confined himself to criticisms, especially on the action of sulphur, Forbes was pretty safe; but in his reply he unfortunately ventured on the production of a rival atmosphere in zones, where, as eagerly pointed out by his opponent, he forgot the specific gravities of some of his gases, and altogether ignored the law of their diffusion. Those who care to pursue this subject further will find the several papers in the GEeotocicaL Macazine. (See 1867, Vol. IV., pp. 357, 483, and 477, and 1868, Vol. V., pp. 49, 92, 93, 106, and 866.) The subject of the earlier condition of the atmosphere is again discussed by Dr. Hunt in the preface to the second edition, and he alludes especially to the probabilities that even a very moderate extra amount of carbonic acid in the atmosphere would diminish loss of heat from radiation. He recalls to the minds of his readers the enormous amount of carbonic acid now locked up in the earth’s limestones, equal in weight to 200 of the present atmospheres. The progressive diminution in the height of the atmospheric column has been due to its elements having been condensed in the form of liquid water, or fixed as hydrates, oxides, or carbonates; hence a gradual refrigeration of the earth’s climate. The application of these views is, he observes, contrary to the hypothesis of an alternation of warm and glacial climates in past ages, but is more in accordance with the facts of the geological story, where everything tends to show that a warm climate prevailed everywhere at the sea-level. (Read in conjunction with the highly suggestive and ingenious hypothesis propounded by Mr. Ball at the Royal Geographical Society in June last, which ‘really took Sir J. Hooker’s breath away,” we may believe that we have now obtained some clue to the history of the earth’s climate in time, which has been so long obscured by ice on the brain.) The amount of carbonic acid which the life of the successive ages could endure presents however the chief difficulty, and is a physiological question which must doubtless be answered. Reviews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunt’s Chemico- Geological Essays. 557 In discussing “The probable seat of Volcanic Action,” Dr. Hunt alludes to a modification of the theory of the liquid zone between the solid core and the crust, which he is inclined to adopt, whilst accepting in the main the theory of Hopkins. This theory of Sterry Hunt is Neptunean in the highest possible degree, but there is one point on which he has always been staunch—viz. that the originating heat is derived from the central mass. Indeed, he thinks it probable that any chemical processes which may be set up in the buried sediments for their conversion into igneous rocks and voleanic products would absorb rather than generate heat. As some people, perhaps from an instinctive dread of telluric heat, have exercised much ingenuity of speculation on the causes of the heat of vulcanicity, it is satisfactory to find that Hunt, though a Neptunist, has no difficulty on this point. But he considers that, although in early times a yet unsolidified sheet of molten matter may have existed between the solid core and the superficial crust, such is not now the case. He believes that the cushion on which the flexible crust undulates is in fact the base of that crust impregnated with water and in a state of aquo-igneous fusion. When there is an excess of pressure, this may tend to pro- duce fluidity —the very reverse of Scrope’s idea that relief of pressure effected this. Hence also the belief of Hunt that the phenomena of volcanic eruptions are the most likely to occur under the more recent formations, where he appears to conceive that there is the greatest amount of pressure, and he endeavours to show, though perhaps not very successfully, that the present distribution of volcanic areas favours this view. Certainly the ancient volcanos in Auvergne and the Hifel, piercing as they did rocks of high antiquity, do not substantiate his case; and this is the more important, as Dr. Hunt seems to predicate for the old crystalline areas an immunity from volcanic disturbance in future. The composition of the semifluid cushion is of course all impor- tant. The existing crust being the water-deposited débris of the primeval slag mixed with such precipitates as have from time to time been abstracted from the liquids which condensed upon it, contains all the substances and may yield all the phenomena of volcanic eruptions. Hence it may be deemed self-containing, and requires no reinforcement from below, the central solid core acting merely as a stove to supply heat. There is no necessity therefore for the acidic and basic magmas of Durocher and others, and the admitted division of the rocks, both volcanic and crystalline, into what corresponds on the whole to trachytic and doleritic, is capable of another explanation, which also will better accord with the complex nature of the rocks themselves. Such a separation has in fact been going on from the very earliest times, owing to the effects of atmospheric waters, which remove from the rocks soda, lime, and magnesia, leaving behind silica, alumina and potash—the elements of granitic and trachytic rocks. This action is more or less complete, according to the perme- ability of the rocks, and thus arises a tendency to a division into two classes of silico-argillaceous rocks constituting the bulk of the earth’s crust,—doubtless an ingenious suggestion, though hardly meeting cases such as that of the abundance of alumina in anorthic felspars. 558 Reviews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunt's Chemico- Geological Essays. In 1878 we find Dr. Sterry Hunt complaining that, in his endeavours to reconstruct dynamical geology on a new basis since 1858, his views have been appropriated without acknowledgment by Le Conte, Mallet, and others. Le Conte, we are told, says that the whole theory of igneous agencies must be reconstructed on the basis of a solid earth, a view adopted, and ably defended, but not originally propounded, by Hunt, who takes the opportunity of pointing out that his theory of the plastic zone of sediments affords the necessary cushion be- tween the outer crust and the rigid central mass. There are, it must be admitted, instances when people appropriate the doctrines of others, after having opposed something like them for years, and this may occur both in the political and scientific world. But we must also bear in mind that great ideas are epidemic, and that discoveries have at times been announced almost simultaneously from different quarters. ‘The question of priority is often rather delicate, though in one instance at least, as Professor Dana has admitted with characteristic candour, Dr. Sterry Hunt’s claims to priority were incorrectly denied. History of the crystalline rocks.—This subject is so bound up on the one hand with the questions already discussed, and on the other with the geognosy of extensive areas both in the Old and New World, that it may be regarded as a sort of connecting link between the previous speculations and pure geology. Most of the former questions are likely to remain open for some generations to come; but in the history of the crystalline rocks we have more accessible ground for discussion, and the subject is one in which geologists can take an especial interest. Our author’s general declaration of faith has appeared so recently in this Magazine (Gron. Mac. for 1878, p- 466), that a very brief epitome will meet the case, viz. that the various “ crystalline stratified rocks are not plutonic, but neptunean in origin, and, except so far as they are mechanical sediments coming from the chemical or mechanical disintegration of more ancient rock- masses, were originally deposited as, for the most part, chemically formed sediments or precipitates, in which the subsequent changes have been simply molecular, or at most confined to reactions, in certain cases, between the mingled elements of the sediments.” He claims that some of the most enlightened students now favour the neptunean origin of rocks; one of the most notable examples being that of Delesse, at one time a pillar of the metamorphic school, who has recently criticized the views of Yon Lasaulx and Knop with regard to wholesale metasomatic changes, which Delesse designates as métamorphisme a Voutranee. Hunt further quotes Delesse as objecting to the idea of orthoclase being connected on the one hand with the volcanic mineral leucite—from which the transmutationists would derive it—and on the other hand with potash-mica supposed to be formed from the orthoclase. He challenges his reader to com- pare the above citations from Delesse with his own language on the doctrines of pseudomorphism by alteration as applied by some who would maintain the possibility of converting almost any silicate into any other (vide also p. 824 et seq.). Finally, at the close of the preface Reviews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunt’s Chemico- Geological Essays. 559 to the second edition of his Essays, he expresses his belief that J. D. Dana has abandoned his former opinions on metamorphism, though not to the extent that might be desired. The essay on Granite and Granitic Veinstones (1871-1872) is a very useful contribution. Dr. Hunt’s experiences are chiefly derived from the Green and White Mountain Series, and from the Laurentians in Canada and New York State. The distinction between granite and gneiss must be made chiefly on geognostical grounds. As regards granitic veins, the notion that all are the result of some process of injec- tion is a general one, though the author has pointed out that some are concretionary and of aqueous origin. He would call these rather endogenous, to distinguish them from intrusive or exotic rocks (such as granitic dykes) and from sedimentary or indigenous rocks. They are in fact, according to this view, exfiltration veins, and vary from a few inches (sometimes an isolated nodular mass almost like a geode) to 60ft. or more. Such veins, to judge from numerous descriptions given by him, often exhibit a banded structure with alternations of minerals, as quartz and felspars (chiefly orthoclase), and frequently contain fine crystals of different minerals, chiefly silicates. It is no great strain upon our faith to believe in exfiltration as the origin of hydrated silicates, as zeolites; but to attribute to such quantities of anhydrous silicates a concretionary origin is a bolder conception. Yet it is evident to any one who has studied a veined gneiss in section that there do occur geodic cavities and strings filled with bands of quartz and felspar in large masses, which seem to be cut off and isolated. The difficulty in these cases has always been to understand how the apple got into the dumpling. At the same time Sterry Hunt considers that, although there is a distinction between open veins and geodes formed in cavities, the contents, whether in granitic rocks or fossiliferous limestones, are not sensibly affected thereby. Such vein- stones must consequently be looked upon as a kind of extract of the rocks, due to hydrothermal action, the many varieties resulting from the changing composition of the waters which circulate in the fissures, or are diffused through the rock itself. It should be observed that in the Laurentians, the metalliferous veins carrying galena, blende, pyrites, and chalcopyrite are more recent than the veinstones just noticed, as the former cut the Pots- dam sandstone, etc., whilst the latter group of veins are old enough for the Potsdam sandstone to rest upon their eroded outcrops. This fact may have an important bearing upon the origin of metalliferous deposits; a subject discussed, in the next essay, before a general audience at New York, where he declared that, what the alchemists sought for in vain—viz. the universal menstruum, is neither more nor less than water aided by heat, pressure, and the presence of certain substances. The metals, he had previously stated, seem to have been originally brought to the surface in watery solutions, were afterwards separated and reduced as sulphides, and mingled with contemporaneous sediments, and were during subsequent metamorphism redeposited in fissures in the metal- liferous strata, or ascending to higher beds gave rise to metalli- 560 Reriews—Dr. T. Sterry Hunt's Chemico-Geological Essays. ferous veins in other strata. He rejects the notion of intense heat, sublimation, and similar hypotheses. This theory may be a good one, but some of the arguments adduced in support of it will hardly bear examination. Speaking of the solubility (p. 281) of the salts and oxides of copper, lead, and silver, he asks why they do not accumulate in the sea-water like the salts of sodium. Most chemists would have thought that the sparing solubility of the chlorides of the two latter metals, especially of silver, was quite sufficient to account for the phenomenon; but when a chemist has at command the universal alkahest, he cares but little for a table of solubilities. The most important paper in the collection is “'The Geognosy of the Appalachians and the Origin of Crystalline Rocks” (xiii. p. 239), an address delivered on retiring from the office of President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1871. Without following the author into the intricacies of Transatlantic geognosy, we must now consider Dr. Hunt in his capacity of geologist, merely remarking by the way that the references in this paper are necessarily of great value to those interested in American geology. At this time he viewed the Taconic system, as defined by Emmons, to constitute the true base of the Paleeozoic column ; but in the preface to the second edition he seems to draw an important distinction between the Upper Taconic and Taconian (see also Gzou. Mac. 1879, p- 519). It is of some importance to ascertain where he would draw this base-line, as immediately below come his four great groups of crystalline rocks, and it appears that we are threatened with other groups, “since it is by no means certain that the whole of the crystalline stratified rocks of New England are included in the above”’ (p. 281). It would be unfair perhaps to dwell too much on the remarkable change of front exhibited by Dr. Sterry Hunt in his interpretation of the crystalline series above the Laurentians. We know that im 1861 he wrote that ‘the Green Mountain Gneissic formation, instead of being beneath the Silurian series, is really a portion of the Quebec eroup more or less metamorphosed, so that we recognize nothing in New England, or South-east Canada, lower than the Silurian system ” (Can. Nat. vi. 93). In the two succeeding volumes he enlarges on this topic—the Montalban (now placed by Hitchcock below the Huro- nian) at that time figuring as metamorphosed strata of Upper Silurian and Devonian age. It is probable that Hunt at this period, with his usual impetuosity, was reflecting the views of others rather than re- cording his matured convictions, and it is singular, to say the least, that one holding the views on chemical geology which he seems then to have held could ever have given his adhesion to such a piece of epigenic metamorphism. And yet, as may be gathered from what he says with respect to the origin of granitic veinstones, and still more of metalliferous deposits, he is prepared to admit an amount of circulation, both greater and lesser, throughout the rocks, which, with the aid of the alkahest or universal menstruum, must be capable of producing not only molecular but metasomatic changes which shall meet all the requirements of the most advanced transmuta- Reviews—Nicholson’s Tabulate Corals. 561 tionist. Dr. Hunt has written much and well, and his ample ex- periences as a geologist and a chemist entitle his opinions to respectful consideration. He may be a trifle hasty, and perhaps in the exigencies of the moment he is not always too particular. Thus he has been at issue with many writers and speakers, himself amongst the number; but we are bound to admit that in the interpretation of the crystalline series above the Laurentian his recantation is com- plete (p. 276), and he does not waste the time or abuse the patience of his audience by vain endeavours to maintain a reputation for infallibility. The dates of Dr. Hunt’s views are always of importance, and we find him stating in 1871 his conviction that the crystalline schists of Germany, Anglesey and the Scotch Highlands will be found anterior to the deposition of the Cambrian sediments. As is well known, he professes to be able to correlate by their lithological characters the schists of the British Isles with those on the other side of the Atlantic. The andalusite-schists in Donegal may be, as he states, of the type of the White Mountain series; but when he hints rather than affirms that the chiastolite schists of Skiddaw are to be referred to this group—placed by Hitchcock, be it remembered, below the Huronian—admiration gives place to incredulity; since the next step would be to claim the Skiddaw granite as Laurentian gneiss ! W. H. H. IJ.—On tHe Srrucrure anp AFFINITIES oF THE ‘TABULATE Corats” oF THE Patmozorc PERiop. With Critical Descrip- tions of Illustrative Species. By H. Aunuyne Nicuorson, M.D., D.Sc., ete., Professor of Natural History in the University of St. Andrews. Illustrated with Engravings on Wood and fifteen Lithograph Plates. Super Royal 8vo. pp. 342. (London and Edinburgh, William Blackwood & Sons.) T might have been thought that the various memoirs on Fossil Corals which have been written by Edwards and Haime, Lind- strom, and other paleontologists, including Dr. Nicholson himself, would have pretty well exhausted all that could be said on the sub- ject, and rendered a fresh work almost unnecessary ; but a glance at the contents of this elaborate book at once shows that it is no mere recapitulation of what has already appeared in previous publications, but that it contains a great amount of additional knowledge respect- ing this division of Fossil Corals. This is not owing so much to the description of new forms, but rather to the results obtained by the examination of microscopic sections of forms already known. Whilst it is true that this method of investigation involves, in the preparation of thin transparent sections, a vast amount of preliminary work which only those who have undertaken a similar task are capable of estimating, there can be no doubt that it is only by this means that reliable evidence can be obtained and satisfactory conclusions drawn as to the true characters and affinities of these fossil organisms. Dr. Nicholson may be said to be the first to apply to any extent the DECADE II.—VOL. VI.—NO. XII. 36 2 562 Reviews—Nicholson’s Tabulate Corals. microscopic method of investigation to elucidate the intimate struc- ture of fossil corals; and the results which he has obtained serve to show in a striking manner the importance and necessity of micro- scopic examination in determining the intimate structure of corals. The great amount of material which the author has been collecting for many years past from those localities in Britain, the Continent of Europe and America, which have yielded most of the known fossil Tabulate Corals, has enabled him to carry out the task of a critical description of these forms with the great advantage of being able at will to compare and collate the specimens in his own cabinet. Though this book treats of the Palwozoic Tabulate Corals, the author fully recognizes the necessity of abandoning this division as a natural group, and distributing the various families and genera included therein by Edwards and Haime amongst the other divisions of the Actinozoa. The presence of Tabulee or horizontal diaphragms, which constituted the basis of the ‘‘ Tabulata,” has been shown by the researches of Louis Agassiz on the animal of Millepora, of Verrill on Pocillopora, and Moseley on Millepora and Heliopora, to be of very limited value as a main ground of classification, this structure appearing alike in organisms which undoubtedly belong to the Hydrozoa, Actinozoa, and Polyzoa. This fact of the existence of tabule in organisms so widely separated in the zoological scale has given rise to great differences of opinion as to the true affinities of the animals which constructed the numerous and varied tabulate corals of the Paleozoic rocks. Agassiz, basing his conclusions on the Hydrozoal nature of Millepora, would have relegated all the Tabulata to the Hydrozoa; but Verrill showed from the true Zoan- tharian character of the T'abulate Pocillopora that there was no ground for such a sweeping conclusion, and this opinion has been further justified by Moseley’s discovery that the Tabulate Heliopora belongs also to the Actinozoa. The absence of a satisfactory basis for a determination of the true position of these fossils is sufficiently manifested, however, by the very varied positions to which different genera are assigned by the most eminent writers on this subject. One has only to consult the memoirs on Fossil Corals by Professor Martin Duncan, Dr. Lindstrom, M. Dollfus, Dr. Nicholson, Dr. Rominger, Professor Zittel, and others, to be convinced of the diffi- culty and uncertainty attending this subject. No small amount of this division of opinion probably arises from an incomplete know- ledge of these fossils, and therefore the new facts respecting their minute structure which are recorded in the present treatise ought to have a great influence in reconciling opposite views. Dr. Nicholson regards the old division of “ Zoantharia Tabulata ” of Edwards and Haime as comprising twelve distinct groups of animals, viz. Milleporide, Pocilloporide, Favositidee, Columnariade, Syringoporide, Auloporide, Halysitide, Tetradiide, Thecide, Helio- poridee, Cheetetide, and Labechide. Of these, all, except the first two families, are represented in the Paleozoic period. The Milleporide and Pocilloporide being of comparatively recent origin, do not enter into the scope of this work ; but the author fully Reviews—Nicholson’s Tabulate Corals. 563 accepts the Hydrozoal position of the first, and places the second in the Zoantharia Aporosa, associating therewith in the same family the recent genus Seriatopora. The family of the Favositide, by far the largest and most impor- tant group of the “ Tabulata,” is referred to the order of the Zoan- tharia Perforata, and placed near the Poritide. No fewer than 22 genera are enumerated in this family, of which 20 are Paleozoic; one, Koninckia, is Cretaceous; and only one, Favositipora, Sav. Kent, of recent age. The great development of this family occurs in the Silurian and Devonian rocks, but few surviving into the Carboniferous, and perhaps but one. Stenopora, passing into the Per- mian. So important a part of the fauna of the Paleozoic age is constituted by the genera of this family, that it will be of interest to give a list of them :— Favosites, Lam, Columnopora, Nich. Alveolites, Lam. Koninckia, KE. and H. Vermipora, Hall. Favositipora, Say. Kent. Michelinia, De Kon. Areopora, Nich. and Eth. jun. Pleurodictyum, Goldf. Remeria, K. and H. Chonostegites, KH. and H. (= Haimeophyl- Syringolites, Hinde. Zum, Bill.) Nyctopora, Nich. Pachypora, Linds. Rémingeria, Nich. Striatopora, Hall. Stenopora, Lonsdale. Trachypora, E.and H. (with Dendropora, Billingsia, De Kon. Mich., and Rhabdopora, M‘Coy.) Laceripora, Eichw. Cenites, Kichw. Nodulipora, Lindstrém. It would occupy too much space to follow the author in his exhaustive description of this and the other families, whose history, characters and relations are treated; all we can do is to refer briefly to a few salient points. Dr. Nicholson includes in the genus Favosites the genera Calamo- pora, Goldf.; Hmmonsia, EK. and H.; and Astrocerium, Hall, all of which have been based on characters too variable to allow of generic distinction. In the comparatively new genus Pachypora, Lind., 1873, of which the more distinguishing feature is the great thickening of the walls of the corallites by a deposition of sclerenchyma, is included a number of corals from the Silurian and Devonian of Europe and America, which had previously been referred to Favosites, Alveolites, and Cladopora, but have now been proved by microscopical exami- nation to possess the peculiar characteristics of this genus. Micro- scopical sections have also determined the Favositoid character of the genera Striatopora and Trachypora; in this latter genus the secon- dary deposit of sclerenchyma in the corallites exists to such an extent that it had previously been believed to be provided with a dense ccenenchymal structure surrounding the somewhat widely separated apertures of the corallites. The genus Cenites, with its peculiarly elongated calices, is also allied to Pachypora, and possesses a similar thickening of the corallite walls. As respects the confusing genus Alveolites, the author concludes that the presence of septal teeth as a generic distinction will have to 564 Reviews—Nicholson’s Tabulate Corals. be abandoned, and that the only difference between this genus and Favosites is in the possession, in Alveolites, of oblique calices, and the compressed or triangular forms of the corallites. _ The genus Pleurodictyum, Goldf., formed for the peculiar fossil P. problematicum, Goldf., so long a puzzle to paleontologists, is still retained as distinct from Michelinia. In a form belonging to the same genus from the Devonian of North America, Dr. Nicholson has detected the presence of the peculiar vermiform tube which appears to be constantly associated with P. problematicum, but he is unable to throw any fresh light on its probable character. The genus Stenopora, Lonsdale, is shown to belong to the Favosi- tide, and to possess very distinctly marked characters, in the coral- lites being annulated by periodical ring-shaped thickenings. 'The position of the genus Remeria, EH. and H., is regarded as uncertain, as it has not been proved to possess mural pores; Syringolites, Hinde, appears to form a connecting link between the Favositidee and the Syringoporide, and Nyctopora, Nicholson, seems to be inter- mediate between the Favositide and the Columnariade, as it possesses all the characteristics of this latter family except in having mural pores. | We pass now to the next family of the Columnariadz, which has been constituted by the author to include a small group, principally of American Silurian corals, distinguished by the non-perforate walls of the corallites, well-marked tabule, and well-developed septa. The family seems to be closely allied to the Rugosa, whilst it has also resemblances to the Astreeide of the Zoantharia Aporosa. With the genus Columnaria, Goldf. (= Favistella, Hall), is also associated, to form this family, the genus Lyopora, Nich. and Hth. jun. The family Syringoporidee is looked upon as an aberrant group of the Zoantharia Perforata, having genuine but distinct relations with the Favositide. The author regards the hollow processes connecting the corallites, which distinguish this family, as homologues of the mural pores of Favosites, corresponding with the hollow transverse floors connecting the corallites in Chonostegites Clappi, Kdw. and H.; whilst in the central tube of another Favosite genus, Syringolites, Hinde, there is a close similarity to the infundibular tabule of Syringopora. Our present knowledge of the family Auloporide is insufficient to determine its true relationship, though the author conjectures that it may be a peculiar group of Alcyonaria. It includes the genera Aulopora, Goldf., Cladochonus, M‘Coy (= Pyrgia, Edw. and H.), and Monilopora, Nich. and Eth. jun. The family of the Halysitidee is formed for the single well-known genus Halysites, Fischer, and regarded as a distinct and ancient group of the Alcyonaria. Halysites catenularia, Linn., is shown to possess intermediate smaller tubes, indicating the existence of two classes of zooids, as in Heliopora; but in the otherwise closely re- sembling H. Escharoides, Lam., there are only uniform corallites, in which, however, spiniform septa are constantly present and disposed in cycles of twelve. If these septa bear any relation to Reviews—Nicholson’s Tabulate Corals. 565 the number of mesenteries in the living animal, it is difficult to see how Halysites can be regarded as an Alcyonarian, this group having only eight mesenteries. The family of the Thecide comprises merely the single genus Thecia, Edw. and H., with very peculiar characters, now, for the first time, made known from microscopic sections. There are two kinds of corallites; the larger, though well defined, have no distinctive bounding walls, and the interspaces between these are occupied by very small tubular corallites, doubtfully tabulate, but with well- defined walls. There are also horizontal canals connecting the larger corallites. The family is regarded as a special group of the Aleyonaria. The important family of the Helioporide mostly comprises the Paleozoic genera Heliolites, Dana, Plusmopora, Edw. and H., Propora, Edw. and H., Pinacopora, Nich. and Eth. jun., and Lyellia, Edw. and H.; the Cretaceous genus Polytremacis, D’Orb., and the recent Heliopora, De Blain. ‘These various genera are included in this family from the supposed correspondence of their fossil structures with the corallum of the existing Heliopora, the animal of which has been proved by the researches of Mr. Moseley to be a true Aleyonarian Zoophyte, furnished with eight mesenteries, and eight pinnately- fringed tentacles. It appears to us, however, that there are con- siderable differences between the corallum of Heliolites and its allied Paleozoic forms, and the recent Heliopora cerulea, sufficient to throw considerable doubt as to the propriety of associating them in a single family of Alcyonaria. We regret that Dr. Nicholson has not subjected the modern corallum of Heliopora to the same critical examination which he has bestowed on the Paleozoic Heliolites, before accepting the classification of Mr. Moseley, and we will venture to point out what appear to us some of the points of difference. In the first place, the larger corallites or calicles of Heliopora coerulea do not appear, from Mr. Moseley’s account, to possess any distinctive proper wall. He says:! ‘‘ New calicles are formed by the junction of a number of tubes around a central tube or tubes arrested in growth, which form a base. The outer walls only of the surrounding tubes continue to grow, and form the lateral wall of the calicle. The newly-formed calicle thus has tabular prolongations at its base, and the so-called septa are, in the main, due to the circumstance that the wall is composed of a series of curved outer walls of tubes.” Our own observations of H. cerulea fully confirm the correctness of the above description. Now, so far as we are acquainted with Heliolites and its allied Palaeozoic genera which have been placed with Heliopora, there is not a single species in which the tubes of the larger corallites are formed in a similar manner to those of Heliopora, but in all there is a distinct proper wall to the larger corallites. Again, with regard to the septa of Heliopora, these, according to Moseley, are in the main due to the curved outer 1 We quote from the Report given in the Ann. and Mag. of Nat. History, Feb. 1876, p. 147, et. seg., “On the Structure and Relation of certain Corals, etc.,” by H. N. Moseley, M.A., F.R.S. 566 Reviews—Nicholson’s Tabulate Oorals. walls of the tubes bounding the calicles, and therefore cannot be compared with the regular normal septa which are met with in Heliolites, and which in some instances extend nearly to the centre of the corallite. The pseudo-nature of the septa of Heliopora sufficiently explains the absence of all correspondence between their variable numbers and the number of the mesenteries; but it is highly probable that the septa of Heliolites indicate a similar number of mesenteries in the living animal; and as there are pretty constantly twelve septa, it follows that the animal could not have been Alcyonarian. There is no doubt that Heliolites and some of its allied forms possessed two kinds of zooids, the same as Heliopora ; but a corallum of larger and smaller tubes indicating this, is also found in the Monticuliporide, Halysitide, and not improbably in some of the Favositide, whilst it is very doubtful whether the genus Lyellia, Edw. and H., here placed with Heliopora and Heliolites, actually possessed smaller incomplete zooids ; for the intermediate structure between the larger corallites, instead of being tubular, is distinctly vesicular—the larger corallites themselves closely re- semble those of a typical Heliolites. We therefore think that the evidence is insufficient to conclude that Heliolites and the allied Paleeozoic genera above named are truly Alcyonarian the same as Heliopora. Two chapters, the twelfth and thirteenth, are devoted to a con- sideration of the families of the Cheetetidee and Monticuliporide, and the author believes that he has discovered satisfactory grounds of division between these very confusing groups. To the Cheetetide are referred corals with uniform corallites, having the walls com- pletely amalgamated, and but few and remote tabule, whilst the Monticuliporide: are distinguished by corallites of different sizes in- dicating the existence of two kinds of zooids; their walls are not fused with each other, and the tabule are well developed. The author rejects the idea which has been proposed to place these families with the Polyzoa, though it is very probable that many of the inerusting forms probably belong to this higher group of animals, and is disposed to regard them as a special group of Aleyonaria. In the final chapter the family Labechide is treated, and the characters of the very aberrant genus Labechia are described. The absence of all apertures on the surface of the corallum of this form and the peculiar projecting solid calcareous rods render it so different from all other groups of corals, that its relations must for the present remain a matter of conjecture. In concluding our notice of this work we desire to express our admiration, not only at the unwearied industry of the author in bringing together such an amount of research into the characters and relations of these ancient corals, but also at the very excellent manner in which the treatise is published. In addition to the wood- cuts in the text, there are fifteen beautifully executed lithographed plates, mostly illustrating microscopic sections, and the drawings for these have been made by Dr. Nicholson himself. Whatever future discoveries may disclose as to the affinities of these corals, Reviews—Nicholson’s Manual of Paleontology. 567 this work will always retain a permanent value for its minute and faithful description of these organic remains, and all students of Paleontology will be indebted to Dr. Nicholson for thus bringing together in a single volume the history of this important division. We can only express the hope that what the author has here accom- plished for the old order of the Tabulata, he may be induced to undertake for the other orders of the Palzeozoic corals. IIJ.—A Manvat or PanmonroLoGy FoR THE USE oF STUDENTS, WITH A GENERAL INTRODUCTION ON THE PRINCIPLES OF PALMONTOLOGY. By Henry Atteyne Nicuotson, M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S.; Professor of Natural History in the University of St. Andrews. 2nd Edition. Revised and greatly enlarged. In two vols. Royal 8vo. pp. 1070, with 722 Woodcut Illustrations. (Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1879.) HOSE who, like the writer, can carry back their intimate acquaint- ance with geological events for more than a quarter of a century, cannot fail to be astonished at the change which has arisen in the literature connected with their special branch of study, and particularly that which relates to text-books and works for the use of students. In 1855, “ Lyell’s Elements” had already attained its 5th edition; it was the book, and almost the only book, for the learner. Previously Mantell’s works, Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise, and Conybeare and Phillips, were the only really good sound books to consult; now there are more than a dozen authors ready to impart to us out of their stores of geological and paleonto- logical knowledge, things old and things new. Happy is that student who obtains the aid of a really sound geological Mentor, one who is able to guide his steps in safety amidst Glacial epochs, Volcanic eruptions, Pluvial periods, Hozoonal Limestones, Evolutionary ancestral forms, and Quaternary deposits, into the haven of Truth. Not only have our teachers vastly multiplied, but our subject of study has divided itself, so that, like a complex system of railway lines, one may travel on the Physiographical branch, or the Geo- graphical one, on the Stratigraphical, the Petrological or the Palzon- tological—and may be, and we trust are, all moving forward, but on quite different roads, so extensive has our subject become in the last twenty-five years. Formerly a geologist was also a mineralogist, and a paleontologist; now a man may be a geologist without knowing either of these subjects; or he may be a crystallographer, a petrologist, a mathe- matician, or a chemist, and yet not a mineralogist; or, a paleon- tologist, or zoologist, and yet not a geologist ! Certainly the more one studies the relics of bygone ages in the light of forms of life still existing on our planet, the more we are able rightly to understand “The Ancient Life History of the Earth.” Prof. H. Alleyne Nicholson, the writer of the Manual of Palzon- tology now before us, is peculiarly fitted for the task he has set him- self to perform. He is not only a sound practical geologist, but he “568 Reviews—Nicholson’s Manual of Paleontology. is also an excellent zoologist and paleontologist; added to which, he has had more than ten years’ experience as a teacher of students, and has thus been brought face to face with the needs of his class. Neither is Prof. Nicholson a mere “ prentice-hand” at the writing of Text-books. Already he stands credited with :— . “A Manual of Zoology.” . “A Text-Book of Zoology.” ‘An Introductory Text-Book of Zoology.” . “Outlines of Natural History for Begmners.” “ Examinations in Natural History.” “Introduction to the Study of Biology.” “The Ancient Life-History of the Earth;” and 8. “ A Manual of Paleontology ” (already in its 2nd edition). The first edition of Nicholson’s Manual of Paleontology, which appeared in 1872, was contained in a single volume of moderate Svo. size, numbering 600 pages, with 400 woodcuts. The present edition occupies two handsome 8vo. volumes, consisting of 1070 pp., with 722 woodcuts, and is so largely re-written and augmented, that it forms to a great extent a new work. The First Part (embracing 6 chapters and 94 pp.) is devoted to a General Introduction to Paleontology in connexion with Strati- graphical Geology. From this we are led on in Part II. (Paleontology) to consider group by group the several divisions of the great Invertebrate sub- kingdom from the Protozoa to the Lamellibranchiata, their general characters and their distribution in time, and the literature of each division. This occupies 17 chapters and 417 pp., and lands us at the end of vol. i. The Invertebrata extend through the first 100 pp. of vol. ii. including the Gasteropoda and Cephalopoda, and with chapter xxix. commences the Vertebrata—treated much in the same fashion, giving to each order its distribution in time as well as its general characters. This portion of the work occupies 20 chapters and pp. 326. Part III. is divided into four chapters on Paleobotany, and fills 50 pages, treated very briefly, but in a similar manner to the previous divisions. The volume ends with a Glossary and Index. One important feature of the work is its illustrations, more than 700 in number, which are very excellent; a few (as invariably happens in so large a work) had better, however, have been omitted —as, for example, fig. 212, labelled Illenus Barriensis, and the singularly crafty-looking, but decidedly stuffed, I/yrmecobius fasciatus fig. 600). : Hundreds of the figures are of the highest merit as wood en- gravings, and many appear for the first time, being engraved ex- pressly for this work by Mr. Charles Berjeau. Each Order has its diagnostic characters printed in italics at the commencement of its own chapter; and at the end of each will be found a copious list of references to works and authorities who have specially treated upon the group just summarized. I OTR go bo Reports and Proceedings—Chester Society of Natural Science. 569 In passing rapidly over the pages, we notice that Hozoon Canadense still holds its place among Foraminifera; the researches of Dr. Mobius not having reached the author in time to become available for incorporation. Sufficient, however, is said concerning MM. Carter’s, and King’s, and Rowney’s investigations, to render its organic nature at least doubtful. Under Mollusca (vol. il. p. 14) a curious error is retained from the first edition—viz. that “the small cowries, of which Cyprea Europea is the type, are not known as occurring in the fossil condition.” There are thirteen species of Cyprea given in Morris’s catalogue, including Cyprea Europea from the Suffolk Crag. The Coniferous trunk (vol. il. p. 448, fig. 701), from the Lower Devonian, Gaspé, Canada, named by Dawson Prototaxites Logant, and referred by him to the Tawine@; was shown by Mr. Carruthers (in 1872) to be only a Cellular Cryptogam, and was renamed by him as Nematophycus Logani, Carr. (Monthly Microscopical Journ., vol. viii. Oct. 1872, pp. 160-172, pl. 31 and 32; see also GEOL. Mae. 1873, Vol. X. p. 462). : Like every large text-book, however, it is easy enough to take exception to special points in the work, and whilst regretting the year’s delay which has occurred in its issue (see Preface), which makes it seem, in parts, perhaps, a little in need of more rigid posting up, it is certainly the best book of its kind for the use of students, and for the general reader, which we possess. In saying this, it is well to recall the fact that ‘‘Owen’s Paleontology ” (A. & C. Black) appeared as early as 1860, and the 2nd edition in 1861; and although now rather out of date, we are indebted to Professor Owen, and to the late Dr. 8. P. Woodward (author of the Invertebrate portion of the work), for the first issue of a Manual specially devoted to Paleontology in this country ; a work which may (to use Prof. Owen’s own term) perhaps have served as the “« Archetype” to the author of the present work. We trust that Nicholson’s Manual of Paleontology will have the success it merits, and shall look forward with confidence to succeed- ing editions still more complete than even the present volumes. IRI SOAS) VND) ASqsyO.Ous SINE ys —~.—__ J.—Curster Soctery or Narurat Scrence.—Annual Conversa- zione.—The Annual gathering of this flourishing provincial Society took place on Thursday, 2nd October, 1879, under the presidency of Prof. T. McKenny Hughes, M.A., F.G.8. On this occasion the «Kineaspey Memorian Mupat,” established in memory of the Society’s first President, Canon Kingsley, was awarded to Sir Puinre pz Maras Grey-Heerron, Bart.,. M.P., F.R.S., ete., for “having contributed materially to the promotion and advancement of natural science.” In presenting the Medal, Prof. Hughes referred to the splendid work which Sir Philip Grey-Egerton had achieved in his researches on Fossil Fishes, in which branch of study he was now universally recognized as the foremost man among all his contem- 570 Reports and Proceedings— poraries. The President also alluded to his valuable services in Parliament for well-nigh fifty years—but most of all as the repre- sentative man of science; and in this his highest capacity he asked Sir Philip Egerton to accept the Kingsley Memorial Medal. Sir Philip Grey-Egerton in reply thanked the President and Committee of the Society for having awarded that medal (founded to perpetuate the memory of the late Canon Kingsley) to him. He wished he could be inspired with the fervid eloquence which flowed from the lips of him whose likeness was so faithfully portrayed on that medal, and whose burning words found their way into the hearts of all his audience, not only in Chester, but throughout the United Kingdom. He should look back to this presentation as one of the happiest events in his life, as connecting his name with that of his late friend, Canon Kingsley; and he thanked his friends in Chester who had wished thus to associate him with the founder of their Society. He trusted the flame which Canon Kingsley had kindled would never be darkened, but extend its genial light further and further, illuminating with its brilliancy all who might be for- tunate to come within reach of its radiance. II.—Geronocicat Socrery or Lonpon.—November 5, 1879.—Henry Clifton Sorby, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The following communications were read :— 1. “On the probable Temperature of the Primordial Ocean of our Globe.” By Robert Mallet, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. According to the latest hypotheses as to the quantity of water on the globe, its pressure, if evenly distributed, would be equal to a barometric pressure of 204:74 atmospheres. Accordingly water, when first it began to condense on the surface of the globe, would condense at a much higher temperature than the present boiling- point, under ordinary circumstances. The first drops of water formed on the cooling surface of the globe may not impossibly have been at the temperature of molten iron. As the water was pre- cipitated, condensation of the remaining vapour took place at a lower temperature. The primordial atmosphere would be more oblate and less penetrable by solar heat than the present, and the difference of temperature between polar and equatorial regions would be greater; so that, in the later geologic times, ice may have formed in the one, while the other was too hot for animal or vege- table life. Thus, formerly the ocean would be a more powerful dis- integrant and solvent of rocks, mineral changes would be more rapid, and meteoric agencies would produce greater effects in a given time. Replying to remarks from the President, Mr. John Evans, Prof. Prestwich, Dr. Hicks, Prof. Bonney, and Capt. Galton, Mr. Mallet said he did not suppose any part of the original crust of the globe remained at present visible at the surface. Such geological deductions as were made in his paper were only illustrative, and might be open to question. The epoch at which the phenomena occurred to which his paper referred was long anterior to the existence of either animal or vegetable life upon our globe. Hence the paleontological ob- Geological Society of London. 571 servations that had been made did not seem to him to apply. What he does affirm as certain is that the method he has indicated, requiring for its data a more extended experimental knowledge of the relations between temperature and pressure in aqueous vapour, and a more exact knowledge of the total volume of water now upon our terraque- ous globe, affords the means of determining the temperature of our oceanic water at every period, from that of the primordial ocean to our own day. : 2. “On the Fish-remains found in the Cannel Coal in the Middle Coal-measures of the West Riding of Yorkshire, with the description of some new Species.” By James W. Davis, Hsq., F.G.S., ete. The remains described by the author were from a bed of Cannel Coal about 400 feet above the base of the Middle Coal-measures, and were chiefly obtained from this bed at the Tingley Colliery. The author described the general geological structure of the district. At Tingley the fish-remains were stated to occur in greatest abundance between the Cannel Coal and the ‘“‘hubb”’; but they are also found in both those portions of the deposit. Of known species the author has identified :—Celacanthus lepturus, Ctenodus elegans, Megalichthys Hibberti, Rhizodopsis, sp., Palgoniscus, sp., Gyracanthus formosus, Cte- nacanthus horridus, Diplodus gibbosus, Cienoptychius pectinatus, Helodus simplex, teeth of Cladodus and Petalodus, scales of Rhizodus, ribs and bones of Ctenodus, Pleuracanthus levissimus, and six other species, and the following which are described as new forms :—(1) Compsa- canthus triangularis, (2) C. major, and (8) Ostracocanthus dilatatus, the type of anew genus resembling Byssacanthus, Agass. The teeth of Celacanthus were said to be small and sharply pointed ; they have not been found attached to the jaw, but in certain specimens of the latter the alveolar spaces are well shown, extending in a single row along the rami. The air-bladder of this genus is also said to be pre- served, and to present some resemblance to the bony air-bladders of Siluroid fish inhabiting the fresh waters of Northern India; and in general the author dwelt at considerable length upon the possible re- lationships existing between the fishes whose remains he described and the Teleostean Siluroids and Ostraczon. 3. “On the Skull of Aryillornis longipennis, Owen.” By Prof. R. Owen, C.B., F.R.S., F.G.S., etc. In this paper the author described a fragmentary cranium from the London Clay of Sheppey, from which it was procured by W. H. Shrubsole, Esq., who also furnished him with the humerus described in a former paper under the name of Argillornis Jongipennis.' In the present specimen the lower jaw and the fore part of the upper jaw are deficient. The author described the characters presented by the specimen in detail, and stated that, like those of the humerus pre- viously described, they seemed to approximate the fossil most nearly to the Albatross among existing birds, although, like Odontopteryx, it differed from Diomedea and also from the Cormorant and the Totipal- mates generally, in the absence of the basirostral external nares and of the supraorbital gland-pits. The present fossil differs from Odon- 1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxiv. p. 124. 072 Reports and Proceedings—Cambridge Philosophical Society. topteryx in having the fore part of the frontal broader and the upper tract of the bill less defined, as also in some other characters; but no comparison of the palatal structure can be made upon the existing specimens. In point of size, taking the Albatross as a term of com- parison, this skull may well have belonged to a bird with wings of the extent indicated by the humerus already described ; and the resemblance of the skull to that of the Albatross would also seem to be confirmatory of the specific collocation of the two specimens. The presence of four small pits or perforations on the only part of the alveolar border which appears to be uninjured, leads the author to conjecture that the bird may have been dentigerous. TI.—Campripee Puinosoprican Socrrty.—Monday, Nov. 10.— Prof. Newton, M.A., F.R.S., President, in the chair. The President alluded to the great loss sustained by Science in general, and by the Society in particular, by the death of Professor Clerk Maxwell, who had so recently occupied the position of President. He considered it a great privilege to be able to give expression to the deep and sincere sorrow that every member of the University felt in the death of so distinguished a member as Professor Maxwell. The following communication was made to the Society :— “On implement-bearing loams in Suffolk,” by Mr. O. Fisher. The author gave an account of two visits paid to the district in which Mr. Skertchly of the Geological Survey has lately discovered flints worked by man, in loams described by him as interglacial. The first of these visits was made in 1876, and the country examined lay chiefly to the north-east of Brandon. The author was not convinced by anything which he then saw of the correctness of Mr. Skertchly’s views. But since he saw only a portion of the district which that gentleman had examined, the data were necessarily incomplete. The second visit was made by him at the end of September last, and he then saw sec- tions inthe neighbourhood of Mildenhall and Bury St. EHdmund’s, which convinced him of the truth of Mr. Skertchly’s announcement of the occurrence of the loams in question with their implements be- neath massive Boulder Clay in situ. At the brickyard at Culford, near Bury, in particular, the section is unmistakeably clear. Fifteen feet of the ordinary Chalky Boulder Clay, a spur of the great mass which spreads over a large part of the county, is seen covering the stratified loam, and from the loam at this place Mr. Skertchly extracted with his own hands a worked flint which he exhibited to the Society at the reading of the paper. The author did not himself see the Boulder Clay lying beneath these loams at the places where they had yielded implements. He was, however, assured by Mr. Skertchly that when some of the sections were better exposed, this was evidently the case. The loam in question has the appearance of being a fluviatile deposit, and at one place freshwater shells occur in it; it evidently occurs over a considerable district. A discussion took place, in which Mr. Skertchly, Professor Hughes, Dr. Campion, and Mr. EH, Hill, took part. Correspondence—Prof. Edward Hull. 573 CORRESPONDENCE. SS THE AGE OF THE PENNINE CHAIN. Str,—The Number of the Grotogican Macazine for November contains a very thoughtful paper by Mr. Wilson, F.G.S., on the age of the upheaval of the Pennine Chain or “ Backbone of England,” in which he controverts my views regarding the precise epoch of primary upheaval, and comes to the conclusion that it was Pre- Permian, instead of Post-Permian and Pre-Triassic; the conclusion I had previously arrived at. He has very fairly stated my argu- ments and his objections to them. With the time at my disposal. it would be impossible for me to recall all the facts and inferences which were vividly impressed on my mind at the time I wrote the paper on this subject to which Mr. Wilson refers.! The arguments are there, and every one must judge for himself whether they are conclusive or not. I admit the force of Mr. Wil- son’s inference, that there must have been some westerly uptilting of the beds of the Yorkshire Coal-field before the Permian period, from the well-known fact that the Coal-measures dip at a slightly greater inclination towards the east than does the Magnesian Lime- stone which overlies them. This dip is, however, but slight, because it only amounts to the difference between the inclination of the two formations ; and I suppose it to be due to a sort of sympathetic move- ment which took place during the progress of the more powerful east and west flexuring at the close of the Carboniferous period. The principal objection to Mr. Wilson’s reasoning seems to lie in his statement that the Permian beds on either side of the Pennine axis were originally disconnected, and on this he bases one of his arguments for supposing the existence of the disconnecting Carboniferous ridge during the Permian period. To this view I entirely dissent, on grounds which I have stated at some length in a paper which Mr. Wilson seems to have overlooked, and perhaps with some reason, considering its title.* In that paper, I eall attention to the remarkable resemblance between the Permian formation as it occurs in Lancashire, and the same formation as it occurs in Yorkshire and Durham, which strongly impressed me with the conviction that there could have been no intervening barrier between the two areas. Mr. Binney, and, still later, Mr. Kirkby, have shown that the fossils of both districts are truly representative of each other, and deposited in the same general basin, although under somewhat different conditions—the Upper Permian beds of Lan- cashire having been formed in shallower waters and in a sea some- what clouded by muddy sediment. Though quoted by Mr. Wilson as one of the authorities for the statement that ‘there is no similarity 1 Quart Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 323 (1868). 2 “On the Evidences of a Ridge of Lower Carboniferous Rocks under the Plain of Cheshire, etc.,’ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxv. p. 171. 574 Correspondence—Prof. Edward Hull. either in character, thickness, or succession of the Permians on the opposite side of the Pennine Chain,” I quite dissent from his way of putting my views, except in the matter of “thickness,” which is of very little importance in an inquiry of this kind. On the con- trary—both in Yorkshire and Lancashire—we have Upper Permian beds represented by Magnesian Limestones with identical fossils, and Lower Permian beds, consisting of soft sandstone of very great thickness at Stockport and elsewhere, close to the edge of the Pen- nine Chain. I cannot consent “to omit from consideration” the ‘ Lower Per- mian Sandstone” as Mr. Wilson wishes us to, on the ground that “its true horizon seems doubtful.” There is really no such doubt, as, both at Manchester and Stockport, these sandstones have been proved to rest unconformably on the Coal-measures on the one hand, and be overlain by marls with limestone containing Permian fossils on the other. Then, again, both of these formations are unconform- ably overlain by the New Red Sandstone, as was clearly proved by the borings at Heaton Mersey, below Stockport, and other places. I must repeat, therefore, that there can be no question that the Lower Red Sandstone of Stockport is the representative of the Lower Red Sandstone of Durham and North Yorkshire ; for they agree both in position, character, and their relations to the adjoining formations— both above and below. If this be so, I would ask Mr. Wilson how can he account for the fact that this Lower Permian Sandstone is remarkably free from fragments of Carboniferous rocks, or, indeed, of rocks of any kind, if it was deposited at the base of a Carboniferous ridge ? As I have already shown, in the paper just quoted, the differences in the characters of the Permian rocks in the N.W. and N.E. of England are those of degree rather than of kind, and may be ac- counted for on the law, or principle, which will be found to charac- terize many natural groups or formations; namely, the development, in opposite directions, of calcareous and sedimentary strata. The real Carboniferous barrier of this period lay below the Cheshire Plain, reaching the Carboniferous tract along the valley of the Dane, near Bosley. To the north and south of this ridge the Permian beds were connected more or less across the country. In conclusion, I cannot admit that the absence of such a thin and local formation as the Marl-slate of the North-east of England in Lancashire or Cumberland is of much importance in this inquiry. I can point, on the other hand, to real Magnesian Limestones at Skil- law Clough, and two or three other spots, as evidences of connexion between the east and west. I do not therefore see sufficient reason for altering the conclusion to which I have already arrived, while I admit that both points of view—that held by Mr. Wilson, and by myself—have their difficulties. Epwarp Hutt. 1 Ibid, p. 176, Correspondence—H, B. Woodward—A. G. Cameron. 575 FOSSILS ON CLEAVAGE PLANES. Srr,—The Rev. W. Downes, who has done good service among the Limestones of Westleigh and Holcombe Rogus, in Devonshire, has in a second paper on this subject ['Trans. Devon Assoc. 1879] brought forward the question, “Is it absolutely a universal rule that fossils do never occur otherwise than on a plane of bedding ?”’ He notices his discovery of organic remains, referred by Prof. T. R. Jones to Posidonomya, on a surface of rock which is unquestionably a cleavage plane. Among his specimens from Westleigh is a Spirifer manifestly imbedded in a vertical position, while upon the same piece of rock a Chonetes and a Posidonomya are lying upon the plane of bedding. He suggests, that the planes of separation will be determined by the lines of least cohesion, and that the presence of a flattish fossil, approximately parallel to the lines on which the cleavage force was acting, would be apt to create a plane of weak cohesion on which the external pressure would most readily take effect. We should have been disposed to think that the position in which the fossil was imbedded accidentally coincided with the cleavage plane, and it was therefore saved from distortion. Mr. Downes however remarks that the cleavage is of an irregular kind ; seeming often to result from the folds of the hard limestone rocks crushing the intervening shaly beds. The subject is one well worthy of attention. H. B. Woopwarp. RIPON SWALLOW-HOLES. Sir,—The Rev. J. S. Tute of Markington, near Ripon, has a notice of these “natural pits” in Vol. V. Grou. Mac. page 178. That the denuding agencies employed in producing them are no more dormant now, than formerly, is certain. The latest subsidence occurred in ’77, in the West Field, near Hutton Conyers. This field is pitted over with holes of more ancient date, and there also, cylindrical-shaped holes, locally known as “man-holes,’ appear at intervals. When first found, they are seen to contain water, which soon disappears. To prevent animals falling in, they are filled up as quickly as pos- sible. A ‘‘man-hole” that has been closed, after a time, becomes again an open shaft, when the material with which it had been filled is found to have been “swallowed.” The subsidence of ’77 is a hole of very considerable dimensions, in shape an inverted cone, the walls being thick-bedded red sandstone. It is fenced round. About one hundred yards from it, and abutting on the footpath leading from the village to Ripon, there is a shallow basin-shaped depression in the surface of the soil. This place has been watched for a number of years by a gentleman residing in the village,” who finds it sinks four or five inches in a year. The “man-holes”’ are said to occur, mostly, during very wet seasons, and some of the farmers think after sheep have cleared the land of turnips. A. G. CamMrEron, NortTHaLLERTON, Nov. 1879. H.M, Geol. Survey. 1 Also a full account in a paper read at Ripon, before York. Geol. Society, in 1869. 2 Mr. Thomas Wells, of Hutton Conyers, 576 Obituary—MUr. John King. ON THE STRUCTURE AND AFFINITIES OF THE PLATYSOMIDA. Str,—I am very sorry to find that my esteemed friend, Professor H. Alleyne Nicholson, has in the new edition of his “ Manual of Paleontology ” (vol. ii. p. 188, footnote) committed the mistake of quoting me as his authority for elevating the Platysomid fishes to the “rank of a distinct division of Ganoids.” No such propo- sition occurs in the unpublished paper to which he refers, which was wiitten to follow up the views indicated in my account of the structure of the Paleeoniscide (Pal. Soc. Mon. 1877) regarding the abolition of the suborder ‘“ Lepidopleuride,” necessitated by the demonstration of the fact that the Platysomide, as a family, are not really allied to the Pycnodontide, but are on the other hand so closely linked to the Palzoniscide, by ties of structure, that wherever we place the latter family, thither the Platysomide must follow. My paper on the “Structure and Affinities of the Platysomide ” was read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh on May 5, of this year, and will in a few weeks appear in the forthcoming fasciculus of that Society’s Transactions. Prof. Nicholson’s mistake has obviously arisen from his having had only a very hurried glance over my proot- sheets, and that only on a single occasion. R. H. Traquarr. 8, Dean Park CRESCENT, EDINBURGH, 12th Nov. 1879. IM DI pS\ Ops baby NaNyssHS) 1S) We are glad to notice that Mr. G. A. Lebour, F.G.S., Lecturer in Geological Surveying in the University of Durham College of Physical Science, Newcastle-on-Tyne, has in preparation a Nomen- elator Stratigraphicus, gr Handbook of the Nomenclature of the Sedimentary Rocks. This work, which has been in hand for several years, consists of a list—as complete as may be—of the subdivisions of the Geological Scale now, or at any time, in use in this country or abroad. The names are arranged in alphabetical order as the easiest for reference. In every possible case the author responsible for each name is mentioned. The date of publication, the meaning when it seems necessary, and the equivalence, are also given. The volume will be of at least 250 pp., and will be published as soon as the number of subscribers has reached two hundred. Price to subscribers 7s. 6d. Subscribers’ names and subscriptions may be sent to Mr. G. A. Lebour, 2, Woodhouse Terrace, Gateshead-on-Tyne. OPS a PAw Eas We regret to learn the death of Mr. John King of Thorpe Hamlet, Norwich, whose extensive collection of fossils from the Upper Chalk of the country around Norwich was at all times open to students. So long ago as 1833 Mr. King’s collection was noticed as a large one, containing many rare specimens (8S. Woodward, Geology of Norfolk, p- 32). These ultimately included a fine series of Echinoderms, Mollusks, Sponges, etc.; and numerous flints cut and polished to show organic and inorganic structure. Mr. King was the surviving partner of the well-known firm J. & J. King, Stained Glass Painters, etc., of Norwich. He died on October 19, aged 72 years.—H. B. W. IN DEX. ——_>—_—_ AFR FRICA (South), Fossils from Dia- mond Fields, 192; Iron and Coal in, 514. (Western), Geological Notes on, 172. Allier, France, Orthopterous Insect from Upper Coal-measures of Commentry, 97. Allport, S., Rocks of Brazil Wood, Charnwood Forest, 481. Alpine Geology, 182. America (Eastern), Glacial Period in, 248. American Geological Railway Guide, 229. — Quarterly Microscopical Jour- nal, 85. Ammonites of Mediterranean and Juva- vian Trias, 460. Amphibians from Permian Rocks of Bohemia, 521. Annelide, New Fossil, Terebella Lewes- zensis. 146. Arctic Regions, Miocene Flora in, 95. Ardennes, Cretaceous formation of, 328. Australia (Eastern), and Tasmania, Fossil Flora of, 485. Ayrshire, Silurian Fossils of Girvan, 135 Azoic Rocks and Trap-dykes of S. E. Pennsylvania, 619. AGSHOT, Upper and Middle Beds of London Basin, Correlation of Bournemouth Marine Series with, 148. Balkan (West), Geology of, 36. Ball, V., m.a., F.c.s., Volcanos of Bay of Bengal, 16. Barrande, M. J., Studies of Bohemian Brachiopoda, 474. Barrois, Dr. C., Cretaceous formation of Ardennes, 328. Basalt near the Shore of Lough Neagh, Fossiliferous Pliocene Clays overlying, 62, 214. Bay of Bengal, Volcanos of, 16. Beekite in Channel Islands, 334. in Flintshire, 334. DECADE If.—VOL. VI.—NO. XII. BRI Beekite from Punjab, India, 234. Belgium, Eurynotus in Carboniferous Limestone of, 237. — Fauna of Carboniferous Lime- stone of, 472. Benecke and Cohen’s Geological Map of Heidelberg, 41. Bengal, Volcanos of Bay of, 16. Birds, J. A., Beekite in Channel Islands, 304, Birds, Extinct Wingless, of New Zea- land, 81. Bivalves in Gilbertson Collection, British Museum, and figured in Phillips's “‘ Geology of Yorkshire,” 161. Bohemia, Amphibians from Permian Rocks of, 521. Bohemian Brachiopoda, Studies of, 474. Bonney, Prof. T. G., Ligurian and Tuscan Serpentines, 362; Prof. Dana’s Classification of Rocks, 199. Boulder-clay at Bridlington, Freshwater Remains in, 393. ———— — Purple, at Holderness, 528. Boulders, Erratic, in Valley of River Calder, Yorkshire, Source of, 313. Bournemouth Marine Series, Correlation of, with Bracklesham Beds, Upper and Middle Bagshot Beds of London Basin, and Bovey Tracey Beds, 148. Bovey Lignites, Age of, Miocene or Eocene? 240. Bovey Tracey Beds, Correlation of Bournemouth Marine Series with, 148. Brachiopoda, Studies of Bohemian, 474. Bracklesham Beds,Correlation of Bourne- mouth Marine Series with, 148. Brazil Wood, Charnwood Forest, Rocks of, 481. Bridlington and Sewerby Gravels, 238. : Freshwater Remains in Boulder-clay at, 393. Britain, Mammoth not Pre-Glacial in, 235. British Association, 476. British Pre-Cambrian Rocks, 433. 37 578 BRO Brongniart, C., New Orthopterous In- sect of Family Phasmide, trom Upper Coal-measures of Commentry, De- partment Allier, France, 97. Browne, A. J. Jukes, Chloritic Marl and Upper Greensand, 47, 148; Kinahan’s Geology of Ireland, 286; Jukes’s Theory of River Valleys, 431; Post- peay Deposits of Cambridgeshire, 20. aa Quaternary Deposits near, 176. Co Valley, 46, 191. Yorkshire, Source of Erratic Boulders in, 318. Callaway, C., Division of Silurian and Cambrian Formations, 142; Plagio- clinal Mountains, 216. Cambrian and Silurian Formations, Division of, 142. Cambridge Philosophical Society, 572. Cambridgeshire, Post-Tertiary Deposits of, 520. Caradoc Beds of Corwen, Ramipora in, 241, Carboniferous Limestone of Belgium, Hurynotus in, 237. Carruthers, W., Fossil Wood from Griqua Land, 286. Chalk, Fish Exuyie from, referred to Dercetis elongatus, and New Fossil Annelide, Terebella Lewesiensis, 145. above Upper Silurian of Herts, 330. Champernowne, A., Devonian Question, 126, Channel Islands, Beekite in, 334. Charnwood Forest, Rocks of Brazil Wood, 481. Chemical and Geological Essays, T. Sterry Hunt, 554. Chester Society of Natural Science, The, 569. Chloritic Marl and Upper Greensand, 47, 143. Cladochonus, M‘Coy, Microscopic Struc- ture of, 289. Classification of the Lower Palzozoic Rocks, 1. Clays, Fossiliferous Pliocene, overlying Basalt near the Shore of Lough Neagh, 62, 214. Climate, Former, of Polar Regions, 91, 144, Coal, History of, 137. Coal and Iron in South Africa, 514. Coalfields of the Stormberg, 551. of Camdeboo and Nieuweldt, Cape of Good Hope, 553. Coal-measures, Upper, of Commentry, De- partment Allier, France, Insectfrom,97. Index. DAK Cohen and Benecke’s Geological Map of Heidelberg, 41. Columnar Sandstone in Saxon Switzer- land, 437. Commentry, Department Allier, France, Orthopterous Insect from Upper Coal- measures of, 97. Continental Masses, Rise and Fall of, 298. Coral, New Favosite from Niagara Formation, Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, 244. Corals (The Tabulate), their Structure and Affinities, 561. Cornwall, Historical Geology of, 27, 74, 102, 166, 203, 251, 307. Olivine Gabbro from, 504. Post-Tertiary Geology of, 102. Correspondence, Birds, J. A., 334; Cal- laway, C., 142; Cameron, A. G., 575; Carruthers, W., 286; Croll, Dr. J., 480; Dakyns, J. R., 46, 96, 238, 239, 382,528; Davis, J. W., 191; Downes, Rev. W., 480; Etheridge, R., 286 ; Fisher, Mr. O., 144; Gunn, W., 95, 384; Hall, T. M., 94; Haughton, Prof. S., 91; Hicks, Dr. H., 528; Hull, Prof. E., 45, 192, 385, 573; Jamieson, Capt. H. W., 284; Jones, Prof. T.R , 479; Jukes-Browne, A. J., 47, 143, 236,431; Keeping, W., 528; Kinahan, G. H., 144, 237, 333; Mc Gee, W. J., 528; Mello, Rev. J. M., 383; Meyer, C. J. A., 148; Strahan, A., 286, 334; Taylor, Dr. J. K., 383; Traquair, Dr., 237, 576; Upham, W., 283; Ussher, W.A.E., 98; Vicary, W., 240; Win- wood, Rev. H. H., 286; Woodward, H. B., 235, 575; Wynne, A. B., 429. Corwen, Ramipora in Caradoc Beds of, 241. Crayford, Kent, Teeth of Ovibos moscha- tus from, 246. Cretaceous formation of Ardennes, 328. Crinoids, Devonian, Two Genera of, 516. Crisp, F., Journal of Royal Microscopical Society, 188, 476. Croll, Dr. J., Interglacial Periods, 480. Crosby, W. O., Appearance of Fault may be Produced without Fracture, 296. Crustacea, Paleozoic, 196. Crystallography and Crystallo-physics, 373. Ctenacanthus minor, a New Fossil Fish- spine, 531. Cudgegong Diamond Field, New South Wales, 399, 444. AKYNS, J. R., Bridlington and Sewerby Gravels, 238; Calder Valley, 46; Glacier Troughs beneath _ Glacier des Bossons, 239; Hitching Stone, 96; Lenticular Hills of Glacial Index. DAK Drift, 382; Purple Boulder-clay at Holderness, 528; The Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, 529. Dana, Prof. J. D., Some Points of Litho- logy, 222. Dana’s Classification of Rocks, 199. Daubrée, Prof. A., Synthetic Studies in Experimental Geology, 421. Davies, W., Fish Exuvie from Chalk, generally referred to Dercetis elon- gatus ; and new species of fossil An- nelide, Terebella Lewesiensis, 146; Teeth of Ovibos moschatus from Cray- ford, Kent, 246. Davis, J. W., Calder Valley, 191; Source of Erratic Boulders in Calder Valley, Yorkshire, 313; New Fossil Fish- spine, 5381. Delesse and De Lapparent’s Review of Geology for 1876 and 1877, 84. Dercetis elongatus, refered to, Fish Exu- vie from Chalk, and a new Fossil Annelide, Terebella Lewesiensis, 146. Des Bossons, Glacier Troughs beneath Glacier, 239. Devon Geology, 333. Devon, North, Section, 45, 94, 236. Devonian Crinoids, two Genera of, 516. ————— Question, 125, 127, 192. Devonshire, Geology of, 374. Paleolithic Implement found in, 480. Diamond Field, New South Wales, 399, 444, —— §. Africa, Fossils from, 192. Dingle and Glengariff Grits, 348. Dolomite Reefs of South Tyrol and Venetia, 428. Downes, Rev. W., Paleolithic Imple- ment found in Devonshire, 480. Dunn, E. J., The Stormberg Coal-field, Report on, 551; The Camdeboo and Nieuweldt Coal, Cape of Good Hope, Report on, 553. GERTON, Sir P. M. Grey-, Award of the Kingsley Medal to, 669. Eimys lutaria from Norfolk Coast, Fossil Remains of, 304. English Lake District and Notes on Skiddaw Slates, 50, 110. Eocene or Miocene? Age of Bovey Lignites, 240. Erratic Boulders in Calder Valley, York- shire, Source of, 313. Eruptive Rocks of Saar and Moselle, 84. Etheridge, R., Silurian Rocks in Herts, 286. Etheridge, R., Jun., Bivalves in Gilbert- son Collection, British Museum, figured in Phillips’s ‘* Geology of Yorkshire,” 579 FRA 161; Ramipora in Caradoc Beds of Corwen, 241; Silurian Fossils of Girvan, Ayrshire, 135. Europe, Western, Old Red Sandstone of, 278. Eurynotus in Carboniferous Limestone of Belgium, 237. Eurypterus Scouleri, Hibbert, 196. Extinct Reptiles, New Order of, 225. Extinct Wingless Birds of New Zealand, 81. Exuvie of Fish from Chalk, referred to Dercetis elongatus, and New Fossil Annelide, Zerebella Lewesiensis, 145. 1 ae pee Appearance of, may be Pro- duced without Fracture, 296. Faults in London Clay, near Harwich, 383. Fauna of Carboniferous Limestone of Belgium, 472. Favosite Coral, New, from Niagara For- mation, Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, 244. Feistmantel, Dr. O., Fossil Flora of Eastern Australia and Tasmania, 485. Fish Exuvie from Chalk, referred to Dercetis elongatus, and New Fossil Annelide, Zerebella Lewesiensis, 145. Fish-spine, New Fossil, 531. Fisher, O., Former Climate of Polar Regions, 144. Flintshire, Beekite in, 334. Flora, Fossil, of Eastern Australia and Tasmania, 485. Flora, Miocene, in Arctic Regions, 95. Fossil Forests of the Yellowstone Park, 551. Fossil, New, Annelide, Teredella Lewes- densis, 146. Flora of Eastern Australia and Tasmania, 485. Organisms in India, Geological Distribution of, 274. and Recent Sequoie, 372. Remains of Hmys lutaria from Norfolk Coast, 304. Shells from Sumatra, 385, 441, 492, 536. Wood from Griqua Land, 286. Fossils from Diamond Fields, South Africa, 192. of Girvan, Ayrshire, 135. Fossiliferous Band of Shotover Sands, 193. —— Pliocene Clays overlying Basalt near the Shore of Lough Neagh, 62, 214. France, Orthopterous Insect from Up- per Coal-measures of Commentry, Department Allier, 97. 580 FRE Freshwater Remains in Boulder-clay at Bridlington, 393. Fritsch, Dr. A., Amphibians from Per- mian Rocks of Bohemia, 521. ARDNER, J. S., Correlation of Bournemouth Marine Series with Bracklesham Beds, Upper and Middle Bagshot Beds of London Basin and Bovey Tracey Beds, 148, : Gault, 326. Geikie, Prof. A., Old Red Sandstone of Western Europe, 278. Geological Age of Lough Neagh, 214. — _ Congress, Paris, International, 186, 284. Distribution of Fossil Organ- isms in India, 274. Essays by T. Sterry Hunt, 554. — Exploration of Fortieth Paral- lel, 467. Lectures, 374. ———— Map of Heidelberg, 41. — Railway Guide, American, 229. — Survey of England and Wales, 178. — Survey of India, Publications of, 429. — Survey of U.S., Report of Field Work, 226, 240. — Society of London, 42, 85, 138, 189, 232, 279, 328, 375, 570. Time, Limestones as an Index of, 549. Geologists’ Association, 230. Geology of Alps, 182. of Western Africa. of West Balkan, 36. of Cornwall, 27, 74, 102, 166, 208, 251, 307. : - of Devon, 236, 3383. — of Devonshire, 374. of N.W. of Essex and N.E. of Herts, with parts of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, 178. and Geography of Great Britain, 277. of New Hampshire, 517. of Ireland, 37, 236. of Isle of Man, 211, 286. Practical, 230. Review of, for 1876 and 1877, Surface, of Part of Mississippi Valley, 353, 412, 528. Synthetic Studies in Experi- mental, 421. Gilbertson Collection of Bivalyes in British Museum, figured in Phillips’s “Geology of Yorkshire,” 161. Girvan, Ayrshire, Silurian Fossils of, 136. Index. HOL Glacial Drift, Lenticular Hills of, 382. Period in Eastern America, 248. Troughs beneath Glacier des Bossons, 239. Glaciation of West Yorkshire Dales, 384. Glengariff and Dingle Grits, 348. Glen Roy, Parallel Roads of, 529. Gravels, Bridlington and Sewerby, 288. Greensand, Upper, and Chloritic Marl, 47, 143. Grey-Egerton, Award of the Kingsley Medal to, 569. Griffith, Sir R., and Old Red Sandstone, 144, Griqua Land, Fossil Wood from, 286. Giimbel, Prof. Dr. C. W., Introduction to Alpine Geology, 182. Gun-flints, Manufacture of, 475. Gunn, J., Miocene Flora in Arctic Regions, 95. Gunn, W., Glaciation of West Yorkshire Dales, 384. HA T. M., Geology of Devonshire, 94, 374. Hanover, Upper Jura of, 225. Hardman, E. T., Fossiliferous Clay Beds overlying Basalt, Lough Neagh, and Geological Age of that Lake, 214. Harrison, W. J., Practical Geology, 230. Harwich, Faults in London Clay, 383. Haughton, Rev. Prof. §., Former Climate of Polar Regions, 91. Hayden, F. V., Preliminary Report of Field Work of U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of Territories for 1878, 226. Heer, Prof. O., Fossil and Recent Sequoie, 372. Heidelberg, Geological Map of, 41. Heim, Prof. A., Mechanism of Moun- tains, 131. Herts, Silurian Rocks in, 286. Hicks, Dr. H., Classification of British Pre-Cambrian Rocks, 433, 528. Hinde, G. J., New Favosite Coral from Niagara Formation, Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, 244. Historical Geology of Cornwall, 27, 74, 102, 166, 203, 251, 307. History of Coal, 137. of the English Lake District, with Notes on Subdivision of Skid- daw Slates, 50, 110. Hitchcock, Prof. C. H., Geology of New Hampshire, 517; Glacial Period in Eastern America, 248. Hitching Stone, 96. Holderness, Purple Boulder-clay at, 528. Holmes, W. H., Fossil Forests of the Yellowstone Park, 551. Index. HOU Houghton, F. T. §., Olivine Gabbro from Cornwall, 504. Hull, Prot. E., Additional Notes on the N. Devon Section, 45, 192; Devonian Question, Reply to Mr. Kinahan’s Note, 127; Upper Silurian under Chalk of Herts, 335; Age of Pennine Chain, 573. Hull and Kinahan, 237. Hunt, T. Sterry, Trap-dykes and Azoic Rocks of Pennsylvania, 519; Chemical and Geological Essays by, 554. Huron, Lake, New Favosite Coral from Niagara Formation, Manitoulin Is- land, 244. ieee in Kimmeridge Clay, Oxford, 193. Implement, Paleolithic, found in Devon- shire, 480. Index of Geological Time, Limestone as an, 549. India, Beekite from Punjab, 284. — Distribution of Fossil Organisms in, 274. —— Publications of Geological Survey of, 429. Insects, Orthopterous, from Upper Coal- measures of Commentry, Department Allier, France, 97. Interglacial Periods, 480. Intrusive and Metamorphic Rocks of Tyrone, 154. Ireland, Kinahan’s Geology of, 236. Manual of Geology of, 37. Silurian Rocks of, and their Relation to Old Red Sandstone, 65. Iron and Coal in S. Africa, 514. Isle of Man, Geology of, 211, 286. AMIESON, Capt. H. W., Beekite from Punjab, India, 284. Jones, Prof. T. R., New Lake in the Pistojese Mountains, 479: G. W. Stow’s Report on Coal and Iron in S. Africa, 514. Jukes on River Valleys, 8S. W. Cork, 333. Jukes’s Vheory of River Valleys, 431. Jura, Upper, of Hanover, 226. Jurassic Mammal, 371. EEPING, W., Columnar Sandstone in Saxon Switzerland, 437. Keuper Basement Beds, near Notting- ham, 532. Kimmeridge Clay, Oxford, Iguanodon in, 193. Kinahan, G. H., Devon Geology, 333. — Dingle and Glengariff Grits, 348. — Sir R. Griffith and Old Red Sandstune, 144, 581 MAP Kinahan, G. H., Jukes on River Valleys, S. W. Cork, 333. Manual of Geology of Treland, 37. Silurian Rocks of Ire- land, and their Relation to Old Red Sandstone, 65. Kinahan’s Geology of Ireland, 236. Kinahan and Hull, 237. King, C., U. 8. Geological Exploration of Fortieth Parallel, 467. King, John, Obituary of, 576. Koninck, Prof. L. G. de, Fauna of Car- boniferous Limestone of Belgium, 472. Kurile Islands, Volcanos of, 337. AKE District of England, with Notes on Subdivision of Skiddaw Slates, 50, 110. Lake, New, in Pistojese Mountains, 479. Lamplugh, G. W., Freshwater Remains in Boulder-clay at Bridlington, 393. Lapworth, C., Tripartite Classification of Lower Paleozoic Rocks, 1. Lasaulx, Prof. Dr. A. von, Eruptive Rocks of Saar and Moselle, 84. Lenticular Hills of Glacial Drift, 382. Lenz, Dr. O., Geological Notes on Western Africa, 172. Lesley, J. P., Origin of Pipe Ore, 459. Lignites, Age of Bovey, Miocene or Hocene P 240. Ligurian and Tuscan Serpentines, 362. Limestone, Carboniferous, of Belgium, Fauna of, 472; Hurynotus in, 237. Limestones as an Index of Geological Time, 549. Lithology, Some Points of, 222. Lochaber, Origin of Parallel Roads of, d21, London Basin, Upper and Middle Bag- shot Beds of, Correlation of Bourne- mouth Marine Series with, 148. London Clay, Harwich, Faults in, 383. Lough Neagh, Fossiliferous Clays over- lying Basalt, 62, 214. Lowry, J. W., Obituary of, 335. Lycett, Dr., Trigonia Elise, 195. ACFARLANE, J., American Geo- logical Railway Guide, giving Geological Formation at every Rail- way Station, 229. McGee, W. J., Surface Geology of Part of Mississippi Valley, 353, 421, 528. Mammal, New Jurassic, 371. Mammoth not Pre-Glaciai in Britain, 236. Man, Plant-World before Appearance of, 263. Manual of Geology of Ireland, 37. Map of Heidelberg, Geological, 41. 082 MAR Marine Series, Bournemouth, Correla- tion of, with Bracklesham Beds, 148. Marl, Chloritic, and Upper Greensand, 47, 143. Marsh, Prof. O. C., New Jurassic Mam- mal, 371. Mediterranean and Juvavian Trias, Am- monites of, 460. Mello, Rev. J. M., Pyritiferous Sand from Lake Winnipeg, 383. Metamorphic and Intrusive Rocks of Tyrone, 154. Meyer, C. J. A., Chloritic Marl and Upper Greensand, 148. Microscopic Structure of Three Species of Genus Cladochonus, M‘Coy, 289. Microscopical Journal, American Quar- terly, 85. —— Society, Journal of Royal, 138, 476. Milne, Prof. J., Cruise among Volcanos of Kurile Islands, 337; Crystallogra- phy and Crystallo-physics, 373; Form of Volcanos, 506. Miocene or Kocene? Age of Bovey Lignites, 240. — Flora in Arctic Regions, 95. Mississippi Valley, Surface Geology of Part of, 353, 412, 528. Mojsisovics, Dr. E. von, Ammonites of Mediterranean and Juvavian ‘Trias, 460; Dolomite Reefs in South Tyrol and Venetia, 428, Morton, G. H.,Geology of Isle of Man, 211. Moselle and Saar, Eruptive Rocks of, 84. Mountains, Mechanism of Formation of, 131. Mountains, Plagioclinal, 216. Nee Lough, Fossiliferous Clays overlying Basalt, 62, 214. Nehring, Dr. A., Quaternary Deposits near Brunswick, in Illustration of Subaerial Origin of Loess, 176. New England, Till in, 283. —— Hampshire, Geology of, 517. —— South Wales, Cudgegong Diamond Field, 399, 444. Zealand, Extinct Wingless Birds of, 81. Newton, E. T., Fossil Remains of Emys lutaria from Norfolk Coast, 304. Niagara Formation, Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, New Favosite Coral from, 244. Nicholson, Prof. H. A., Microscopic Structure of Three Species of Genus Cladochonus, M‘Coy, 289; Structure and Affinities of the Tabulate Corals, 561; Manual of Paleontology, 567. —— and Etheridge, Silurian Fossils of Girvan, Ayrshire, 135. Index. “PLA Nicol, Prof. J., Obituary of, 240. Nolan, J., Metamorphic and Intrusive Rocks of Tyrone, 154. Norfolk Coast, Fossil Remains of Hmys lutaria from, 304. Notes on N. Devon Section, 45. Nottingham, Keuper Basement Beds, near, 632. BITUARIES of King, John, 576; Lowry, J. W., 335; Nicol, Prof. J., 240; Reeks, Trenham, 288 ; Sop- with, T., 96. (Chlert, M. D., Two Genera of Devonian Crinoids, 516. Olivine Gabbro from Cornwall, 504. Organisms, Fossil, in India, Geological Distribution of, 274. Orthopterous Insects of Family Phas- mide from Upper Coal-measures of Commentry, Dept. Allier, France, 97. Ovibos moschatus, Teeth of, from Cray- ford, Kent, 246. Owen, Prof. R., Extinct Wingless Birds of New Zealand, 81. Oxford, Iguanodon in Kimmeridge Clay, 193. i aa ee Implement found in Devonshire, 480. Paleeontographical Society’s graphs, 180. Paleontology, Handbook of, 183. Manual of, Nicholson’s, Mono- 567. Paleozoic Crustacea, 196. —— Lower, Rocks, Tripartite Clas- sification of, 1. Parallel Roads of Lochaber, Origin of, o21, - of Glen Roy, 529. Paris, Geological Congress in, 284. ‘*‘ Pennine Chain,’”’ Age of, 500. Pennsylvania, 8.-H., Trap-dykes and Azoic Rocks of, 519. Permian Rocks of Bohemia, Amphibians from, 521. Petrology, Elementary Text- book of, 228. Pettersen, K., Slow Secular Rise and Fall of Continental Masses, 298. Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain, 277. Physical History of the English Lake District, with Notes on Possible Sub- division of Skiddaw Slates, 50, 110. Physical System of the Universe, 82. Physiography, Outline of, 82. Pipe Ore, Origin of, 459. Pistojese Mountains, New Lake in, 479. Plagioclinal Mountains, 216. Plant-World before Appearance of Man, 263. Index. PLI Pliocene Clays overlying Basalt near the Shore of Lough Neagh, 62, 214. Polar Regions, Former Climate of, 91, 144, Post-Tertiary Deposits of Cambridge- shire, 520. Geology of Cornwall, 102. Pre-Cambrian Rocks, British, 433, 528. Pre-Glacial in Britain, Mammoth not, 235. Prestwich, Prof. J., Iguanodon in Kim- meridge Clay, Oxford, and very Fos- siliferous Band of Shotover Sands, 193; Origin of Parallel Roads of Lochaber, 321. Price, F. G. Hilton, Gault, 326. Punjab, India, Beekite from, 284. Pyritiferous Sand from Lake Winnipeg, 383. : UATERNARY Deposits near Bruns- wick, 176. AMIPORA in Caradoc Beds of _ Corwen, 241. Ramsay, Prof. A. C., Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain, 277. Reade, T. Mellard, Limestones as an Index of Geological Time, 549. Reefs, Dolomite, in South Tyrol and Venetia, 428. Reeks, Trenham, Obituary of, 288. Renevier, Prof. E., Notice of Prof. A. Heim’s Work on Mechanism of Forma- tion of Mountains, 131. Reptiles, New Order of Extinct, 225. Review of Geology for 1876 and 1877, 84. Rise and Fall of Continental Masses, 298. River Valleys, 8. W. Cork, 333. Jukes’s Theory of, 431. Rocks, British Pre-Cambrian, 433. of Brazil Wood, Charnwood Forest, 481. ——— Prof. Dana’s Classification of, 199. ——— Eruptive, of Saar and Moselle, 84. ——w— Metamorphic and Intrusive, of Tyrone, 154. ——— Silurian, in Herts, 286. of Ireland, and their Relation to Old Red Sandstone, 65. ——— Study of, 228. Rutley, F., Study of Rocks, Elementary Text-book of Petrology, 228. Nee and Moselle, Eruptive Rocks of, 84. Sandstone, Columnar, in Saxon Switzer- land, 437. 583 SWA Sandstone Old Red, and Sir R. Griffith, 144, ————— of Western Europe, 278. Silurian Rocks of Treland, and their Relation to, 65. Saporta, Count de, Plant-World before Appearance of Man, 263. Saxon Switzerland, Columnar Sandstone in, 437. Schimper, Prof. W. P., Handbook of Paleontology, 183. Sequoie, Fossil and Recent, 372. Serpentines, Ligurian and ‘Tuscan, 362. Sewerby and Bridlington Gravels, 238. Shells from Sumatra, Fossil, 385, 441, 492, 535. Shipman, J., and Wilson, E., Basement Beds of Keuper, Nottingham, 532. Shotover Sands, very Fossiliferous Band of, 193. Sicily, Tufo and Tripoli of Sulphur Zone of, 221. Silurian and Cambrian Formations, Divi- sion of, 142. Fossils of Girvan, Ayrshire, 135. Rocks in Herts, 286. Rocks of Ireland and their Re- lation to Old Red Sandstone, 65. Upper, under Chalk of Herts, 330. Skertchly, S. B. J., Manufacture of Gun-flints, 475; Physical System of the Universe, an Outline of Physio- graphy, 82. Skiddaw Slates and English Lake Dis- trict, 50, 110. Sollas, W. J., Lectures on Geology, 374. Sopwith, T., Obituary of, 96. Stohr, E., Tufo and Tripoli of Sulphur Zone of Sicily, 221. Stone, Hitching, 96. Stow, G. W., Iron and Coal in South Africa, 514. Strahan, A., Beekite in Flintshire, 334. Geology of Isle of Man, 286. Struckmann, C., Upper Jura of Hanover, 225. Structure, Microscopic, of Three Species of Genus Cladochonus, M‘Coy, 289. Subaerial Origin of Loess, Quaternary Deposits near Brunswick, 176. Sulphur Zone of Sicily, Tufo and Tri- poli of, 221. Sumatra, Fossil Shells from, 385, 441, 492, 539. Swanston, W., F.G.s., Supposed Fossili- ferous Pliocene Clays overlying Basalt near Lough Neagh, 62. 584 TAB ABULATE Corals, The Structure of, 561. Tasmania and Eastern Australia, Fossil Flora of, 485. Taylor, Dr. J. E., Faults in London Clay, Harwich, 383. Taylor, N., Cudgegong Diamond Field, New South Wales, 399, 444. Teeth of Ovibos moschatus from Cray- ford, Kent, 246. Terebella Lewesiensis, New Fossil Anne- lide, 145. Till, in New England, 283. Time, Index of, 549. Toula, F., Geology of West Balkan, 36. Trap-dykes and Azoic Rocks of S.E. Pennsylvania, 519. Traquair, Dr. R. H., Hurynotus in Car- boniferous Limestone of Belgium, 237, 576. Trias, Ammonites of Mediterranean and Juvavian, 460. Trigonia Elise, Cornet and Briart, 195. Tripartite Classification of the Lower Paleozoic Rocks, 1. Tripoli and ‘lufo of Sulphur Zone of Sicily, 221. Troughs beneath Glacier des Bossons, 239, Tufo and Tripoli of Sulphur Zone of Sicily, 221. Tuscan and Ligurian Serpentines, 362. Tyrol and Venetia, Dolomite Reefs in, 428, Tyrone, Metamorphic and Intrusive Rocks of, 154. ae States, Geological Explora- tion of Fortieth Parallel, 467. Universe, Physical System of, 82. Upham, W., Till, in New England, 283. Ussher, W. A. E., Facta Non Verba, 93; Historical Geology of Cornwall, 27, 74, 102, 166, 203, 251, 307. ALLEY of the Calder, 46, 191. Valleys, River, Jukes’s Theory of, 431. Index. ZIT Venetia and South Tyrol, Dolomite Reefs in, 428. Verbeek’s Collection of Fossil Shells from Sumatra, 385, 441, 492, 535. Vicary, W., Miocene or Eocene? Age of Bovey Lignites, 240. Volcanos of Bay of Bengal, 16. Form of, 506. ———— of Kurile Islands, 337. AAGEN, Dr. W., Geological Dis- tribution of Fossil Organisms in - India, 274. Ward, Rev. J. Clifton, Physical History of the English Lake District, with Notes on the Possible Subdivision of the Skiddaw Slates, 50, 110. Wilson, E., Age of “ Pennine Chain,” 500. ————— and Shipman, J., Keuper Basement Beds, Nottingham, 532. Wiltshire, Rev. T., History of Coal, 137. Wingless Birds of New Zealand, Extinct, 81. Winnipeg, Pyritiferous Sand from Lake, 388. Winwood, Rev. H. H., Geology of North Devon, 236. Wood, Fossil, from Griqua Land, 286. Woodward, Dr. H., Description of Fossil Shells from Sumatra (obtained by M. Verbeek), 385, 441, 492, 535. Notes on Paleozoic Crustacea, Eurypterus Scouleri, Hib- bert, 196. Woodward, H. B., Mammoth not Pre- Glacial in Britain, 235; Fossils on Cleavage Planes, 575. Wynne, A. B., Recent: Publications of Geological Survey of India, 429. ELLOWSTONE Park, Fossil Forests of the. 551. Yorkshire, W., Dales, Glaciation of, 384. ITTEL, Prof. K. 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